So, I finally took down the dreadful plastic vertical blinds that came with the house. I was secretly glad my kids kept breaking the panels off leaving a big gap when the blinds were closed :)

I've been mulling over for months what to do. Here are my wants and don't wants:
Wants:
1. To keep as much light in (I need sunshine in my life!). It's an East facing room so morning light is great but gets progressively darker as the day continues.
2. To be able to view the backyard to keep an eye on my dog & kids.
3. Light privacy at night. Don't need my neighbors watching us having dinner. :)

Don't want:
1. Completely blocked view during day and night.

My ideas so far:
I'm leaning towards treating the door and windows as a bay window to create a cohesive look in the room. I'd like to make a cornice board that spans across the windows & door and add sheer white panels in between each window and door. The panels next to the door will be used at night for moderate privacy and the panels next to the windows will have the ability to be closed but is optional. Reason I'm leaning towards a cornice box is I'd like to conceal the drapery hardware and the fact that I'm using grommet panels and mostly all of my drapery throughout the house is grommet panels. Want to change it up a little bit.
Not looking to spend a lot of money, either.
I have been scouring the Internet, Pinterest, Houzz, etc. for tutorials on how to make a bay window cornice without a lot of results. Any window treatment professionals out there who can give me advice on how to make one would be greatly appreciated! Any thoughts from Houzzers out there too!
Attached photos include my kitchen and examples of what I'd like to do.