How about some outdoor art...I saw this on etsy and it looks like the artist makes them custom. The next owner could remove it and keep the window. She has other designs on her site too.

Here is a link that might be useful: outdoor painting

Lol on view of the trash cans. I agree with an out door painting. Or, how about a water feature? (Although it would have to be tall.
A trellis with foliage?)

I did a vertical wall on my front porch. It is a system called EarthBox mini garden. I used three of the units for our wall and planted with sweet potato vine. Our nursery had this system planted with garden herbs that was spectacular. Just do a search for earth box mini garden for info

A nice set of closed shutters?

Thank you for sharing these pictures. Very nice looking & attractive, please send more pictures.

Because we're going with a zen look, we want to minimize any evidence of the window. We already have simple horsetail bamboo planned for the area below the window where the black rock is and already have two water features, one 20 ft away (see second photo) and another in our atrium, 20 feet the other direction.

I like the idea of art but it needs to be simple and natural looking. This is 4'x4' Snakewood art piece that I bought for a wall in the backyard facing the water feature pot. It gives you an idea what I like and feel is appropriate to the setting. I'll have to go poke around Etsy.

Whatever I get needs to be 4' or 5' across. My contractor said he can throw up some slats of nice wood across the wall, adding interest and at the same time hiding the window but his design of six slats looks a bit boring, but it is simple and easy to do I suppose.

Jodi-

You could cover the glass with window film..perhaps stained glass pattern.

Thanks Annie, but we don't want to draw attention to the sore looking window, we want to hide it with a band-aid. :-)

Thinking along the lines that Cindyloo suggested, you could get boards that match the flooring in the zen area - but less wide - and build a cover. Something simple, just slats of wood with no space between them.

I love the idea of wall mounted plants, but after removing a window box installed on my house and seeing the damage done from moisture, I am now leery of those things.

Ah I see. I guess from the picture, to my eye, between the trash cans, the gas grill and the window, I find the window least offensive. Perhaps some structure before the area to block the view of it all. Something like a moon gate is very zen.

Do you have evergreen vines that would be appropriate to cover that wall where you live? If so, I would create a trellis and have vines cover it. That view has so many hard surfaces, having some green leaves to soften it up would make me feel more zen...

A trellis could be made of wood with a unique design you like, or it could be simply wires on eye-hooks that you don't see when the vines cover them.

This is not what you want to hear. But you stated you didn't want a permanent fix and left the window. However you also put a wall over the window and a backsplash. When you go to sell the buyers might not notice but a good home inspector should catch the window. That will raise all kinds of red flags. If they didn't remove the window what else didn't they do properly? Spend your money on removing the window and fixing the problem.

I would also dress up the window on the outside instead of trying to hide it. I would put a simple windowbox with flowers there. Honestly, it's not a bad window.

When I look at the picture, my eye's go to the trash cans, not the window.

For reasons I won't go into we will not be closing up the window.

We had vines on that wall for 32 years, you can see some of the dregs left over after hours of cleanup and before repainting. We do not what vines on that wall or anything other than the horsetail on the ground and some kind of art piece covering the window.

It wouldn't be practical to close up the area where the trash cans and BBQ are. There's already a small stair-stepped pony wall that we might make solid but if we extend the wall out any further we won't be able to easily get the trash cans out. When we cook we pull the BBQ out away from the neighbors house wall. If there was another wall, fence or and gate there, it would be awkward to move around.

So, in short, just looking for ideas to cover the window giving a zen look and feel.

I've found a number of zen metal art on Etsy that we may consider. The prices are cheap ($100-$200) for a 5'-6' wide, 2' high piece of art. But I'd like to explore some wall designs using wood as well. The deck is Trex, not wood and I'm not crazy about using it on the wall to create the cover. I don't think they come in narrower widths but I could be wrong.

Jodi-

I'd take a picture and measurements to locate the opening, and then close it up properly like the others said. If I were a potential buyer, that useless window would really bug me, and I'd make closing it up a condition of sale.

I think the idea of a fountain is great. I found this one, but cannot tell if it's outdoor safe or not. There are many which are. But I loved the look of the pebbles on this and was thinking you could make a framed sculpture out of pebble tiles which would go with your theme nicely.

{{!gwi}}

I couldn't find a pic of what I was thinking, but I might make a bamboo sculpture, kind of like this (although I would stagger the size of pieces so it wasn't so linear) with different sizes and colors of bamboo.

{{!gwi}}
Or I might do some of these along the wall and would maybe step up to the upper level, making kind of a bi-level fence look. Not sure how to handle the water outlet if it's on the wall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pebble fountain

Ugh..don't know why that last pic didn't show..makes me crazy when it does that. It was similar to this:
{{!gwi}}

We're kinda flush with water features at this time. Two outside and one in the house.

Ok ... let's pretend there is no window and all the landscaping is already in. LOL What can I put on that wall to give my yard a zen look? :-)

While I love the look of horsetail bamboo for zen, regular dried bamboo reminds Polynesia or Tahiti.

Horsetail Bamboo

I'm not sure this wood panel is zen, but something like it might be a solution. Also, have you been to the Sawdust Festival? They usually have all types of outdoor art, although usually pricey.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY outdoor project

I think you need art made of wood of some kind, but not planks. Too much like your decking. Maybe something like this
http://www.designsoak.com/wood-wall-art-a-chip-off-the-old-block/

I second a zen type fountain! But, I love the sound of water splashing a round.

I do kind of like the wood wall art ideas. Especially the shim art. Wish I was handy (and motivated) so I could make one that was the right dimensions. But alas, I am not. Not my idea of how to spend my weekend after a typical 60 hour week.

Natesgram, yes, we go to the Sawdust Festival almost every year. We live just a few miles from it but you are right, they are pricey and generally speaking don't carry art the size I need it.

Water features are great, I love them, but we already have three...two large ones in our yard and atrium, one small counter size in our kitchen.

Jodi-