I am putting solar shade in my house, the sink is in a corner and there are 2 windows. The solar shades are great so I can see outside and the sun won't glare.

I would suggest roman or roller shades mounted inside the windows.

I am looking for privacy. I am a little concerned the natural wood would be too dark with the dark cabinet and dark oven, but with that being said my initial thought was to do the natural wood very similar to the photo Kelly posted. Maybe a lighter fabric roman shade would work also?? Just not sure.

Some woven shades will coordinate with the woody kitchen of yours.

http://www.horizonshades.dphoto.com/#/album/0ec70r/photo/8124766

Do solar shades really block the direct sunlight? My kitchen window is on a west facing wall, and the light at dinner time is blinding. When they say it "filters" light, does that mean it's no longer blinding, like wearing sunglasses outside but without the dark tint?

Does anyone know if they're cat (claw) friendly?

Kelly- are the Delia shades solar roller shades?

Ewillert- I'd go with roman shades. You can find a great variety on etsy.com. If you don't need then to block sunlight, you can just make sure they're raised when you're cooking and washing dishes.

To kcalman - you are correct: roller shades will prevent blinding like if you wearing sunglasses. They are NOT cat friendly however!

And I respectfully will disagree with Roman shades in the kitchen because of grease and it would be "high maintenance"

A totally different option would be to replace the plain glass window panes with textured or frosted glass, thus allowing light to diffuse, gain some privacy and stay cat friendly. Just a thought :)

Replacing glass would be pretty expensive...But what about a textured privacy film? Same concept. inexpensive to get into, if it doesn't work, you are out less than $100. If it gets cruddy...same deal!