Depends strongly on the weather. In the summer when it is hot, we keep them open until the temperature outside matches that inside, and then close then to keep out the heat. We also live across from an elementary school, so we often keep them closed in the morning to prevent people from viewing the spectacle of me eating breakfast in my pajamas.
The back curtains are almost always open unless it is too hot.
I’m very light sensitive, so generally everything stays closed. Before I got sick, we’d close the coverings on the public side of the house, and on the sunny side of the house in the Summer, to help manage heat.
I love natural light, have a house full of windows and a lot of privacy. Only one room has decorative curtains (family room) and they are just that – decorative. They stay open always, night and day.
The only room that has blinds is my first guest bedroom. I always leave them open. I find it amusing to see which of my house guests close them as darkness falls. I understand it’s habit to close blinds so others can’t see in, but my place is so private you can’t see the house at all from the road. Surrounded by forest on every side. The only view my guests are blocking is their own, of the beautiful grounds and wildlife.
If I lived in a more populated area, I’d close window coverings as darkness fell and open them again in the mornings.
Nope. My blinds are never open. Well, they were that one day half of them literally fell down, but I have a curtain over the window right now and no, it’s never opened.
Because I live on the first floor next to a bar and would rather not have drunk assholes gazing into my living room and/or at me. Also, would rather not have the local low-lives looking into my living room to see what valuable might be easily portable when no one is home.
If I lived on the second floor of this building I’d be more willing to open the blinds. In fact, the second floor is where my spouse’s workshop is located and when I’m up there working I do have the blinds open.
Open all the time, unless it’s really cold (to keep the heat in) or really hot (to keep the heat out). In between, they’re open.
we have the drapes closed because the wii/wii u / Kinect are very light sensitive …but we leave the front door open 9 months of the year
not that it matters because we have holiday window decorations on them from oct to jan
Where I currently live has skylights and one kitchen window. The skylights have no coverings at all, and the blind on the window hasn’t been down since I moved in. That’s how I prefer it.
There is a small area of the street a little way up the hill where one can see a section of the living room, but anyone looking’d be some distance away and they’d have to be paying attention to a not very obvious top window, so I just try not to stand nekkid in that section of the living room.
In my previous place, despite everyone preferring the curtains open, we had to put in net curtains on the side of the house facing the street, and keep them closed, because my live-in landlord had a lot of high value music equipment in there (he repaired and sold it, so I mean a lot), and someone actually stuck a note through the door saying, basically ‘Dude, keep the curtains shut, it’s really obvious that you have high value easily movable stuff in there, and you’re probably going to get burgled if you don’t try and hide that.’
New house in a very rural area with no close neighbours - I’ve been adjusting all the curtain rods so that he curtains hang outvside the frames of the windows and block as little of the glass as possible. I love all the natural light and no need for curtains for privacy, though I may need to close them in the summer to keep the sun from heating up the house.
Last house in the city, I had a lot of plants in the front window that blocked much of the view in, and then curtains I could pull across for heat control and total privacy, but mostly they stayed open.
I live in a pretty typical suburban subdivision, woods in the back, neighbors all around. I have blinds, sheers, and heavy curtains. I close the heavy curtains at night and open them in the morning. The sheers and blinds get adjusted depending on the weather and more often on the side of the house that gets the afternoon sun.
I also have a cat that has recently been transitioned from indoor/outdoor life to indoor only, so I have to keep a few blinds pulled about 1/3 of the way up so she can sit in the window sill and dream of her glory days.
My previous house had indoor shutters throughout and I loved them! Great for getting light and view when you wanted it and total blockage when you didn’t.
I don’t care if people can see me in my main living areas, even at night. It’s a pretty boring reality show.
My house is passive solar. Lots of windows that go floor to ceiling. Only have window coverings on the bedroom windows to try to block the moon for sleeping.
We have no neighbors and can’t see the ‘road’ from in our house. We are the only full time residents on the road, a ‘cul-de-sac’. Only two other houses which can’t be seen from our house or the road.
I do think it may freak out overnight guests initially. We do have window coverings in the guest room, but in the main living areas, at night, I suppose you might feel a bit exposed.
This was a big point of contention when I got married a few years ago and moved into my wife’s house.
My approach: Heavy, floor-length insulated drapes on every window, along with light-darkening blinds (just in case). Always closed. I like the “cigar-box” atmosphere, especially when I have the music system cranked up.
My wife’s approach: Blinds that are usually raised to the top of the window, with some valances. Sunlight everywhere.
I value privacy and don’t want the sun on my TV, laptop, or whatever. I don’t like the fading from the sunlight. After spending the day IN the world, I want to be SEPARATE from the world.
Guess who won?
Heh, my husband and I still bicker about all this. We compromised with his cigar box privacy on the first floor and my sunlight and airiness on the second. I still don’t like it but he does have a point about keeping out the heat/cold by having thermal drapes year round.
I’m in a second story residence so a view inside is difficult. I’m sure my elevated location accounts for most of my “open” attitude. Only the guest bedroom has curtains. It’s been my experience that most people in foreign environments (i.e., guests) prefer the ability to have complete privacy.
The curtain open/close “question” is fascinating. Mainly because I recall my Mom religiously opening certain curtains after breakfast and closing them just before the family had dinner. Asking her about it after becoming an adult (and frankly thinking her actions foolish), she said she didn’t like people seeing her eat. I also remember my Mom insisting that my sisters close their curtains at night but we boys could do as we pleased. My brother and I were far too lazy to open and close curtains, so they were always open.
The majority of houses in my neighborhood have closed curtains nearly all the time. Seems bizarre to me.
The south facing windows and (ugh!) sliding glass door stay blinds closed period during summer and open during winter, spring and fall vary.
the north facing main window in the living room blinds are drawn half open, one bedroom window the blinds are down but the slats are open and MY bedroom window has heavy navy blue curtains that are never opened…ever, since my wife works nights and sleeps days.
Inner-city ------- mostly draped and closed but even those windows to directly visible have at least shears all the time.
This part same here, fully open unless I want to make it dark for a specific reason. At times I didn’t have the ability to block the window aside from hanging a bed sheet over it and tacking it to the wall. Now taht would change if I lived somewhere where the outside line of sight would allow people to look in, but I don’t and WooHoo.
As long as I’m not working the overnight shift, there is no way I’d leave my blinds closed. Chicago has some awful weather, so I want to see the sun when it is out.
I might make an exception if I’m watching a movie and don’t want the sun to interfere with the television screen.
You are really an optimist.
I keep the curtains closed, but mainly because it would be a pain to fully open them. I have an extra set of “blackout” curtains closer to the window than the main curtains that do not easily get moved. There is a ton of light pollution where I live due to the condo association having coach lights on all the garages that stay on all night, and my bedroom faces the street. Blacking it all out forever means I often have to put the light on during the day, but it’s better than disassembling the blackout curtains.
In the front of the house, yes- primarily because we’re south-facing and I’m trying to keep the heat out. We tend to leave the curtains in the back open all the time, though.