Home Privacy?

I am on the third floor of a three story apartment and leave all the blinds up untill sunset at 5 PM. I lift them at sunrise.
 

The reason I love my garden home is all the windows to let the light in. I don't even mind it in the summer as I have a covered patio and
face the north. I have a wooden fence that gives me some privacy. I never close my blinds in that room. Houses that are dark, depresses me. My daughter is wanting me to move, but I have family and live in a neighborhood that look after one another. I think I will stay.
 
I'm always depressed for about a month after we come home from our wanderings. To go from looking out the window of our RV at a majestic mountain, the sea, forests, etc. to looking out at the house next door, the house behind us, the house across the street is an unpleasant shock. I'm back to being used to it, though. We've had some artsy "free spirits" move in across the street and their decorating is, to put it mildly, eclectic. There are giant abstract paintings standing out in the yard and lights and flags strung all over the place. It's going to be interesting to see what's next. I imagine eventually the homeowner's association is going to come down on them.
 
Classic Rocker...

The downside is everyone knows when you are gone by simply observing your habits. I had a neighbor who used to keep his garage door open except when he was gone. One day he lost hundreds of dollars worth of tools. The burglar simply slipped a coat hanger or something like it in the top of his door, hooked onto his quick release for the door and pulled it then opened it up to do his work. Cars with anything worthwhile in plain sight are a target for a quick smash and grab. This isn't the same world we used to live in.
 
I bought a new home 8 years ago and there are no homes behind me, just an old farmers hedge row. I don't even have curtains, just blinds which I leave open until dark. There is a pair of foxes there and they have 3 or 4 kits every summer. I had a hawk that was almost tame. I got within 6 ft of him before he flew.

hawkbirdbathemail.jpg
 
Excellent photo Vala! :cool: We don't have any homes behind us either, just open space. We see lots of coyotes, foxes, raccoons, deer, hawks, etc.
 
I like it when people retrieve old threads. I'm glad you did.

I think you should look for something besides the window film. My daughter has it on a window at the top of her stairs and it's OK there but downstairs I'd go nuts if I couldn't see out. Google window coverings and the name of your city and see what comes up. Maybe someone can help you.

And to answer the OP's question. I have visited people who keep their drapes or blinds closed all day and I found it very depressing. I have to be able to see outside. Our house is about, I'm guessing, 150 feet from the road. I have drapes on all the windows but they are usually open. In the kitchen, at the bar where I am sitting right now I keep the curtains tied back 24 hours a day. We have trees on one side of our drive way and I feel pretty private here at night with the lights on. We have a fence, gate and an outdoor dog so I'm pretty confident I'd know if someone were sneaking around here. Awhile back we had grand kids (in their 20s) house sit while we were gone awhile. When we got back I couldn't believe it! The kitchen curtains were loose from the tie backs and someone had taken 5 or 6 of those clips we put on open potato chip bags or whatever and used those to hold the 2 sides of the curtains tightly together. I wanted to ask them if they were still afraid of dinosaurs looking in the windows at night like they were when they were 2 and 3 years old but I didn't. I'm a good grandma and keep things like that to myself. :cool:
 
Oh I know why they did it Holly, they are afraid of what might be out there watching them. They always have closed the drapes and curtains tight. And these are dudes in their 20s! Even the drapes over a window that is mostly already covered by our TV and I seldom close. They close them and all other drapes but I just thought it was really over the top to use the bag clips to make sure no one could peek in at them. What I don't know is, are they afraid of humans looking in at them or are they afraid a UFO landed in our back field and aliens are coming up and peeking in the windows to observe these earthlings! All they'd see is the 2 of them sitting here playing video games. :rolleyes: I think I'll get that old movie Communion ,supposedly based on a true story, and tell them to watch it the next time they house sit. [h=3]Communion (1989) - IMDb[/h]
 
In Holland in 1960s when I was in the Air Force and
inthe 1970s when I worked there, every house had
their curtain and blinds open all the time, even when
they were all sitting round the table at meal times.

Some had nets, half way up the window from the
bottom, others had similar from the top, but none
ever closed any drapes/curtains or blinds.

Mike.
 
I open all blinds first thing in the morning and don’t close them until bedtime. I love the sunshine. I could not live in a dark closed up house, it would just feel gloomy.
 
Mike said:
In Holland in 1960s when I was in the Air Force and
inthe 1970s when I worked there, every house had
their curtain and blinds open all the time, even when
they were all sitting round the table at meal times.

Some had nets, half way up the window from the
bottom, others had similar from the top, but none
ever closed any drapes/curtains or blinds.
Click to expand...

Just a little off-topic, but several years ago I worked for a company that was building a new headquarters office building in Amsterdam. We were told that, under Dutch law, every office and workspace had to have a window or "direct line of sight" to the outdoors. The Dutch seem to have a thing about being able to see outside.
:why:

ETA: Living well off the road in a rural area, we only have window coverings in the bedrooms (to keep the winter heat in/morning sun out).
 
LIKE PRIVACY ' but live in rural parts of uK... SO ALL I HAVE IS FIELDS ... shutter blinds closed in eve time ' sun room-- big windows - never close ..
 
It seems like a personal matter to me, and as Quicksilver stated, "To each his own". There are a lot of personal habits that each of us follow, as do others. I might discuss why I do what I do, but would rather let others speak for themselves, and avoid making judgments as to what I think is proper.
 
davidbarker805 said:
Sorry for retrieving this thread, but we seem to be on the same hunt. Due to problematic neighbours, I would like to install privacy window film on my windows to prevent them seeing into my property.

However, I'd obviously still like to see out of my windows and have the benefit of natural light, so basically it has to stop them seeing in but enable me to see out.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't care for the film.

I would prefer an approach similar to the one our friend Ruth n Jersey used recently in her dining room. It provides reasonable privacy without blocking out the light and the view.

Good luck!

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SifuPhil said:
The exterior steel shutters are computer-controlled and roll up at 7AM (8AM in summer). The thumb-print and retina scanners also come online at this time.

We put the timberwolf/shepherds back in their runs at 9AM.

In the evening, the shutters come down at sundown and are hermetically sealed. The wolf/sheps are released to roam the property and the drawbridge is reeled in.
Click to expand...

Lol...... hopefully!
 
We live in a corner condo unit that faces other condos. For that reason, we keep the verticals open, but slanted to give us enough light, but also privacy. I notice other units do the same or keep their blinds either wide open or completely closed.

When we were in a house, we kept the blinds open until sundown. Only our upper floor bedroom windows faced the street, so there was no issue with privacy.
 
I also open all blinds first thing in the morning and don’t close them until nightfall, except the windows on the back of the house. We have a privacy fence around the back yard so those window blinds are open all the time.

Our house faces west so I have to adjust the blinds as the sun moves during the day, especially in the summertime.
 
We have no neighbours at the front of our house or the back. Its all forest property so there is a lot of privacy. I don’t always close my curtains or blinds nor do I worry about being seen. Either way I keep decent just in case. Lol

We have a younger couple who live an acre away on one side and an older couple who live an acre away on the other side. We’ve been neighbours for the last 22 years and they are our only neighbours.
 

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