Topic: Can anyone explain this to me..... closed windows, drapes 24/7.
Topic Posted by: DiscoDiva
Date Posted: Wed Apr 23 18:48:51 2008
Additional Comments: I have never understood for the life of me, why some ppl keep their windows and drapes pulled shut all the time. ESPECIALLY now, we are just coming into the most beautiful weather here in Illinois, and it is about time after all the rainy, gloomy days. But the other day I took a walk and I could not believe the number of homes shut up like Fort Knox. Wouldn't you think people would welcome the sunshine, blue skies, cool breeze, or if not opening up their windows because of allergies or something, just want to look out? I truly don't get it. We have neighbors directly across the street who have a nice picture window in the front of their home but it has to be dark as ever in there because they never open the drapes. I know some ppl are "private" but what gives? If you are this type of person, I would really like to know your thinking. Does anyone else notice this amongst neighbors? The first home I lived in on my own had a real big window in the front and I never, I mean never closed the drapes!! I know some ppl like to lay around and watch tv in their skivvies, but I guess I am more talking about in the daytime.....
I live in Florida in a condo and all my window except 2 face West. With the longer day I tend to keep windows covered to keep up the blinding sunlight and heat.
In the winter I tend to keep things open more to get the heat from the sun.
With me its a seasonal thing.
Posted by: Cache Date posted: Fri Apr 25 9:42:20 2008
Message: I'm of two minds with this topic. I love to be able to see outside in the daytime, but don't want anyone to be able to see in at night. On a police show I once watched, I remember that windows without coverings at night was how a serial rapist was able to stalk and select his victims......scary! But in the daytime with our house even with the blinds open you can't really see in. We rarely open the windows for breeze because of the pollen or humidity. My pet peeve, however is at night, Hubby likes to watch TV with all the lights out. I agree with serialmom, it must be a man thing. I retreat to our bedroom and cross stitch or crochet/knit and watch the TV channels I prefer. I once joked to Hubby when he asked what I would do if he kicked the bucket...... I said ''The first thing I'll do is open all the blinds and turn the heat setting up three degrees.'' LOL! MEN....gotta love em.
Posted by: Kate Date posted: Thu Apr 24 15:21:11 2008
Message:
As some here know, we downsized last year. We sold our big house to a young, professional couple.
Within weeks, they had all the big trees surrounding the house cut down! My big blue spruce, too. (if I'd dreamed that they'd do that, I'd have had a tree mover bring it here) All those big shade trees that tooks decades to get that big.......gone forever! Wait til the summer sun begins shining on that big roof!
Also, I have never been past there when the draperies are open. Everything is closed up, tight. And with a 2 car garage, both of their vehicles are parked outside on the drive.
People are just strange. Me too, I guess, but I open the blinds during the day. lol
Posted by: Midge Date posted: Thu Apr 24 12:52:28 2008
Message: I guess one reason to keep drapes closed is because there maybe people walking by your house keeping track of your habit of opening and closing drapes.
You know, what you see from the street isn't necessarily an indication of the light or lack of, inside the house. I have two 6ft picture windows across the front of my house. They have custom made plantation shades, that from the street, look completely closed. From in the house, I can see anyone walking by. Those windows are in my bedroom and the den. I don't want anyone walking down the street to look into my bedroom or the den, which is off the bedroom. If I come out of the shower and need to run through the bedroom and den to get to the kitchen, I don't want to be thinking someone is looking in.
OTOH, I have an 8ft iron gate across my driveway and people walking by, don't see I have a huge bay window in the kitchen, with NO window treatments, that only we or our next door neighbor are aware of. Also, across the back of my house, I have a 30ft window, completely bare, looking out on the garden. No one can see that window, without coming through the iron gate and walking around to my backyard. I also have six large skylights. With the composition of the roof, only one of the skylights could be visible from the street, IF the trees are bare.
So anyone who cares to contemplate the exterior of my house from the street, will see nothing of the interior.. As for letting in breezes. we live in the HIGH humidity area and I don't think anyone here would expect to see windows open, unless it's winter.
Posted by: Rose Bush Date posted: Thu Apr 24 12:47:39 2008
Message: Maybe they are growing drugs. A friend who lives in town told me that the rental property next to his had the blinds closed all day and all night. At night, they could see slits of really bright lights coming out from where the blinds did not quite close properly. Then they noticed that the lights were on as soon as dusk happened, so they guessed they were on all the time. A few weeks after that, they were awoken at 5 am by a police raid next door. Turns out, the people who rented the house turned it into a hydroponic marijuana plot. The light was the 24/7 growing lights. Nobody was living in the house (which explained why they hardly saw the new tennants). The inside of the house had been wrecked by the water and heat, and the owner was up for $1000s in repairs. The police got on to it when the power company reported a huge surge in electricity usage by that house, and investigated.
Posted by: Me@Home Date posted: Thu Apr 24 12:10:11 2008
Message: We have a massive 5-panel bow window in our living room, and each casement window has pleated shades INSIDE between the glass panes. We can drop those shades down from the top, so we usually have them lowered about a foot all across. It admits fantastic light (our plants love it) yet we can maintain our privacy, even when we crank open a window or two for fresh air. We do not have a television in our living room but we do have a baby grand piano and large prints and paintings on the walls. No draperies on that big window, so the room has a light, airy feel to it. In our master bedroom, we have double-hung windows with pleated shades that are not built in--these we also drop down from the top, so in the spring and late summer and all through the fall, we usually have those windows open from the top, and just drop the shades down to that level for privacy and plenty of air circulation. We have the same setup in a couple of our bathrooms, too for the privacy and air flow. I forgot to mention that hubby is 6'6" tall, so he can see out of the top part of all these windows. Heh. I am only 5' 3" tall, so for me...not so much. In our kitchen and dining room, we have blinds in between the glass panes (as opposed to pleated shades) and the cool thing is we can either tilt the blinds open or any level of closed or we can use a zipper-pull-like gizmo to pull the blinds up part or all of the way. That part of the house is on the east, so we frequently just pull up the built-in blinds within the big sliding glass door all the way to the top so we can enjoy lots of natural light. BTW, these windows are made by Pella.
Posted by: trkdrvrsqueen Date posted: Thu Apr 24 10:17:45 2008
Message: Growing up....our neighbor lady NEVER opened her drapes....my grandmothers explanation was that the lady was an alcoholic! Well....that was her explnation for Mr. Roboni too....who fell down...over & over everytime her tried to climb the steps to his front door across the street!! Who knows what goes on in other people's lives really. To each his own! Cheers!
Posted by: ingyandbert Date posted: Thu Apr 24 8:39:43 2008
Message: I don't get that either. I could not live in a home that was like a cave. Our home is just the opposite. We have a 10-foot leaded glass bay window in our living room and it has no window coverings at all on it. A few miles from our house, there is a small house that has a regular size bay window on the front of the house and it has a GIGANTIC big screen TV parked in front of it that obscures 90% of the window. It just looks absurd. (And that's another thing I can't understand, people with small houses that buy those gigantic televisions that are obviously way too large for the room.)
Posted by: Meri Date posted: Thu Apr 24 1:36:50 2008
Message:
We usually have our front blinds either shut or more likely, open at an angle, and then from the front of the house they look closed anyway. The reason is because of the glare on the television.
Posted by: rushlan Date posted: Wed Apr 23 23:53:55 2008
Message: I forgot to add, I have a neighbor across the street whose house has absolutely no windows in the front. None, just his garage door and front door and it looks like a one-story house. But...when you go inside the house is floor-to-ceiling glass on the back and is three stories, climbing down the side of the hill. The bottom and middle stories have huge decks off of the sliding and French doors. He has a magnificent view, and the times I have been over their is nothing covering the windows. It's very private back there so I guess they don't need window coverings.
Posted by: rushlan Date posted: Wed Apr 23 23:50:32 2008
Message: I certainly can't explain it. It's 8:45 PM here, the sun is almost completely down and my curtains/blinds are still open. I love to look at the trees in the back and from the front window I can see the Cascade mountains. Too lovely to keep everything closed up.
I've noticed something related to this. Males seem to like it dark. We live in a state that has sunshine 340 days a year and instead of opening those blinds/shades/drapes many people keep them shut. Even when we were looking at homes I sometime couldnt see the interior and had to ask the homeowner if we could turn on a light. LOL. My husband will close blinds and turn out lights when he watches TV in the evening. I always watch with other lights on. One ironic thing about Florida is you never see people driving with the car windows open when the temp is 75-83. Isnt that the reason people move to a sunny place, to enjoy the bright, breezy, sunny weather?
When I was a teen one of my male friends turned his basement into a ''club''. Whenever I would go over there on a beautiful spring or summer day there they would be, sitting in that cave-like dungeon. I would say ''Why don't you add some dripping water too?''
Don't like dark, not restaurants, gyms, offices, you name it. It must have visable outdoor view.
Posted by: DebS Date posted: Wed Apr 23 19:59:17 2008
Message: Sometimes I do that, but not deliberately. And I don't have drapes either - just venitian blinds. Many times, especially if my roommate is away (like now), I'll forget to open them in the a.m.. Or like now, it's BEAUTIFUL out and I should open up the windows. If my roommate were here, all of our windows would be open to let in the nice breeze. But I just forget. So they stay closed. I don't think I'm as bad as your neighbors, though. I could never live in complete darkness - especially if it's so nice outside. I'm just clueless and forgetful sometimes.
Posted by: Peridot Date posted: Wed Apr 23 19:05:34 2008
Message: Our next-door neighbors, two single guys, always have their shades drawn. My FIL comments on it whenever he visits and cracks me up with his speculations--they're doing drugs, they're doing this, they're doing that, and don't want anyone to see. Our homes aren't all that far apart so I always figured it was for privacy, at least on the side that faces our house. I know some people who keep the drapes drawn because they don't want their furniture or artwork to fade. I don't want mine to fade either but I'm willing to risk it for some natural light and fresh air.
Posted by: MissyB Date posted: Wed Apr 23 18:58:40 2008
Message: There is one house in particular where I live that has horizontal blinds at every window, and they are never, ever open. It doesn't matter what time of the day or night I go buy, they are always closed. The front door and all the windows are always closed too. I would hate being shut up like that all of the time. After winter, I love opening the windows and getting the screen doors in. When it gets too hot and we have to use the air conditioning, I'm always anxious to when it cools down enough to shut it off and open up the windows and doors again.
