HA. I remember being at my niece's apartment in Brazil. Their bathroom shower had a full wall of glass block that was visible to the rest of the house. I saw more than I expected when her husband took a shower! Gulp.

Lord, I wish it bothered my DH. He is just more comfortable nude and in our new digs, we have a big window in our MB. He routinely opens the blind, and keeps it open during his entire routine and we have CLEAR GLASS! His dad was the same so I don't think I'm going to change him, but I shriek every time nonetheless. I think I should start my own thread about how to make it opaque.

I bought the paper shade at home depot as a temporary fix. You might try that Jen as an interim measure. I think they cost about $5 and actually look kind of nice. I put ours on a tension rod rather than sticking it to the frame because the moisture kept making it fall down.

LOL about the "husband on exhibit!" And dedtired, that kind of gives "Brazilian" a whole meaning, doesn't it? ;-D

We had paper shades before our shutters were installed and they drove me nuts. Kept falling down. If I can find it, I'm going to get a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic double-layer faux silk shade. My brother and SIL have one in their powder room and it's lovely. It'll serve the purpose and give me something that doesn't feel quite so temporary while we're deciding on the Roman.

The girl next door put a glass block window in her master bath redo. The neighbor on that side of her house commented that the blocks didn't block much.

Oh my! Thankfully we don't have anyone close enough to see in windows - all our windows are clear. Jen, going now to google the RA shade. Sounds pretty.

Tina, it's this one:

It's very simple and with the double layers, it does provide privacy. Something I'm feeling a little bit desperate for at the moment! ;-)

Pretty! Hope you find it.

too funny! i do worry that maybe over the yrs we might have exhibited more than we intended because i love natural light and could never have a shade up/down all the time! and, we've lived in too many house that had a huge tub in front of a window which i wasn't inclined to climb into every time i wondered about whether there was enough privacy! we've always had a master on the 2nd floor, so i always did a test to make sure there was enough 'essential' privacy so we wouldn't be flashing anyone on the ground and would make sure a window treatment provided privacy from there, but i was never absolutely sure about neighbors' upper windows- esp if they had 3 floors... my hub would say, honestly- do you really think people are going to stand at their windows to look!?

DH and I just conducted this same experiment on our bathroom window that faces the road (Hello!) last week. The frosted glass on the lower half of the window hides...nothing! EEeeek! Our road gets little traffic, but still, I prefer to preserve our privacy. Cute shade you've picked out. I'm going to have to check it out, too.

Another thing to consider is which direction to turn the blinds. I normally turn them so that they are slanted up (from inside), as this blocks direct light better, but in the front of my house, the sidewalk is downhill from the house, and so this allows people to look up inside the windows, whereas the opposite direction for the blinds (which lets in more light) blocks their view. Only my brother's bedroom and the sewing room have windows in the front of the house, and the rest of the house is well protected by privacy walls.

Hmmm, very interesting! 23 years ago when we had this place built, we had a single vertical line of 6 frosted glass blocks put in our MBR shower wall, between it and the outside wall to bring in light. This is only out to our private walled garden off our MBR, though. But, in all these years, I've never bothered to actually stand out there to see if I could see in. Thankfully, we've never showered with anyone out there << out there on our garden patio while DH or I was taking a shower inside, that is . . . thanks Grapefruit LOL!>>, but I will definitely keep that in mind if ever! On the other hand, our neighbors next to us have a frosted glass block window in the shape of a saguaro cactus. Unlike our home, which is very far off the road, theirs is very close to the road and their glass block window faces it. I've never noticed anything in all these years, but I do plan on keeping my eyes averted as I walk or drive by from now on (LOL)!

If I didn't have a fence on that side of the house I *would* be concerned too. Thank goodness it's the garage of the new house, and no windows. Now with my overactive imagination, someone could be standing behind the fence, but when I am in the tub in the evening, I only keep the closet light on. I'm naturally paranoid. ;)

LynnNM.......I had to stop and reread your response. I was thinking that it said...."Thankfully we never showered with anyone out there"....:)

Then I realized that there was another meaning....:)

A few years ago our neighbors did a bathroom makeover which included a new glass block wall in the shower because their only window got removed with the makeover. That room faces the front of our house. Prior to this post I never thought to look to see if I can see anything.....I guess now I will have to.....;)

I keep thinking about that late evening a couple of months ago - after dark - when I saw the red and blue police lights through the glass block window. (It makes for a really spacy "strobe" effect!) I walked out on the front porch to see if I could tell what was going on and there were two police SUVs that had cornered a man in a hoodie who was on foot. No idea where he came from or where he was going (didn't see a vehicle that he could've been driving), and the very idea that he could have been lurking around my "sideshow window" gives me shivers.

Omg Jen! Do you not have a fence?

Not on the side where the window is - hence my cause for concern. I explained it in my other thread on the Roman shade, but not in this one (obviously - ;-)). We live in garden homes that are zero lot line. There is no house yet to the south of us, but when it is built, our window will effectively be inside their fenced yard. The house to the north of us has its glass block window inside of our fence. We'll have neighbors living there in a month or so, and I am compelled to tell them about the visibility issue if they don't already know!

Good idea, Jen! Better before than after they've moved in and will always wonder.

I would never have thought that you get such visibility with the glass block.

OT: A funny memory. My daughter went to college in Pittsburgh. There was a popular ice cream shop and we decided to get cones. There is a wall and door of mirrors. Through the door is a bathroom. It was a two way mirror! While you are in the bathroom, you see all the customers at the tables etc.

Who would think this is a good idea? It was funny, uncomfortable, but funny. We joked that customers could point and laugh at the mirror as if they could actually see inside the bathroom.

Ellen......I have been in that bathroom, too!!! It is a very weird experience!!

Same with blinds. I went out and tested my blinds in the bedroom in my last house, (at night with the lights on) and they were quite see-through. You couldn't make out details, but distinct outlines! I used to yell at my SO to turn off the overhead light in the BR and not stand in front of the windows, but he always used to say "Who cares!" I lived in a row house neighborhood and I certainly didn't want to put on a show for my neighbors. And my SO was a very private person, so I think he underestimated how nosy some of our neighbors were.

Well, the Rachwell Ashwell Shabby Chic curtain that I admired in my brother's home looks like Shabby S*** in this room. Oh well, at least it's only temporary! I spoke to the designer yesterday and she's pulling together fabric samples for me. So far she seems to favor the idea of a simple Roman shade with contrasting banded edges, and that's one idea that I've had since the beginning, so I'd be on board. Still eager to see what other choices she comes up with though.

Having the fabric on the window is weird (and it doesn't fit perfectly, but like I said, it's temporary). It does make me feel a lot more secure in the room, since there's no longer that gaping black hole of a window to contend with when it's dark out.

LOL! I believe I said very similar words when we first moved into this house! The reality of knowing that you're exposing more than you realized brings a whole new attitude, though. Believe me. ;-)

My neighbors glass block bath window at my former house was visible from my kitchen, and if someone was in that room at night with the light on, I knew someone was in the room but couldn't tell if male or female or guess what they may have been doing even if I had been interested - and I wasn't ;) When a young woman bought that house, the glass block concerned her and I invited her over to assess the privacy from my viewpoint. She left assured she wasn't providing a peep show ;)

Jen, I remember the discussion here when you bought the house. Doesn't always matter what others share; sometimes you have to see for yourself. At least you made the discovery before neighbors moved in.

my neighbours bathroom backs on to my bedroom widow when its dark you can see them clearly having a shower or using the toilet