Do You Have Sheer Curtains For Privacy or Do You Not Care Your Neighbors Seeing Into Your House?

My curtains are closed to cut out sunlight

My curtains have cut out panels so they can't see my top but they can see my derriere.

I notice rich people often have nothing up to their windows.

At my large living room picture window, I have long solid curtains hanging on both sides and long sheers hanging in between them. I was inspired when watching a William Powell-Ginger Rogers movie, Powell had that configuration in his apartment.

I have vertical blinds and leave them partially open for a partial view of my naked body.

A friend's two living room windows are without curtains or sheers. At night, you can see what what's on TV when you drive by and can easily see people walking around inside the house, though the windows incorporate some panes of stained and textured glass. There are curtains and blinds on all other windows in her house.

This friend is married with two kids and lives in a nice-ish neighborhood consisting of 1920s-era Tudor-style cottages, many of which are similarly un-curtained. I feel like I'm on display when I'm in their house at nighttime.

I think it's strange, but maybe I'm the strange one. Am I subconsciously hiding something by keeping my blinds closed? In the daytime, I'll sometimes open the blinds, but never at night, when I have no idea who might be outside.

I like being admired for my beautiful body!

Sheer curtains give an illusion of privacy. Believe me, people can see you from outside.

In my neighborhood, all the new houses are 'open concept' now (yawn) and no one uses much of anything on their windows. They leave the lights blazing all night, every night -- I guess so everyone can see how tastefully they have decorated with all their white, chevron-patterned, carefully 'curated' crap from Wayfair. Every. Single. Place. Looks the same. Soulless. Sterile. Unlived-in. Boring.

I have big, thick, velvet-y theatre curtains. Because I like to put on little shows for the neighbors. Ta-DAH!

I once lived in upstate New York in a house that was miles from the nearest neighbor,and my husband was puzzled as to why I insisted on curtains and sheers. I admire the look of huge curtainless windows,but no way in hell am I not having mine covered.

I’m curious about this. I don’t care who sees in. I’ve lived in city, suburbs, Northeast, CA and TX. Amazed me how NO ONE in Texas ever opened a window for natural light. Even in winter when it wasn’t about heat. They live in darkness - I find it so strange but guess it goes along with the whole “stay off my property” mentality. Weird. In suburban Northeast, I don’t and there about 80% of people close them but open at least occasionally. In the city, people can see me in my apartment most of the time - except when I’m having sex or sleeping. I really don’t care what other people think and I don’t understand why you would eliminate what natural light and opennness you can get in the modern world of offices and cars.

No window coverings except shades in guest bedrooms for visitors who don't want to be awakened at sunrise. My house is not visible from the street or by any neighbors. I hate the look of blinds, curtains, drapery, etc. If I ever moved somewhere less private I am not sure what I would do, I wouldn't want to live like I was in a fishbowl.

I have a set-up just like R4's in my living room, mainly to block as much light as I can. The big picture window in question faces due east, and the rising sun can quickly turn the room into an oven. I have blinds on the other windows.

Peachtree Battle in Atlantanis a perfect example of what R3 mentions. Drive through there in the middle of the night and the houses all look like there’s a party going on inside.

The good thing about porky pigging is you appear dressed when you walk by a window but you're bare ass from the waist down. (my husbear insists on it...)

First, my house is surrounded with shrubbery and trees so that when I look out I see only gardens and greenery. My back yard is private because of the greenery and there are no window coverings on the first floor because no one can see in anyway. There is a shade on the dining room window that faces the back but it is rarely drawn. There is also a fabric valance and side panels on the dining room window.

My living room faces the front and I have a fabric valance across the top and panels to the sides. I also have shades on those windows but only close them, along with the dining room shade, if someone is sleeping over on the sofa. Otherwise it's difficult to see in from the street due to the rampant shrubberies and the distance of the house from the street. There are sheers on all the upstairs windows along with valances and shades so that rooms can be darkened at night and for privacy.

My sister scorns my use of draperies saying how out of date they are. She has no window coverings on her large windows upstairs where the living, family, kitchen, and dining room are located. But she lives on a hill and although people can see in from the streets below, they're mostly looking at the upper parts of the rooms and ceilings.

I don't have sheer curtains, but I had drapes made for my living room, dining room, bedroom and office. I have a lot of plants in the living room and dining room, so the drapes in those rooms are drawn open when I get up in the morning, and drawn closed once it starts getting dark. The drapes in the living room and dining room are dupioni silk in green and blue, so the colors shift depending on the angle of the light. The drapes in the bedroom and office are a synthetic silk in silver, and those usually stay closed.

I love it when neighbors can peek

Do you all live in houses where your neighbors are that close?

Sometimes the privacy issues work in reverse. There was a black guy with an amazing body cutting the grass in the backyard of the house next door, and I was watching from my kitchen window. He caught me looking at him, and waved at me. It was mortifying. About a week later, I was returning from the grocery store, and he was out front (shirtless again) and he recognized me and said Hello, and we chatted for a bit, and I couldn't help but blurt out how fit he was, and it didn't seem to bother him. I'd love to see the rest of his body.

Both mini-blinds and curtains hanging on the side for decoration. Don't leave your windows bare (at least in areas you don't want to be seen ie bedrooms, bathrooms etc). This is the technological age, and pervy neighbors will take advantage of any opportunity to exploit. Imagine a tiny I.P. video camera positioned just outside your window catching it all regularly. It happens, I'm telling you......

R20 Yes, I live in a city neighborhood on a busy street with a lot of pedestrian activity.

"I love it when neighbors can peek"

And passersby often comment that your carpet does not match your drapes.

I have a blackout shade in my bedroom it covers a12 ft long window wall the top of the window starts at the ceiling and covers 3/4 of the wall top to bottom. If I didn't have this I would never get a decent nights sleep.

I have Roman shades on all the windows and a few windows have heavy linen curtains too.

I live in a high-rise, why would I pay all that money to own a place with a beautiful view if I turned around and covered it up. If you want to look into my place and see me naked or doing my boyfriend, not my problem. I really don't care.

[quote]Amazed me how NO ONE in Texas ever opened a window for natural light.

R12, the curtain-free neighborhood I described is in Dallas.

-R6

I live in a high-rise directly across the street from R27. You're all cordially invited to a cocktail party at my place. I'll be passing these out as party favors.

We live in a Manhattan high rise. We can see clearly into half the apartments around us. Most people do not have curtains, just blinds, and most people don’t bother closing them.

There’s a very $$$ loft building whose fancy rooftop deck can see into our kitchen. I laugh that someone paid $4million for the privilege of seeing me cook breakfast in my underwear.

I don’t give a shit if someone sees me go about my boring life Have at it.

[Quote]He caught me looking at him, and waved at me. It was mortifying.

[Quote]About a week later, I was returning from the grocery store, and he was out front (shirtless again) and he recognized me and said Hello, and we chatted for a bit, and I couldn't help but blurt out how fit he was, and it didn't seem to bother him. I'd love to see the rest of his body.

R21 You FOOL. What more do you want, for me to place him naked in your bed for you?!

We have a 2 storey house in a tiny village in the country. Our house is one of the few full 2 storeys, so there are no houses that can look directly in to our upstairs windows, with 12’ ceilings on both floors (house is over 100 yrs old). We are on a hill on a corner lot & I’ve often wondered if people walking up the hill can see into our bedrooms and upstairs bathroom. My husband checked & says people can only be seen upstairs if they’re right at the windows because of the height & the angle, but I still feel a bit creeped out at night. Despite the enclosed front porch with 2 sets of windows, I recently met neighbours (that clearly don’t get out much) who said that they would just like to watch our large flat screen tv from the street since they got rid of theirs..... kinda creepy! So now I close the livingroom curtains when it gets dark and try not to feel spooked out. When we moved here, the decor was hideous and we ditched virtually all of the tacky vinyl wide plank blinds... there are times that I kind of wish we’d kept them... since the house is an interior design challenge due to its age and former residents & it’s taking a long time, it feels like we can’t choose curtain or blind colours fast enough!

ATTENTION: DRAPES are not on windows. A drape is a piece of fabric you throw over furniture. DRAPERIES are used on windows.

Gee R29, like that never crossed my mind that people have telescopes and binoculars? Wow so insightful you are. Like I said before, I really don't care if people want to look in my windows, I have nothing to hide, I am not ashamed of being gay or my own sexuality. And by the way, not that I care are there are Pepping Tom laws for doing what you suggested.

I hate sheer (net) curtains so have had wooden internal plantation shutters fitted on all 16 windows in my house, they also don't have any long curtains.

The kitchen has six bifold doors at the rear (about 24ft wide) and they all have switchable privacy glass which I almost never use as the rear garden is large, private and not overlooked.

Privacy glass is the way forward if you don't like curtains.

And there you have it folks. The reason we don't have privacy anymore is because the population in general doesn't care that we no longer have it **cough cough** NSA,DHS,FUSION CENTERS **cough cough**

DUMB!

Most of my windows have draperies, but they’re never closed. Venetian blinds in my bedroom are the only things that get closed. My street has a grassy median with trees, and I’ve got some ornamental trees that block most direct views into the house. Nothing scandalous is ever happening on my first floor, so look if you want. Would be interesting to study the psychology of those with open brightly lit houses vs. those with closed up mostly dark houses.

When I meet someone new and see their place for the first time, if they have the blinds totally shut in every room during the day, I think serial killer. Blocking out direct sunlight is one thing, but keeping the blinds totally shut during the day because you are so afraid of what people might see, there is probably a cut off head in the refrigerator.

It's all good until a sniper picks you off while you're sitting on your couch in your curtainless cottage, picking your nose.

[quote]I've never understood how people can go through life putting themselves--and everything they own--and their kids--on display to God-knows-who. Me, for example. I can see into your house. I can see what you're doing. I don't understand how your mind works. I'm trying to understand how you could think this is a good idea.

It's called a view R40. You must be one of the poor gays sitting in a double wide.

R41 No, I'm in a house with a large living room window that overlooks a yard, sidewalk and street. Are you the high-rise queen or just an elitist twat? I understand leaving high-rise windows unobstructed for the sake of the view, but for ground-level homes, there is no view gained when the sun descends.

Net (sheer) curtains closest to the window, fabric curtains behind. The heavy curtains are closed when it gets dark. That, or blinds, is standard for the suburbs where I am. However, you do have plenty of socially-conscious neighbours who put their living rooms on display or, in the winter time, their Christmas tree and decorations.

Recently moved from a farmhouse-style old home with lots of windows where we had to keep wood blinds and curtains closed for privacy from neighbors and the street to a modern home with floor to ceiling walls of windows that look out into a very private garden/yard. Having so much daylight in the new house is a dream, and the garden feels like an extension of our living space. However, I recently had to hang room darkening curtains on our bedroom window wall and lighter-weight white curtains on a living room window wall - both of which face west - to cut down on the summer heat. In general, I am a big proponent of having privacy from neighbors because we do enjoy our Naked Sundays and sex-in-random-places lifestyle, but I also hate dark rooms in the daytime.

Hi, R41! A little to the left, if you please.

R45 I live directly across from the Rear Window apartment (which was on Christopher St) - and I don’t cover my windows.

I only use blinds...shut all the time. Except for the kitchen blinds on the weekends when it’s sunny out.

Cellular shades.

Took training with local police unit for a neighborhood watch/safety group. One of the things they mentioned that is catnip to thieves is houses with a clear view to the interior: i.e. no curtains or blinds; curtains and blinds left open; lights left on. Many of the civilian people taking the training are the same people who feel like they have to have their homes on display, like a diorama, every night, whether they are there or not. They even do it at Christmas, with gifts and all kinds of things piled up under the tree in the front window. On full display. It's a certain age group. Ahem.

^probably the most cossetted, well-educated, uber-protected generation ever. If you listen closely, you can hear the distant whir of their parents' helicopters in the background.

Nothing on my windows and I present hole 24/7.

^Aren't YOU playful and festive! Now, what was that street address again!?

R49 I had a neighbor that would leave his shutters open a crack. It was so obvious when he wasn't home.

How selfish. Windows are the entertainment for your interior during the day and the exterior at night.

I doubt if any sane one of you is sober enough in the evening to give a fuck about your privacy.

When I was in eastern Europe, almost every house and apartment had both sheer curtains and drapes. On every window except kitchen/bathroom. Even if it wasn't necessary, even if they had blinds. Apparently, without them windows felt "naked". And they were always attached to the ceiling, not the wall.

I walk around nude often with sheers that are open a bit.

Let the neighbors see my ass and my dick bouncing from thigh to thigh, I say. It's on them to look away.

My god. How many donald ducks are there out there? That just seems weird and half-committed. Your upper body needs clothes when your lower body does not?

I'm kind of sensitive to light. I face directly West, and there are no trees up this high around here - so even though my view is nice, I have blackout curtains so it isn't a tanning bed from 2-7 pm. Plus, it would be really hot. I basically have 1 lamp on all the time with 75 watts. This must sound creepy but it's just how I like it. I even put dimmer switches on all the other lights (they installed 800 watts of halogen track lighting here - nuts).

Blackout curtains make it feel more warm and comfortable to me. When I lived in a shitty neighborhood, it just made me feel a lot more insulated & in my own little bubble.

There's a lady in my building now who spent millions on one of the largest units here - and then she spent another $5000 on custom film for her windows - for the glare or for privacy or both... and the association is making her take it ALL off. She's livid. It might end up in a lawsuit. This association is full of cunts. The weird thing is we don't have "common exterior" rules which is far more common - so I could put up giant bright pink curtains if I wanted (most buildings say the outer face has to be white) - yet you absolutely cannot put anti-glare film on the windows.

I leave my curtains closed during the day too - I just got this way living in high rises with bad AC and ones that were always too warm. I got used to blocking out all the light I could. People who have floor to ceiling - wall to wall windows & don't even close the shades freak me out. It feels so uncomfortable to be on display in front of the neighborhood like that... and yes people can see straight in around here (even to 20+) because there are a ton of high rises. Plus the heat and the brightness... ugh. If I wanted that, I'd buy a condo in the desert.

About 45 years ago in San Francisco, where I lived at the time, there was a young couple from the Midwest who lived on Potrero Hill. They remodeled a charming old house in what was still a transitional neighborhood going from poor and sketchy to middle class. They made it very attractive inside and out and they had uncovered windows, night and day. For the poor people in the neighborhood it was a glimpse into another world. One night a creep broke in, raped and beat the young wife, and killed the husband.

Do any of you eldergays remember when that happened?

OMG I found a link to the story, it was worse than I remembered. They don't mention the part about the young couple leaving the windows uncovered at night but it's part of the story that really struck me at the time. It was a horribly brutal and violent crime.

Yes I have window coverings and they are drawn at night. My mother had a story of a peeping Tom when she was a teenager and it stuck with me.

My bedroom faces the street so I have sheers for day-time and a roller blind for night. I enjoy nudity and there's regularly pot-smoking, masturbation, or sex going on in my room, so maintaining some privacy is necessary, but I also enjoy a lot of natural light. I could never leave windows uncovered at night when the light's on, mainly because I know how much I gawk when I walk past illuminated uncovered windows.

When I lived in a condominium, the units across from me had windows in their showers. Most people covered the windows. However, there was a nice looking, fit guy who would open the window so there was nothing shielding the window at all, which was fun to catch occasionally. Another unit was occupied by an overweight woman who liked to have shower sex; it wasn't pretty, to say the least.

Always properly sheered, but I knew a guy years ago with a great body and ten-inch dick that would walk around his condo day and night in the nude with absolutely nothing at the windows. He lived in a quad shaped condo with a courtyard and nobody ever complained even though he was in on the fifth floor (about in the middle.).

I wipe my dick on the curtains after sex, so yes. Yes, I DO believe in curtains.

^NASTY ASS! I'm only commenting because of a similar experience. Years ago, I was sexing some young ho and once after a session, she took the corner of my bedspread and wiped her cummy coochie with it, and I just laid there saying to myself "Did she just wipe her pussy with my bedspread? Ain't THAT some shit!"

R59 I was already a window-coverer, but if I wasn't, that story would convert me. Horrifying! I was surprised the murderer was a guy with a normal job (mailman) and a house. Was this his first offense? It seems very unlikely this guy only did this once. He PEELED HER HEAD LIKE AN ORANGE.

[quote]I wipe my dick on the curtains after sex, so yes. Yes, I DO believe in curtains.

Ha, that reminds me of a joke I learned when I was a carnie two decades ago:

How do you make a woman scream twice? Fuck her in the ass, and then wipe it off on the curtains.

Thanks, R66, for intriguing me enough to read the article at R59. I really wish I hadn't. 😿

Sheers – however expensive the fabric – always make me think of the pollution-grimed nylon net curtains of London. Shudders! Admittedly, in the expensive districts they are replaced with shutters and half curtains, but still.

I foolishly had sheer curtains when I was young. I didn't think my neighbors would peek in. Boy was I wrong.

I have the pane-less glass windows which black out with the touch of a button. Love them. So no, no curtains or drapery.

I do have plantation shutters in the windows which have regular paned glass.

I like how French homes have shutters (les volets) and that they actually use them. It gives a sense of privacy and security. The ritual of closing them at dusk and then opening them in the morning puts a border between the private and public hours of the day.

^ Well, La de DAAAAAAAAAH! I suppose as soon as they open the shutters of a morn', to admit the golden light of the early summer sun, they turn to their croissants and their farm-fresh butter. I'll tell 'em where they can shove their butter.