California:
“The minimum size for a bedroom is 70 square feet. The dimension of one wall measures at least 7 feet. The ceiling height must also measure at least 7 feet. The roof and walls are constructed to provide adequate weather protection.”
New York:
“The minimum bedroom dimensions in NYC are 8 feet in any dimension with a minimum ceiling height of 8 feet. A legal bedroom in NYC must have a minimum square footage of 80 feet. It must also have at least one window measuring no less than twelve square feet.
There are a few exceptions which permit a legal bedroom in NYC to have dimensions less than 8 feet.”
Every state will be different. Most if not all of them probably have minimum size restrictions for a bedroom. And also the door, window, and closet requirement too.
OP, I’m kind of wondering exactly what sort of window treatments you have - because you only mention blinds/shades. I never have the “window coverings” in front of my house open , exactly - but they aren’t Venetian blinds or inexpensive window shades. The window coverings are the type that allow me to block the view through the bottom of the window while letting light in through the top - cafe curtains on the first floor and top down, bottom up shades on the second floor. The reason I have these window treatments is 1) I want to let sunlight and air in without everyone walking down the street being able to see in and 2) Having completely closed blinds/shades does make the house appear vacant - and although I have no idea if my neighbors care, I do think a vacant house is more likely to have some problems. Probably not literal break-ins in my neighborhood but possibly kids deciding to hang out in what they think is the yard of a vacant house or something like that.
The closed blind-hating couple may have been inspired by the Hitchcock film Rear Window, and enjoy spying on their neighbors in hopes of seeing really interesting things and possibly solving a murder. Arcite could share a line from the movie with them:
Stella: “…you get to lookin’ out the window. See things you shouldn’t see. Trouble. I can see you in court now, surrounded by a bunch of lawyers in double-breasted suits. You’re pleading: ‘Judge, it was only a little bit of innocent fun. I love my neighbors like a father.’ And the Judge says, ‘Well, congratulations, you’ve just given birth to three years in…’”
Some nice clangy wind chimes. Nothing better for making a home seem occupied.
In one room, the office, which is in the front of the house on the first floor, the honeycomb shades can also be pulled down from the top instead of up from the bottom, like yours. I still never open them, though.
God help us! Someone had those abominations for a while in some house about a block away. I was thinking of sneaking up some night and smearing them with quick-setting epoxy resin, but they were gone after a short while – I assume either taken down and smashed by a good neighbour with a sledgehammer who will have my eternal gratitude, or maybe removed by order of the city as a public nuisance.
As your New York link notes , a closet is not always a requirement. But NY has other rules that lead to rooms that are used as bedrooms not being able to be advertised as a bedroom. For example, it’s not uncommon in NYC for an apartment to require you to walk through each room to get to the next . But it can’t be advertised as a bedroom if you have to pass through another bedroom to get to it ( or if you have to pass through another bedroom to get to the bathroom). And maximum occupancy is not always an issue - it can be , sure. But there are plenty of situations where a non-bedroom can be used as a bedroom without violating maximum occupancy laws - for example, a family with a two bedroom house/apartment that “converts” a non-bedroom to a bedroom when kid #2 comes along.
Walking around our house, I noticed we do not have any blinds. The bathroom windows are situated high on the walls. Our sunroom has no curtains/drapes cause it’s a sunroom. Bedrooms all have sheer curtains just for looks. Living room has a bow window with a “window treatment” that just drapes around the outer border of the window. Kitchen windows have nothing, nor does the breakfast nook.
I think every room except the kitchen has blinds. And on really hot days, we close them, or at least the ones facing the sun. But that’s about it. Otherwise they all stay open. Except i guess my daughter often closes the blinds in the bathroom she uses. That looks out into the back yard, and her father and i often are in the yard, so i guess that makes sense.
We had no blinds in our house for 20 years. We recently got some because we were having a lot of work done outside and for the first time people were always around. Now they’re gone and we’re wide open again. Bedroom, bathrooms, everything. Hell, If we don’t have any guests, I walk down naked to the kitchen to get coffee in the morning and we have floor to ceiling windows. Here’s how lucky we are: The only people who might peer in are driving by on boats. (one night we were awaken to a fully lit bedroom in the middle of the night. A Coast Guard boat put their spotlight in our direction for some reason.)
I find it odd that opening your blinds is the solution the neighbors propose, and I would ask them next time why they think that is the answer. Wouldn’t a more logical solution be lawn ornaments? Even with the blinds down, people can see the lights on at night, so only during the daytime would their reasoning apply even slightly and do people really think blinds down indicates empty – since when? I can’t imagine asking a neighbor to open their blinds for any reason, especially in a setting where it affords passersby a view inside, and especially not when a porch plant would be more effective. I think your neighbors are nosy & using these inquiries to try to get your windows open for their benefit. If they ask again after you have a few things on your porch, tell them you’re paranoid & give them a creative story about murder & mayhem that occurred as a result of a random psycho getting a glimpse into someone’s home while dogwalking. That should shut them down & maybe instill fear as an added bonus.
Again, I think this goes back to their assertion that random passers-by who were (allegedly) inquiring whether my place was for rent, (allegedly) explicitly, verbally told them that the fact that all the blinds/shades are drawn is a sign that a place is for rent.
If you think about it, if for whatever reason they want me to make my place look more lived-in, suggesting to me that I open my shades might seem a less-intrusive request. I already have shades; all I’d have to do is open them. Suggesting to me that I get porch furniture and lawn ornaments might seem more importunate since it requires that I spend money.
Also, we have an HOA and while I haven’t checked the document lately, lawn ornaments might be verboten.
Right, hence my question: how does it benefit them for my window coverings to be open?
They get a look at your furnishings/decor, indoor activities, visitors, etc. A lot of info. Or maybe just reassures them that you’re ‘normal’. Unless that gives a clear view of your dildo collection.
Even if people have mentioned the blinds, opening them ‘sometimes’ would do little to prevent people thinking it was for rent the rest of the time, so not really a solution. You don’t mention gender, but if you’re female this is an especially odd request because it is dangerous.
For whatever reason, they may have the experience that a lived-in house, a welcoming house, friendly neighbors, etc. have the blinds open and that the opposite may mean a vacant house, private neighbors, etc. I’m sure we all have our own versions of what we would like most houses in our neighborhoods to look like. But most of us keep our opinions to ourselves rather than telling our neighbors stuff like which flowers to plant that we like, park their cars where we want, etc. I’m not sure that there’s a logical or universally understood reason for their request. If the few mentions about the blinds are the only negative thing you’ve had to deal with with these neighbors over a couple of years, that’s not too bad. And considering that you also have an HOA, count your blessings. Nosy, bossy neighbors + HOA have the potential for lots of headaches since the covenants often have lots of stuff they can nit-pick you about. It sounds like, overall, your neighborhood is pretty good with regards to that.
I could tell you a couple of houses in my neighborhood who have window coverings pulled all of the time. Since it is a very small minority - maybe 3 out of 50 houses - IMO that qualifies them as unusual.
I do not think I could describe a single interior decorating or furnishing aspect of the majority of homes that open and close their binds - with the exception of a couple that have huge TVs that seem to be always on, and the one house that has some 5’ tall Christian statue and light up cross in their living room - to match the pair of 3-4’ tall ones in the center of their front picture window and on their front stoop.
Feel free to continue believing that folk who notice whether your blinds are open or closed are trying to see what is going on inside your house. In my case, at least - and I suspect many others’ - it simply is not true.
