Does this window need lights? And if so what kind?

[gardengirl13]

OK I'm getting worried that to turn our bedroom (east facing) window into a bay will cost more then our car is worth! Plus I've read you have to have like 18" min from the soffit to have one installed, ours is like 6". sigh. My dreams might be dashed, we'll see on Monday.

But I have this living room window that is just as big. Problem is we're used to 100% privacy in our last rental we lived in. This window is facing the street. But there are shrubs and trees blocking a good part of it. If we can plant more it might be ok. We have indoor shutters on it right now, even with them open to let light in it still feels more private then having the all the way opened like in these photos. When looking at the house from the street you really can't see in unless it's dark and the lights are on, and them the curtains are closed.

Now the other issue is it's north facing. In this room, it's a great room with dining and kitchen in the same space, it's also cathedral ceilings with windows up there too, a small kitchen window that faces west with orchids currently in it, and a huge slider in the dining room, also facing north.

So by looking at these photos, what kind of lights do you think I'll need? I love the idea of Ray's little LED ones that we can just buy a couple lamps with long arms and screw them into them and put the in the window. But I'm not sure that would be enough? The framing around the window is wood so we can screw in supports for longer lights. I was thinking 2 2' long 2 bulbs lights of some kind maybe? But if I also hang some plants they won't get any of this light. I could hang in the better light windows only I guess. Sorry I'm just thinking out loud here. So would those LED be good enough if it's supplementing slightly bright light? Now this room when the sun is out is quite bright. Mid day it's almost squinty bright. But not bright enough for orchids. It just reflects all over quite well.

Now before anyone asks, yes they are slightly lower light orchids, phals and one catt that says it's great for lower light windows. But the catt will most likely end up in the bathroom west facing window any way.

Here are the photos sorry about rambling so much, but I'm trying to avoid using the shelving unit we have since we don't have space for it without rearranging the entire livingroom/dining room. I'd rather save the electric bill and use windows, but I'm not sure that's possible yet. We'll see what everyone here says.







Now you can't see it here, but you normally can see a bit of a shadow in the window.