Joni's condo kitchen: What to do about the window covering?

Six weeks into the part-time remodel, the two friends and co-workers at a surgical clinic — Joni and Patti — are getting down to the final touches on Joni's kitchen.

So far, they have:

• Taken down a cabinet over the peninsula that was blocking natural light.
• Added a mod s-shaped track light.
• Stripped the cabinets and doors and applied a brown base with a green glaze.
• Chosen, ordered and paid for the glass backsplash tile.

Of all these jobs, of course, it was the cabinets that took the most time. Patti suffered a setback (and suffered is the perfect word) when her "guru" at the paint store told her to sand against the grain when a certain look she was after was not coming about.

Patti knew intuitively that you're not supposed to sand against the grain. But she had gotten so much good advice from this expert that she went ahead and sanded the doors, ALL the doors, in that manner. Big mistake, it turns out. And another paint guy said you should, of course, never sand against the grain. I won't even go into how much extra staining and painting this necessitated, as it would be just too painful for Patti to have to relive here. Suffice it to say: Trust your instincts and question authority!

So, on other side of that debacle, the big deal now is: What should Joni do about an updated window treatment? Above, you see Patti at the beginning of the project explaining the issues, which are: Joni wants maximum natural light with maximum privacy. The way this condo is set up, her window looks right across the front porch and into her neighbor's front porch.

My idea: I'd tackle that wooden trellis separating the two porches rather than muck up the window. Think about it: If she installed a translucent panel over the white grid, just enough to block views but clear enough to allow light through, the window wouldn't need any covering at all. I mean, the only people who could see into the kitchen would be those standing at the door.

Any other suggestions for Joni's window?

The project so far:

1. Watch a video of Patti explaining the remodel goals
2. Check out Joni's lighting choices
3. See a slide show of the track light going up and the cabinet coming down
4. Choosing cabinet color and considering backsplash tile
5. Getting started on the painting
6. Loving the glazed green top coat
7. Picking the palette