Plant Babies

When I was late in my second trimester I had an idea to create a "plant curtain" in my living room window. I love plants, but so does Ollie, my cat. I have to hang them up so he won't devour them and I have to triple check that all green things that enter this house is non toxic to cats. I've gathered little green guys that claim to need bright light to thrive, but I've had to relocate two of them so far and I'm trying to talk my spider plant off the ledge. The window is west facing and gets a ton of bright afternoon sun. I cannot win. In my last home I didn't get hardly any light at all so nothing would grow and now I get TOO much sun for anything besides the donkey tail succulent to thrive. I'm going to have to lower the blinds or move the plants every afternoon or just let them wilt away this summer which seems harsh on several levels. I just wish "bright" was not always followed up with "indirect". Don't any of these guys get direct brightness in the real world??