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Post by meryt on Jun 13, 2010 7:54:32 GMT -5
My living room fronts directly onto the pavement. It is also very dark. For the past two years, I have had a translucent blind permanently closed over the window because I was ashamed of people looking in and seeing the mess and/or my partner when he was drunk. However, this means I have to have the light on permanently.
Following the amazing work of my daughters last week, the front of the room is now relatively clear. Someone looking through the window would see slight untidiness, but nothing dreadful. The stuff in the back of the room needs sorting and a decision made on where it should go. It's not trash as such, nor is it dirty.
Also, I no longer have to sit in an armchair in the living room all day doing my work with a laptop on my knee. My girls have cleared out the study upstairs, and I am sitting in a lovely, clean and bright room, working at my bureau. Since David is dead, there will be no drunk or semi-drunk man on view in the living room either.
So mostly during the day the living room will not be being used. At night, I can shut the curtains and sit there in privacy.
The street is a dead-end, so there is only the occasional passer-by: residents of the street, their visitors, postman...
If I remove the blind, I will have a lot more light downstairs during the day. Perhaps not having the blind will act as a motivator for me to keep the room clean. It might even be light enough for me to have flowers or a plant in the room. I had some beautiful big plants in my previous house and was heartbroken when they died within weeks of my move because they were deprived of light in the new house.
On the other hand, it is quite a scary prospect to "expose" myself in this way after such a long time of hiding.
Net curtains are not an option. I have four cats and net curtains simply do not survive very long and get filthy and covered in cat hair even sooner than being torn down.
What would you do?
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Post by Script on Jun 13, 2010 8:13:13 GMT -5
one idea:
*can the blind be pulled up temporarily? this way you can adjust to the light and freedom, without committing to its permanent removal.
sometimes people need to de-squalor in stages, getting used to the changes slowly. however, you seem to be taking some HUGE steps with your wonderful daughters' help. so maybe you are more ready than you think....to move on.....into the light.
ps: from what i know, wales is not the brightest warmest sunniest place on earth, so if you don't really need to worry about 'too much light'
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 13, 2010 8:51:06 GMT -5
You said you have a translucent blind now--is that the kind that can be opened and closed? If not I'd either get the thin venetian blinds or an old fashioned shade (I still like these!) so you can have them open or pulled completely up during the day when you want light, but can close them at night or if you feel the need to be more private.
I always marvel at people who can leave their windows uncovered in the evening when you can see right into their place--I could never do that, but it must feel liberating to not care if people look in at you!
Diane
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Post by mouseanne on Jun 13, 2010 10:33:15 GMT -5
I so much prefer roller window shades to mini-blinds. and... what a wonderful problem to have.... a clean house...  I am happy for you! |
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Post by notsomessyshell on Jun 13, 2010 11:03:47 GMT -5
First off WAY TO GO!!! How nice to have a clean living room!!! You deserve it. AND a nice clean study to work in. What a blessing. Now about the blinds, I so understand this one! In the old place we had all the windows closed and covered all the time. No natural light. Now in the new place I have blinds that I can open and close. It is so nice to be able to let the light in and have the option to close them when I want. I think it is a good motivator to keep it clean and the light is healing to me. Dark is depressing. We need some sunlight. We are much happier now. I think it is partly because of the natural light. I am a fan of both blinds and shades. Can you open the ones you have? I like both the roll shads and blinds. You may find that with the clean space and the light you use the living room more than you think you will.
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Post by theroyaldump on Jun 13, 2010 12:06:40 GMT -5
Maybe those cute little cafe type wooden shutters. You can close the slats at night or leave them open or open the shutters completely! White ones might look really nice!  |
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Post by harleyquinn on Jun 13, 2010 12:12:41 GMT -5
Hello,
It's good to hear that things are getting better for you. In the past, when I've wanted to let light in but still preserve privacy, I put up blinds that could be raised and lowered (a shade would work as well) and also put a large, leafy plant directly in front of the window. Once, I did the same thing with a small (35 gallon) aquarium--but that only worked well in the winter months. During the summer too much algae grew from all the sunlight. No one could see into the room through the plant or the aquarium, but a lot of light filtered through. For me plants are very healing to look at and care for. When I've had to ditch them during a move, I've really missed them.
Best to you,
Harley
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 13, 2010 13:54:48 GMT -5
I just remembered something that I saw recently. There are some townhouses near me with large front windows, most of them have blinds but one has a very pretty Japanese style folding screen blocking the window. It was high enough to keep people from looking in but didn't come all the way to the top of the window, so I'm sure a lot of light came in and through the material of the screen. It's probably easy to move aside when they don't want to block the view from outside.
Diane
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Post by mellowyellow on Jun 13, 2010 14:13:31 GMT -5
In the living room, I have sheer cafe curtains that look like this cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/15d/f/AAAAApHytKYAAAAAAV34rQ.jpg . You could also line them with another fabric if you wanted extra privacy. When I stand, I can still see outside, but seated, I'm hidden from view. My house faces a street with lots of foot traffic. I find that even at night, those sheers give me enough privacy. I also have floor length curtains made of a light, natural open-weave fabric, on either side of the window. I sweep them across if it's too sunny in the living room. |
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Post by mellowyellow on Jun 13, 2010 14:14:23 GMT -5
Forgot to mention, I also have cats... three actually. And though there are certain curtains they love to scratch, they seem to leave these ones alone.
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Jun 13, 2010 16:13:36 GMT -5
How wonderful to have that "problem!"
I'd recommend leaving the blinds as open as possible for awhile, before making any other decisions.
Love the cafe shutters (aka plantation shutters.)
In my front windows, I have some salvaged stained-glass windows, just sitting on the windowsills. They give me enough visual privacy, and I love the light shining through.
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Post by lizzie on Jun 14, 2010 4:30:43 GMT -5
Here in Oz there is a trend for a translucent contact which is simply stuck onto the glass, so there is all the light you could want but there's still privacy, in lots of places they have stencilled letters or patterns cut out of the contact to give it a smart edge. Ikea sells an almost see-through contact for putting on windows. Another thing you could play with would be white organza, stuck to the glass with a lowtack glue...
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Post by meryt on Jun 16, 2010 13:17:36 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I adore the cafe-style shutters
BUT
I took down the blind today and will not replace it with anything. After some thought, I realised that this would not only motivate me to keep the front room in reasonable order, but it will send some very clear messages to the people who live round me, who have undoubtedly spent the last 2.5 years gossiping about and condemning me, and who have not even bothered to express a word of sympathy to me about David's death.
So to these neighbours, my uncloaked window proclaims:
I am not afraid of you
I have nothing to hide any more
I intend to stay here
I will draw the curtains at night. However, I was in Copenhagen on business some years back during a very wet and depressing week in February. Walking round the city at night, it really struck me that most people did not have any curtains on their windows. You could see right into their rooms. The other thing that struck me was the candles that were visible just about everywhere. It was as if they were lighting their homes and then broadcasting the light and warmth into the street. One room in particularly has stayed in my memory. It was filled with lit candles, tens of them all around. In the middle, a man sat contentedly reading a book in a comfortable armchair. I remember looking in at that scene and wishing so much that I could have a room like that. Well, I tried selling candles on eBay for a while. It didn't succeed, and I still have approx. 1000 candles down in the basement... Hmm...
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Post by Peach on Jun 16, 2010 14:00:24 GMT -5
I will draw the curtains at night. However, I was in Copenhagen on business some years back during a very wet and depressing week in February. Walking round the city at night, it really struck me that most people did not have any curtains on their windows. You could see right into their rooms. The other thing that struck me was the candles that were visible just about everywhere. It was as if they were lighting their homes and then broadcasting the light and warmth into the street. One room in particularly has stayed in my memory. It was filled with lit candles, tens of them all around. In the middle, a man sat contentedly reading a book in a comfortable armchair. I remember looking in at that scene and wishing so much that I could have a room like that. Well, I tried selling candles on eBay for a while. It didn't succeed, and I still have approx. 1000 candles down in the basement... Hmm... Oh..... that sounds so peaceful. A room at night lit by candles. Are there candles that are safe? I am always fearful of one getting knocked over and burning the house down. So I don't light any. Perhaps candles that are set inside glass jars are okay?  I would be interested in opinions as to what is best. Congratulations on deciding to leave your windows uncovered during the day. With window glare, most rooms are still not visible to people outside -- unless they come right up to the window and look in, which would be very rude. |
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Post by meryt on Jun 16, 2010 14:20:41 GMT -5
With window glare, most rooms are still not visible to people outside -- unless they come right up to the window and look in, which would be very rude. I've sat in the front room and seen people bend right down to try and look into my house through the little spaces that existed between the scalloped edges of the blind! |
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