Your home is your safe haven, and as such, you should feel like your privacy is protected there. However, as wonderful as windows are, they’re also a way for nosy neighbors and passers-by to look inside and see what you’re up to. This can make you feel self-conscious, regardless of whether you’re playing dress-up with your kids or whether you just want to read a book in peace. This blog will cover ways to improve privacy in your home without compromising on natural light.
Fortunately, there are plenty of options available to you to help improve privacy with your residential windows. Here, we’ll go over some of the things you can do both during the day and during the night in order to improve your privacy while still being able to enjoy your windows. Let’s jump on into it!
First Things First: An Unfortunate Reality
Unfortunately, there’s no way to both be able to see outside while having privacy during both the day and the night. The only way to have your privacy during both the day and the night is to cover your windows up with curtains, blinds, shades, or something similar. As such, you’ll have to adjust your strategies for the day and the night unless you don’t mind having to rely on artificial light 24/7 and never being able to enjoy your windows.
Perhaps sometime in the future, people will invent a way for you to improve privacy with your residential windows both day and night without obstructing your view. Until then, we’ll go over some of the options available to you to improve your privacy. They will vary in how much they obstruct your view and whether they work during the day or night. It’s up to you what options best suit your needs.
How Much Do You Want Your View Obstructed?
There are ways to improve your privacy and make it so that people can’t see in while you can see out during the day, like reflective window films. Other options like curtains and blinds make it so that neither you nor the people outside can see in or out, or your view in or out is obstructed. It’s up to you whether you mind an obstructed view with increased privacy or whether you’re willing to adjust privacy techniques depending on the time of day.
Most people block their windows off at night for privacy reasons anyway, so your primary concern may be preserving your privacy during the day when your curtains, blinds, or shades are open. As such, we’ll cover the various ways you can improve your privacy with residential windows during the day in the following section.
How To Improve Your Privacy With Residential Windows During The Day
Sure, you can close your curtains, blinds, or shades during the day to improve your privacy, but depending on the opacity of these, you may not be able to enjoy your windows when you do this. Opting for sheerer fabrics can allow you to close your curtains during the day while still getting some natural light, as can only closing your blinds or shades partway.
However, these aren’t the only ways to improve your privacy with residential windows during the day.
Some of the other things you can do to improve your privacy with residential windows during the day include:
- Decorative window film
- Frosted glass
- Stained glass
- Frosted glass spray paint
- Glass etching cream
- Tinted windows
- Semi-opaque window glass
- Partially frosted windows/partially not
- Frosted glass covers you can open and close
- Screens (you can get ones with patterns)
- Partially screened windows/partially not
- Slab screen
- Shades with art/graphics on them
- Blackout curtains
- Privacy window film
- Privacy screens
- Hanging objects, like macrame
- Shelving across the windows
- Art hung over windows
- Alternative window panes
- Shutters, both interior and exterior
- Window boxes
- Plants both inside and outside
Depending on your budget, whether you’re willing to DIY, and your personal preferences, the ideal way to improve privacy with your residential windows will vary. As you can see, you have a great many options available to you, some easier to achieve than others.
Other ways you can enjoy natural light and privacy at the same time is by having windows placed above eye level, like a skylight or custom-shaped windows over your entryway.
Professional Window Services In Utah
Peak Windows may not do window film or stained glass, but we do offer a variety of window services from black windows to window replacement to broken glass repair and more. We’re happy to provide you with advice on what you can do to both enjoy your windows and your privacy. Contact us today to learn more about our professional window services.
