I always close my blinds at night. When we drive down our street at night I see people with the blinds open and you can see all the way through the house. I don't like that at all.

I keep the blinds and curtains opened all day but once it starts to get dark, I close them. No one needs to see inside my house. In the day, the windows are shiny and you cannot see in unless your face is up to the glass.

Do you think people who leave them open actually KNOW how clearly others can see through? Perhaps they don't and would be shocked at how visible they are.

We pull the shades down in rooms we are using at night, except the kitchen that is at the back of our house. We have an unusual layout of the lots in the neighborhood, so the houses behind me face each other but not my house. So, it's very private. I can see in one of my neighbor's kitchens, because they keep their shades up all the time and have a lot of windows. But what can I see? Nothing more than the fact they are in the kitchen and moving about. They're too far away to see details and I rarely even notice. So, I imagine she can see in mine, in the same way, but she is the only one.

I feel secure in my neighborhood. I don't care if someone is able to catch a glimpse of my pajamas. I've seen neighbors go out for the paper in their pajamas. [g] We all seem to like open spaces and it feels claustrophobic with the shades down. My parents were the same. We're really not in the kitchen much past dinner time, any way.

Yes. Never understood people wandering around their homes at night allowing anyone to look in. We have neighbors like that. They have a tall stairwell window that is naked. I can be in my backyard or look out the kitchen window and see them going up in down. Fortunately they stay clothed. LOL Every other house in this neighborhood that has the same set-up has covered up that window, at least with a sheer. I don't understand why they are the exception.

We live in a more private area so the shades are pulled at night in the winter to keep the house warmer, but not typically in the summer unless we are blocking out the sun.

When I lived in the city, I learned that if you have venetian blinds and live say on the 2nd floor, you want to shut them the right way. If the slats point down so you can look between the slats and see the street, people on the street can look up and see you. You want to close them the other way, so looking through the slats you see up. From the street, they look up and see nothing.

No, I never have. I live in a very rural area and my only visible neighbors (if I crane my neck) are my son and his family. I have long linen tab curtains that always cover part of the windows except for the center section, but my front door has a large area of glass that's not curtained. However, a big apple tree blocks that view from anyone driving by.

The disadvantage is that I remain in my daytime clothes until I go upstairs to bed, but that's not a big deal. I usually have some project I'm working on in the evening anyway.

I sort of keep mine halfway closed. We live in neighborhoods with trails. Some of these neighbors back up to the man made lakes/ drainage ponds. I'm surprised that more of them don't have curtains or blinds. Dh and I aren't the only people who walk back there at night.

As it gets dark, and my lights come on, my blinds will get closed!

We don't even have blinds or curtains on our kitchen windows. The ones in the living room stay up all the time. We do close the blinds in the bedroom when we go to bed at night, but that is to keep the light of the moon and the morning light out so that we can sleep. But, we live way out in the woods and the only critters skulking around are four legged.

I don't have blinds or curtains and no neighbors.

I rarely close our Roman shades because we are on 2.5 acres up in the mountains surrounded by trees. You can't see our house from the street, let alone look in the windows. I like looking out the windows at the stars and moon. We do close our bedroom ones because DH likes it completly dark to sleep.

For instance.....just around the master bathtub there are 8 windows & a skylight. The lower windows have top down bottom up shades that are pulled up to 5'(we're the highest house on top of a hill). I just leave them at that height. There are 3 neighbors on that side of the house. If it were day light when taking a bath, I might want to see the red rock canyon(the tub cantilevers over the edge) & grazing deer....but I work .....a lot....nothing to see when it's dark. :0) I never open or close any blinds on the 38 windows, 3 sliding glass doors....

I once sold a computer to a lady that was freaked out when she saw my wall-of-windows had open shades...at night. I said there are a billion open acres of land back there, she said, "I know, but I just couldn't do it. I'd close them ALL the time. Freaks ME out just standing here." :0)

I don't have any blinds. I have lace curtains in the living room and 2 bedrooms, though the front bedroom (mine) the curtain facing the street is pulled aside so the dogs can look out. :) At the back of the house is the family room where I spend 95% of my time. No curtains or blinds. I like as much light as possible. There are no direct window to window views between the houses on either side. Also my house is up off the ground about 5 feet so anyone trying to look in a window would be easily recognized as such. Our neighborhood is very quiet and though I guess you could see in, I don't see people doing that as they walk by. Also because I walk my dogs for the last time between 11:30 and midnight, I stay dressed until I go to bed. I like having the streetlight shine in at night and being able to see without turning on lights during the night.

We live on a canyon, so the only way someone can see into our house is with binoculars and even then, they wouldn't be able to see details. I never close my window coverings except in the bathrooms. No need to be ugly, naked person to the binocular peeping crowd.

I do close the shutters on the street side of the house which are only by the front door although you can't really see into the house unless you are standing on the doorstep. I don't like people to be able to see me if I don't want to answer the door.

I have lace curtains on the windows that face the street too. And I have them hanging full across the window in the bedroom and pulled over to the side and pinned. That way the dog can look out the window and try to see something through the large Holly bush in front of the bedroom window. And we've checked walking along the street to make sure nothing can be seen. [g]

Lace in the front window with a valance, so the window is not covered, and a shade which is up during the day.

The only blinds I close are the blinds in our bedroom. My office and the kitchen don't have any, the windows are bare. I have 30' of floor to ceiling windows in my dining and living room and the only time I close those drapes are sunny winter mornings - when the sun is low, trees are bare, and winter early sun will then hit my leather furniture and tables that I don't want sun damaged. I have a sofa in the dressing area off our bedroom that isn't that many years old, but has a bleached spot on the back from its position in our former house. A rather dramatic spot, I don't want that with my newer pieces.

The only way anyone would see into my living and dining room at night would be if they were prowling around in the garden where they shouldn't be anyway. We enjoy the garden lights at night, the view.

We always have the shade down in our bedroom and we close the LR drapes mostly after dusk. Computer room/den shade partway down at all times and other windows are kept unshaded. Our house is situated so that there is no need to have all our windows covered.

Sad those days are long gone. Well maybe not I think a bigfoot might have once, if so he never came back for 2nd look.

Many of my windows are floor to ceiling and have nothing over them. All around the sun room and office are windows. We still have to put the wood blinds back up in the office windows which came down in the construction. The front of the house also has narrow floor to ceiling windows but those have blinds back on them they definitely get closed at night. If they are open you can see all the way through the house. I have the atrium in the center of the house which is glass all the way around pretty much. Nothing on those of course. All bedrooms have blinds and our master gets closed at night. A lot of our big glass is tinted somewhat so depending on the amount of time and lights you can't see through very well. It does bother me though at night to be wandering around that part of the house with all that glass.

We're close enough to the street and to neighbors that yes, I close up when it gets dark. The kitchen curtains are lacy so I suppose you could see shapes, but nothing too clear for comfort!

I have shades in the bedroom. I pull them down most of the way if the window is open for overnight. If it is closed, then the shades are all the way down. Not to keep out prying eyes (we're in a 55+ guard-gated community), but because there is a cross street and the vehicular lights cross the room at night and that wakes me.

No blinds, no curtains, no neighbors, 1/4 mile long driveway, all woods.

I do not have any blinds, mostly draperies and they are closed most of the time. I have no curtain above my sink at least for now. I want to make one though and no time to get it done. My husband does not like the living room draperies open most of the time, he spends all day and half the night in there, wants it dark. I don't open the bedroom ones. Sometimes do open the kitchen and the family room ones, but not always. Just because you live in the country does not mean there is no one out there to look. There are hunters and others about.

Sue

None of our windows has closeable curtains. The fabric on either side of our windows is decorative only. They can't be pulled closed because there's only enough fabric to adorn the sides of the windows.

We live on 4 acres in a rural area. Our driveway is the length of a football field. We have exterior motion security lights on the house so if a person was close enough to snoop we'd see them in the security floodlights.

My parents visited a couple times per year and it always freaked out Mom that our windows were bare after dark. I would ask her who's going to peek in? A raccoon? A deer? We can't see neighboring houses from our house nor can they see us.

A few years later I noticed Mom left her curtains open after dark on the side of the house where they had no neighbors. I guess it didn't seem quite so scary to her once she saw us with bare windows.

Kessala

We close the blinds at dusk. But during summer you wouldn't see in because the screens are Super Solar 90, which blocks 90% of the sun's radiant heat during summer. During summer my windows appear to be blacked out.

I have a large picture window that allows a view of the entire 1st floor (except kitchen) so yes, that blind gets closed at dusk. Also the blinds in the bedrooms and on most of the windows where neighbor's lights shine in -- our homes are a bit close together, and I hate having lights shining into my house at night. The downside of that is, though, there is no more waking up to sun shining in of a morning.

Other blinds in the rear family room might be closed partially for privacy, especially if there is a activity in the yard next door or I am exercising.

No curtains or blinds to close. I live alone on 1/2 acre, but the houses are arranged so no one can really see in very easily. I do have lights on my house that light up the grounds around the house, so can see into the yard a bit.

Blinds in the 3 bedrooms...2 of them, guest and office, I just part way close the doors at night. Our bedroom I close the blinds...no blinds in the kitchen, livingroom or family room. No windows in the 2 bathrooms.

No curtains or blinds, except on bedrooms for keeping out light. We usually don't close those. Our house is in the trees, slightly elevated from the road, and I have to look just so to see the neighbors. No additional privacy needed.

Kessala - my MIL was the same way. It would freak her out that we didn't close all the shades at night. I thought she was going to have a panic attack so let her close them when they visited. She really didn't like it that I had nothing on the kitchen windows. She kept offering to buy something.

Some I do, some I don't. Bedroom blinds are down part way. My house is set back some from the street. I kind of like the way it looks from the outside with the lights on after dark - very cozy.

But I don't go around naked - I'd scare myself to death if I did and got a glimpse!

DH closes all the blinds at night. My bedroom curtains are always open, as is the window, no matter the weather. It's 16 now and window is open. DH has additional black out things on all his bedroom windows, and keeps it about 78° in there. Too dark, and too hot for me!

Yes! I can't stand the thought of people seeing into my house when it's dark outside. The minute it starts to get dark, curtains are closed. And I don't open them until the sun is up.

Yes. I open the blinds in the living room and one of the bedrooms during the day because the dog likes to sit and look out the window. But as soon as it starts to get dark,the blinds get shut,much to his chagrin. I hate the fishbowl affect at night when people could see in. Im in the country,with only one nice,unnosy neighbor. But i dont want to expose the inside of my home to passing riff raff,which is rampant in this world. My master bedroom has blackout curtains and blinds which are always closed,as I work nights and sleep during the day.

I used to live in a cave. ;) I had view obscuring window coverings and heavy curtains. Then one day I decided to let the light in and uncovered my big front room windows. Some people glance in but it's mostly because my dogs bark occasionally at other dogs or people who stand in front of our house for whatever reason. I'm not worried about peeping toms as the bdrms are still double covered.

After years of hiding from everything due to migraines I'm glad to risk people seeing into my home. :)

I close the window coverings as where I live now, lights come on and can see you through those blinds they put on windows now and so I have black out coverings for bedroom windows to have it dark in there when sleeping. And living room and dining room I do the blinds and then the window coverings I had made for windows and no one can see anything with them.

I agree that so many leave their blinds, curtains,etc. open and at night and I feel they are asking for it.

Is that why you started this thread, Scott? To express that you don't think people should leave their blinds open? [g]

I have driven down a busy local highway at night and there are houses all along a several mile stretch. I have seen every light in a few houses on and all the blinds/curtains open. It's like a live stage play. I guess we all have a different comfort levels :-)

I could never live in a house with no coverings. Even in the country, I'd feel like a goldfish, so exposed. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Who are all these people looking in your windows at night? Do you live in a ground floor apt in NYC where people can look right into your apt? In my neighborhood, there are tons of walkers but nearly all of them do so in daylight, not after dark. Not a lot of car traffic in the evening and even then, aren't they watching the road instead of looking in my windows? They can't actually see me sitting in my chair, watching TV - they just see the sofa and what's above it in the LR and library. I'd need a telescope to look in my across the street neighbor's windows and actually see anything!

When we lived in Maine, I did draw the blinds at night - lousy old windows with no storms, drafty and cold. It was a cozy thing to do up there and I do sometimes do it in the winter here if it's bitterly cold outside.

We live with the back of the house facing the woods and we have extensive acreage so our den and sun room have no coverings on the large windows, I sit here typing looking at God's beautiful scenery BUT in our bedroom, I have black out shades then designer fabric shades over that, drapes from Country Curtains and no visible crack of light. I have tape on my phone and the receivers and it's inky black, I keep the door shut. I have light sensitivity and I can't fall asleep unless its total darkness.

Well, Scott, your situation may need more concern for safety and privacy. I live on a quiet street. Not a lot of traffic. There is some foot traffic during the day, neighbors walking their dogs, kids coming and going from school. That's about it. And the front of my house has enough greenery as a buffer to make it a non issue for us. Plus, I know many of my neighbors. I know the two families across the street from me and one next door. Plus a lot of people in the general neighborhood, that I know enough to say hello to. Everyone seems to look out for each other and knows when there is someone who does not belong in the neighborhood as well.

My grandmother lived with my mother and me. She was a suspicious old lady. Before dusk she'd go around and close all the drapes on the first floor of our house. Drove Me Nuts.

DH and I live on an acre in a heavily treed neighborhood within a quiet, well-policed small city outside Chicago. Many neighbors are on five acres or more. East of our house is a creek and deerpath. South is a large (10 acres?) conservancy with houses beyond it. Tall trees separate our back yard from the conservancy. North is the road, with 20-foot arbor vitae lining all but our driveway. West is the only house within hailing distance; their kitchen and main living areas are on the far side of their house.

Most of our casement windows and French doors have between-the-glass pleated shades. They are only closed against the sun. We have blackout-lined Roman shades in the bedrooms. We close ours when we go to bed. There are up/down privacy shades in our MBA. Other bathrooms are interior. The head-on view from the foot of the drive is of our foyer, flanked by library (open shutters) and kitchen (Japanese maple screens the kitchen sink window. Our breakfast room (room of MOST meals) is unseen.

Move along. Move along. Nothing to see here. LOL

No blinds or shades here. We are completely surrounded by oak forests, and the only neighbors either have four legs or wings.

The only blinds or curtains that we close are the bedroom and the bath with the outside window. My house is a cave, very few windows. The office has nice windows and I close the blinds only when the sun is blinding me or I feel like someone is watching me. My office faces the street and I pretty much live in this room.

to tell you the truth ours are closed all the time...first the window is a triple, and we have white insulated drapes...(with the added film cover) we'd freeze otherwise...or fry in the summer...

Always close them at night. No way would I want neighbors peering in. We don't have blinds in the DR or the kitchen slider but they back to woods.

This is also TMI Scott, but I used to walk around the house in nothing but my underwear. But then we got leather furniture. Alas, it only took one I'll fated nap on the leather sofa to break me of that habit. Once I unpeeled myself, I felt like I had a sunburn the rest of the day.

No. I don't care if people look in. Nothing to see here.