Window Wallpaper Film

http://www.wallpaperforwindows.com/pc/home.asp

Just buy a decorator rod, hang it near the ceiling, get some panels on cafe rings or grommet, and close them when you want privacy. It will look fine. My friend just did this on their french doors after years of dealing with slat mini blinds and shades on the doors....easiest solution ever. The glass film now is great, it clings, not glues to the glass. You can also have someone come in an sand the glass so that it has a texture like frost, but that is permanent, day and night/most expensive option. Since you have a flat, straight wall there, get the decorator rod and some room darkening panels and enjoy some privacy. In this day and time, that is a crazy kind of entry to have into your home! You should do something for privacy and security.

how often do people come to your door and peer inside? can you do a gate out front that you can lock?

if you keep that light on outside and no lights are on in the entryway, can you still see inside? (go outside and test it)

During the day is it also a huge issue?

You could do a film, but sometimes it can look cheap.

you could have a glass guy come out and switch out the glass to something beveled, frosted, seeded,

rippled, etc. That would look 10X better.

At the very least, I'd do the side lites w/a different glass. peering in through those door panels will take more effort so I'd leave those.

you'd prob have to do the transom as well if you do all the other glass panels.

How about an exterior camera so you could see who is at the door?

Plus 10 on window film, there are so many choices online that look great.

Thank you for the great suggestions and examples! I’m thinking we might just need to do the rippled glass or a curtain until we can do it! It’s been surprising the amount people that come to the door (dead end street)! My teenage son was home sick one day and was on one of the couches in the great room when someone rang the doorbell. It’s a straight line of sight from the door to that couch- my son looked up to see some man just looking in! He literally army rolled off the couch and hid behind the 2nd couch! The guy totally saw him do it. We just need better privacy.

We do have a camera but there is a delay in the alert and they r usually already at the door ringing or knocking before we can see who it is. Great for when we aren’t home tho.

Thanks all! Feel free to add more ideas as they come up!

It's a shame to put anything on that door, but I think you're probably going to have to, unless you can use a screen to just block out the foyer.

Like this type of privacy screen?

I like the decorator rod and panels idea!

Yeah, that kind of screen. Maybe a different style but yeah. Not many floorplans allow it without being an obstacle though.

We had the same issue in our last home. We hired a company that came and replaced the glass (they did it right in our driveway). Lots of options for obscured looks, from traditional to very modern. I think the place was called The Glass Door Store in Tampa if you want to see what might be possible - you probably have a similar vendor near you.

Sammie J has the right idea! I would replace the door's glazing, which is fairly simple to do. Since you like to see out I would leave the transom and side lites as-is with clear glass. However, I would purchase some window covering for the side-lites. Budget Blinds have some great options that reflect the style of your modern door. We just shot some examples of their blinds on one of our latest projects. (We are not a dealer for Budget Blinds but thought this might be a good route for you)

Hope this helps!

Love love your door !

Honestly how many people come to your door that you are not expecting. I find at our house this is a very small number and rarely at night so I leave my door uncovered since we have huge windows all ascroos the house where I never close the drapes it really doesn’t become an issue. I guess if we walked around naked that might be an issue.

We all live in different neighborhoods, Patricia! Mine has people walking for the sake of walking year 'round. Homes are placed towards the front of the lots because that was the thing to do in these early suburbs of the 1950s--expansive back yards with tidy smaller front yards. You don't have to leave the sidewalk to see into my house!

This is a concern for me with our new build. We are planning on looking into Smart Glass/Switchable glass. It frosts up with a flick of a switch. The first time I saw it was at Wonderworks and I thought, oh this might solve our front door problem!

“My teenage son was home sick one day and was on one of the couches in the great room when someone rang the doorbell. It’s a straight line of sight from the door to that couch- my son looked up to see some man just looking in! He literally army rolled off the couch and hid behind the 2nd couch! The guy totally saw him do it.”

I literally let out a big “Ha!” when I read that. :D

And I like Fori’s idea the best.

“My teenage son was home sick one day and was on one of the couches in the great room when someone rang the doorbell. It’s a straight line of sight from the door to that couch...He literally army rolled off the couch and hid..."

Sounds like he learned that there are certain things one should not do when visible through a window.

We have the same dilemma with our sidelight and front door......sick kid army rolling off the couch and all! We live at the end of a quiet street, and rarely get a "stranger" at the door. But my biggest issue is always being "seen" by the neighborhood kids that often come to the door and ask to play. Sometimes my kids don't want to play and would rather not answer the door/pretend we aren't home. But the neighbor kid at the door can totally see my kids inside, so that doesn't work. ;-) I love the light we get from the windows, but we are leaning toward the frosted film. Then we can peel it off in 5-10 years when we don't crave as much privacy.

I have saw where they make "contact paper" that is a mirror effect on the outside, but you can see through it to the outside

"...my biggest issue is always being 'seen' by the neighborhood kids that often come to the door and ask to play. Sometimes my kids don't want to play and would rather not answer the door/pretend we aren't home."

When we were kids, we just walked into our neighbors' houses to find our friends.

Haha, maybe I should leave the sidelights open to keep that from happening , then!