Why buy a house with huge windows - and then swathe them in blinds?

Glass is wonderful for letting light in but completely awful when it's dark. I have glass across the back of my house. Before I had vertical blinds I just had to look at an expanse of darkness once dusk arrived - not very inviting.

Glass is also a good conductor of heat so when it's cold the best way to keep the heat in a room is to put a layer of insulating material between the glass and the room - curtains, blinds, shutters etc - particularly useful now with much higher energy prices

'They are completely unoverlooked from anywhere' yet you can see what they have as window dressings. Maybe they're protecting their privacy from you.

If a house has heavy curtaining or close shutters this can be noticed from a considerable distance and it is also possible notice windows that do not have it.

I go past the estate at 50 mph atba distance of a couple of hundred feet, so do no more than glance at the houses. However it is a large and very new estate so I travel past it for some time. I certainly cannot see into any of the houses, draped or undraped,

But that particular estate is just an example of a general phenomena, which puzzles me, if you very concerned about privacy, just buy a house with smaller windows.

We have big windows in our apartment. We are on the 1st floor and our living room looks out at the front grounds and the road and path.
We get full sun in the morning till about 12 and winter and summer we have to pull down the blind otherwise we would be squinting.
Then it goes round to the back of the flats and even in the winter it’s really warm, so we pull the blinds down in the kitchen.

It really isn’t only about privacy MOnica, as I hope the replies have shown. I don’t need to have privacy from the horses in the fields behind but I do need some shelter from the glaring sun as it moves round. Blinds can be opened or pulled up when not needed!

MOnica

But that particular estate is just an example of a general phenomena, which puzzles me, if you very concerned about privacy, just buy a house with smaller windows.

You speak of people's need for privacy as if it were a bad character trait!

Surely most people at some point value privacy in their own home for various reasons, which shouldn't really need to be explained.

Perhaps they like to look out at the view but not have random strangers watching them. So blinds make perfect sense.

I used to work as a temp in London and many offices had huge floor to ceiling windows (almost) but all had blinds because on a practical level unfiltered sunlight through plate glass windows is extremely uncomfortable during the summer and the intense light can make it very difficult to focus on a computer screen - or even on white paper. And the same applies to the home environment. Plus if, like me, you have lots of houseplants, they often need shading from direct sunlight in the middle of the day otherwise the leaves get scorched and the compost dries out too quickly.

The beauty of blinds is that you can choose - to let in more light in the winter, and shield yourself from its intensity during the summer. All whilst enjoying the view.

It's not paranoid to want privacy - and remembering all the people who've stuck their noses to my pavement windows, there's good reason to maintain a bit of it from the idle curiosity of some individuals. My partner has to have a dressing on his arm changed regularly and, because he's disabled and finds it difficult to move around the house, I mostly do it while he's sitting at his desk or in an arm chair. This involves him taking off his shirt, and I'm quite thankful that I can close the blinds when I do it and not have people gawping at him. I just don't get why you think - or appear to think - there's something wrong in being 'concerned' about privacy. A home is, after all, your private space.

So MOnica, what exactly is your problem? Why does it bother you so much what people are doing in their own homes that have no impact on you personally? Is it perhaps that you objected to these homes being built and now you are peed off that the owners are not trying to fit in by having window dressings that you feel are unsuitable? It’s like asking ‘why live in a house with a garden if you don’t enjoy gardening’. The answer is ‘because I can and it doesn’t effect anyone else’.

Dickens I have absolutely nothing against privacy. Many people want it for all kinds of reasons, which I fully appreciate -or no reason at all, which i also appreciate. I have nothing against it and have never suggested otherwise

All I have done is asked , if people want privacy why do they buy houses with huge windows.

The above sentence limits my curiosity. There are no hidden meanings, no likes or dislikes. Just that 'why do people who want privacy buy houses with big windows?' or the other way round why do people who buy houses with big windows then block them up with heavy curtains or blinds that cut all the light out.

I asked a simple question, I am however becoming fascinated by the way my simple question is getting so many people so het up.

M0nica

Dickens I have absolutely nothing against privacy. Many people want it for all kinds of reasons, which I fully appreciate -or no reason at all, which i also appreciate. I have nothing against it and have never suggested otherwise

All I have done is asked , if people want privacy why do they buy houses with huge windows.

The above sentence limits my curiosity. There are no hidden meanings, no likes or dislikes. Just that 'why do people who want privacy buy houses with big windows?' or the other way round why do people who buy houses with big windows then block them up with heavy curtains or blinds that cut all the light out.

I asked a simple question, I am however becoming fascinated by the way my simple question is getting so many people so het up.

It's a simple question with a fairly simple answer.

Big windows afford a 'big' view onto the outside world which I would think many people enjoy.

But, for the practical reasons I and others have mentioned, and the not unreasonable need sometimes for privacy, they put up blinds or curtains. Because if they didn't, they'd bake in the heat of the summer sun and if they were close enough to be viewed by passers-by, might feel inhibited if they wanted to roam around the house all day in their PJs - or even bra and pants / boxer underpants, and not be on view like fish in a tank. And when it gets dark - you can't see out, but others can see in.

As I said, your home is your private space - and if people want a picture view on the world without the world having the same view of them, they buy a house with big windows and put up blinds (mostly) or curtains.

And most people want some privacy whether they have large or small windows. Further, it's not unusual for homeowners to keep blinds shut or curtains drawn if they are out all day - to prevent would-be burglars from knowing that the house is empty of people.

And I don't think anyone is "het up" - just puzzled by your apparent inability to understand these practical issues.

I understand the pracical issues, but if you swathe windows in heavy lace and net curtains etc all the time, you cannot see out and admire the view. That is the puzzle Plenty of these houses do not have curtains, and I am obviously not talking about curtains or window coverings you close at night and open in the morning or for short periods during the day.

It just puzzles me that someone should buy a house with huge windows and then cover them up so you cannot see out. Why not buy a house with smaller windows.

i would hate to live in a house with huge windows at the front, whether people can actually see in or not. I would rather have smaller windows, dispense with the drapes and enjoy the view.

You might like this M0nica.
Little windows
Net curtains
Shutters
A few plants

Although I feel naked from the protection of the trees in winter in summer I am protected from everyone’s prying eyes.

I agree that if they have ‘heavy lace and net’ curtains permanently over the big windows that is odd. Slatted blinds as we have can be raised, slanted to shield against sun and closed. Ours on the huge kitchen window in the front of the house are open during the day and give privacy whilst allowing us to see out and plenty of light to come in.

BlueBelle

Depends where you live Nanna8 in working class areas like mine there’s still plenty of nets around in posher areas there wouldn’t be though

You don’t like the thought of a possum or fox looking in your windows that’s hilarious ???
“Hey mrs fox do you like that bit of silver on the table over there?” “Oh no dear not to my taste at all but the flowers look rather tasteful”

No they have beady little brown eyes and so do the possums though theirs are more bulbous. You don’t know what they’re thinking, they might have evil intents. Also they ambush all my fruits and vegetables and steal them and I don’t want any truck with thieving criminals and hooligans …

I have never noticed what people do with their windows before now with any level of interest.

Out walking yesterday and had a look. Windows were as varied as the people I think, so I didn’t come to any conclusion at all???

M0nica

I understand the pracical issues, but if you swathe windows in heavy lace and net curtains etc all the time, you cannot see out and admire the view. That is the puzzle Plenty of these houses do not have curtains, and I am obviously not talking about curtains or window coverings you close at night and open in the morning or for short periods during the day.

It just puzzles me that someone should buy a house with huge windows and then cover them up so you cannot see out. Why not buy a house with smaller windows.

i would hate to live in a house with huge windows at the front, whether people can actually see in or not. I would rather have smaller windows, dispense with the drapes and enjoy the view.

Point taken.

But how many people who buy these houses with large windows actually do swathe them in heavy nets and drapes?

Purely anecdotal, but from what I have seen, blinds appear to be the choice of window covering - for obvious reasons.

I have a large window in my lounge and only close curtains in the evening to keep in the heat. I am not overlooked so don’t close in the summer.
I often think with houses that have floor to ceiling glass, all that window cleaning. I’m terrible at cleaning windows so mine would be streaks everywhere.

If I didn’t have a window cleaner the house would look dreadful. I have never acquired the technique of cleaning windows without leaving streaks. No problem when I lived in a cottage with manageable little windows but I couldn’t successfully do the floor to ceiling windows here.

I suspect people bought the houses with large windows because they look fantastic and are a status symbol then, when living in them realise in practice, they don't like looking at a great expanse of darkness at night. And the house gets very hot in summer and cold in winter.

My windows are definitely not grand designs massive. My living room has three sets of windows. They all have plantation shutters or perfect -fit insulating blinds on the glass patio doors. The window on the west side has shutters that can be tilted bottom independently to top. I have the bottom ones tilted every day, anyone who drives up to my end of the close (not frequently) , to use the turning area, they always try to have a nose. The top shutters are fully open. No-one can see inside but I get light and can see outside

I cannot be doing without my solar shading, dread the intense sun in summer. Very insulated house, new so is a heat sink. I generally relax near the east patio doors and windows. No-one to overlook me but like many, I don`t like seeing the dark at night. My wooden plantation shutters have been an essential marvellous buy for me, insulating from heat or cold and for privacy

I think I must have self-cleaning windows on the outside. Mine was the first house built, more bells and whistles than the others. I only clean frames, cills are stone. When it rains, the glass dries clean

For massive expanses of glass a window cleaner outside is obviously a necessity but what about the inside. I’ve tried every method going and still make a pigs ear of mine so it would be a nightmare for me. My lounge window is the bane of my life. I think I’ve done a good job until sun comes out. Ahhgg.

A few days after we moved in September I came out of the en-suite to find a neighbour really peering into our bedroom. Fortunately, for both our sakes, I had clothes on!

I had some window film left over after seeing rather too much of our previous neighbour doing his ablutions, despite the frosted bathroom windows. I covered the bottom pains of the bedroom window to preserve my modesty. We are thinking about vertical blinds as they can be pulled right aside or angled to avoid the curious.

We also had a parade of other flat owners who decided to walk round the perimeter of our flat peering in the windows. I hope they admired the packing cases! It hasn’t been repeated but we presumably provided some interest for the bored retirees who make up the bulk of the residents.

I must admit I was freaked out some time ago when watching Crime-watch. A man, brought up by a cruel grandmother, spied upon an elderly lady for months watching her from a nearby footpath. Eventually he viciously attacked her. She survived but didn’t want to live alone after that.

We lived by a footpath and OH was away on a course. Up until then I naively thought that peeping Toms would target attractive young women.

I get my windows cleaned inside too but they don't need to be done as often as outside. I hate it when the sun comes out and shows me that I've totally wasted my time.

bobbydog, dull day, ungers window (professional) cleaning liquid, karcher window vac and perhaps a window polishing cloth slung over a shoulder. For very high window, ungers lambswool on a handle attached to a long extension. Quick change to an ungers squeegee on same long pole. Catch the wet with the karcher vac. Windowcleaningwarehouse

I have the full kit, brought from my last house with large (reachable) windows. Excellent both there and here. I haven`t needed to employ a window cleaner for 14 years, since we moved from a managed development which included window cleaning