We have an interior kitchen also. For our reno we were able to get some more light into our kitchen by increasing the number of windows and their height at the far end of the kitchen. Our sink backs up to an interior wall, so I went with a backsplash that I never tire of looking at.

Doonie, that is a great idea to put a beautiful backsplash behind the sink! Do you have a picture how the high hat looks above the sink since I still need that and right now it is in the soffit that I may remove since I was told by other neighbors that nothing is under it.

I guess at least I have a wall of windows and doors on the other side of the kitchen since it is open to the family room but I wish I had a window above my sink but your idea is a great idea! What does your backsplash look like above your range? I love the matching towel stand with the faucet! I appreciate you for sharing.
There was a one end unit available when I was looking but my interior unit was bigger and had the best location with privacy with permanent woods in the backyard. I love my home I just wanted more light but I will have to get more light above and put something pretty behind my sink. The cabinet guy feels another cabinet with glass but it sounds like it will be too many cabinets lined up to me.

Lynn, I'm glad to be able to help. We coordinated the backsplash behind the stove. The high hat mirrors the arch in the backsplash. I wish the top were lower, but if we would have done that, then the sides would have encroached on the backsplash, so this position was the compromise.

And the stove backsplash on the opposite wall:

We have no windows in our interior kitchen. We added a skylight over the alcove that houses the Frigidaire Twins and we added windows to the adjacent sunroom. It has helped but the space does require plenty of work lights...we use the undercounter and the task lighting at each zone all the time.

The art work is an original by May Kugler, a family friend from La Place LA. Hope this helps your decision on designs.

Doonie I just love your kitchen...c

Trailrunner, I LOVE that picture! I love original paintings and that one is colorful and very interesting. That is another good idea to add extra lighting above work spaces knowing there is not much natural light. Thank you for posting the picture.

Glad you like it. May was an absolutely amazing woman. She is in every one of her paintings...always wearing red :) see her on the bottom right. She started painting as an older woman. She gave most of her paintings to friends. My BIL has dozens of them. He helped her with repairs at her home and dropped by to chat. She was very talented and kind. Everyone misses her.

Task lighting is essential..will look forward to seeing your space. c

LRy511, What a great idea to have light under a smaller cabinet for storage and then decorative shelving that is glass to let the light come through. Very nice! I love the granite counters, the beautiful backsplash and your faucet. Thank you for sharing.

We are doing a feature behind ours like doonie's. I just hope it is half as nice ;) It will have a 3 tile custom set and be framed in by architectural salvage tiles and liners to really frame it. I figure it will be interesting to look at, but in reality, nothing is above our sink now and I don't find myself needing to look at anything but what is in the sink so I can move on to something else..
It will be like jewelry for the kitchen but it is not even necessary. We have a nice light hanging above and no upper cabinets. I think having nothing close to my face is what I appreciate the most. Pre-reno, we had a corner sink with a corner 45 degree cab upper. It felt closed in. Now, I don't feel crowded.
We chose how to lay out the new kitchen however we wanted and chose to have the windows by the table and kept the view there.

LRy511, I'm glad you posted because yours is the one I thought of when I read the question. I LOVE your simple backsplash too. I didn't notice that Divine Mercy picture before - great place for it!

Dianalo, Thank you for letting me know that you chose to place the windows by the table and like having the space above when you are doing dishes but are choosing to add a feature backsplash behind your sink. It sounds so nice. If you have time, please post pictures when you are completed.

Mpagmom, LRy511's picture is what I feel now that the cabinet guy meant when he suggested a cabinet behind my sink. I am very petite so I would always have to use a stool to get anything out of the cabinet but it would be nice for storage.

So maybe choosing the interior townhouse for the best location and the layout I wanted was not so bad with all these great ideas. At least the kitchen is open to the family room with the wall of windows that I can keep the sheer horizontal blinds all open if I want to in the day time since I have complete privacy in my backyard.

Here is my recent one. Nothing fancy, but I like how it was turning out. The cabinets we installed were second hand, so there was nothing for above the sink. I made shelves to go over the sink. Top one is 12", middle one is 10" and bottom one is 6".

Thought something was missing so thanks for some tips on the decorating forum I painted the wall behind the shelves a different color.

Ours is very simple. Finished in 2008 and have been meaning to put up a backsplash but haven't found the right one yet. I do have some art up there now but I must say we love the clean open space of it and I MUCH prefer having the window behind the cooktop. I spend more time cooking than cleaning ;)

Barbcollins, thanks for the pictures and the idea of the shelves. Great idea to paint the wall behind the shelves a different color.

Loves2cook4six, Thanks for the picture of the glass doors on the cabinet above the sink since this is what the cabinet maker was talking about.

I think the key thing in common with all the pix posted so far is they all have an open space near eye level. The open shelves don't crowd the person at the sink and leave breathing room. The glass shelf is particularly good for that. The ones with a cab over the sink start high up.

We haven't done anything behind our sink other than paint, so there is nothing to show yet. We need the cash to pay someone to do it right, so it may be a while. It does not bother me one bit to have nothing there because it gives it a very clean look. I mocked up having the feature, but this is way inaccurate ..... our cabs are white... our floor is 2 shades of gray and black in a basketweave pattern...

No pictures but we took a different approach. Custom made cabs and we made the double inset cabs over the sink the same length but stepped it back (indented) a few inches. It is perfect for glasses, depending on size 2- 3 deep.

Mine is against an inside wall. We use the cabinet above for medicines, and other odds & ends. Here it is before backsplash..

and after....

Dianalo, you are so right that the key is not to have a cabinet too low or to crowd the area when dishes are being washed and to have light. I like the layout and the plans for finishing up your kitchen space. Thanks for sharing.

Eandhl, that sounds like a good idea also to have a more shallow cabinet so you can use it but it will not be over your head. Thank you for sharing.

Numbersjunkie, I like how the cabinets are a little higher up and a little more shallow with light that shines on the sink. Your kitchen is beautiful and really looks great with the added backsplash. Thank you for sharing.

Lavender posted this on another thread. It looks very bright and airy w/o a window.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Aloha2009, Thanks for posting the link for Lavender's kitchen which is bright, airy and very modern. It is very nice but I can't find the sink. It looks like it has a lot of light with the wall of windows and the lighting above.

i am trying to figure out what to do with my windowless sink also. here are a few pics that i collected from various sources. sorry, i do not remember where to credit the pics, but hope they help you!

michoumonster, thank you for posting the pictures to give me and others more ideas.

Here's a thread from a while ago with more pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinks without window thread

Trailrunner,
Love the sneak peek at your kitchen -- can you post more photos? I love what I see.
This is a great post; I am in the same boat with an interior townhome. Thanks Lynn!

BalTra, glad I could help and started this thread since we do not all have windows over our sinks. I also would love to see more of Trailrunner's kitchen if she wishes to share and has the time.

Purplepansies, Thank you so much for the link to the thread "Sinks without window" since I did a search and could not find this thread before you posted it. There are so many good ideas and I love the backsplash with the higher cabinets with lights underneath in one of the pictures. The others are all clever ideas.

Thank you!

Here's a link to trailrunner's kitchen, it's amazing and no one should have to wait to see it. Sorry trailrunner, chalk it up to an overzealous fan! Now I just need to finagle an invitation to dinner :-)
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cottage/con091115492309.html

Here is a link that might be useful: trailrunner's lovely kitchen

In our last home we also had an interior kitchen. We did a decorative backsplash but also had cabinets above the sink to give us more storage space. I am only 5'4 so not exactly tall but I never had trouble getting things out of the cabinet. Our ceilings were 8ft tall, the cabinet was held down 8'' and the height was 22'' if that helps. See pictures below.

We loved the focal point the backsplash made and I am putting cabinets above my sink in the home we are building even though we do have a window over this sink! Our ceilings are tall enough to fit the cabinets and I figure I may as well take advantage of some extra storage space.

Jaimiecrock, Thanks for the very nice pictures! That is nice to have that extra storage with a shorter cabinet above the sink and a pretty backsplash. Thanks for letting me know that you are still going to do this cabinet set-up even with a window there in the new home you are building with higher ceilings.

Yes we will have 9ft ceilings in the new house, but our window will be a little bit taller than the backsplash on our old home so the cabinet over the window will only be about 1ft tall to plane in with the other cabinets. We had so many compliments on our old kitchen especially the tile work. The pictures really don't do it justice. The idea of lighting under the cabinet is really great, we never felt like the sink was dark without it though.

Jamiecrok, that sounds so beautiful. My ceilings are 8 feet but I would love to have 9 feet ceilings. In my family room, master bedroom and master bathroom, I have cathedral ceilings and I love the open feeling it provides. I love the look of the shorter cabinet with a backsplash and a lot of light under the cabinet in that area to light up the sink.

Can anyone post more recent pictures of kitchen sinks on interior walls? Thank you!

I agree with cupofkindness that I would also want to see more pictures as I am back to looking at cabinets and deciding what I want over my sink. I love the pictures sent in as I now have ideas but it would be helpful to all of us to have more pictures. I will post my kitchen when I am finished.

I have an interior kitchen, which is part of the reason I put the glass front cabinets above the uppers.

KKSMama, I love your kitchen and the way the cabinets look above your sink! I just printed this to show my kitchen designer as I have no window over my sink. Thank you so much for sharing.

Sorry I don't have pictures. I have two sinks - the main one has a window but the second doesn't and to tell you the truth I don't miss the window when I use the second one.

My cabinets are the kind that go to the ceiling. The windowless sink is across from a wall of windows so I chose to put a large decorative mirror there to reflect both the light and the view. I do have a cabinet above the mirror - similar to one that might hold an over the stove microwave that I can only access with a step ladder. I needed it to balance the flow of cabinets in the room.

Having a sink wall with no window can be quite a challenge. This is what my Mom had installed on her sink wall last year (2012) when she remodeled her entire kitchen. She wasn't sure how to handle this area and we searched the internet for ideas and found something she liked and we worked with the tile setters to come up with the design. The tile setters did a very nice job. She loves it!

The tiles are 3x6 matte Buscuit from American Oean, 4x4 matte buscuit from AO, and a travertine pencil liner, with polished marble and crackle glass 1 inch accent tiles in border and backspash design. Grout is Fusion in Antique Linen.

It is the right combo of gloss and matte. She loves the way the little crackle glass tiles sparkle in the light.

Her cabinets are Honey Stained Maple and Silestone "Halley" quartz counters, Delta Leland faucet in SS.

We think it came out just beautiful and made using the sink so much enjoyable than if she had just done the subway tile alone.

Hope this helps others in this same dilemma.

NWRain-Gal :)

This post was edited by NWRain-Gal on Sun, Nov 10, 13 at 19:06

Larger view of Mom's entire kitchen and sink backspash

Skypathway1, that sounds like a great idea with the mirror. I have no windows across from the windowless sink so that would not work for me. Thanks for sharing.

NWRain-Gal, I love the backsplash under the cabinets over the sink! The tile guys sure did a great job! Thank you for sharing. So glad your mother is enjoying her renovated kitchen. The cabinets are so nice also.

Here's our old kitchen, the pic is from the real estate listing. The breakfast room was on the other side of the island, we put a triple window there and got plenty of light.

Jackson2348, I love the backsplash in back of the faucet and in back of the gas range being the same. Your kitchen is beautiful and so lit up. Thank you for sharing.

This is obviously a candid shot. Excuse the dishes :)

i love the idea of an illuminated shelf. ours is NOT an interior kitchen, but we're in triple decker victorian land in boston. neighbors are *right there* and our kitchen is on the second floor. we have a big double glass door at the back of the kitchen that allows for plenty of light.

IMHO, I think the key is to not let upper cabinetry "oppress" the sink area, so that there is a feeling of open-ness around your head when you are working at the sink.

We also have plenty of light from many almost-floor to ceiling windows across from the kitchen.

Here is our inside wall sink. This was in a loft with very large windows so no lack of light!

Doonie - I absolutely LOVE the designs you used behind your kitchen sink and stove. Can you put me in touch with the person who installed your tilework?

Something to consider... picture frames that let you add a SD card so you can add a ton of pictures allow you to make it less "stale"? Not that any of these are, but it can add a rotating personal touch with all sorts of nice photos to look at.

Russ