Just how bad is it to not open your curtains first thing?

[Serendipetty]

..Because apparently I am a heathen.
I live quite near my Mum, she comes over for a coffee several times a week, I work from home and this is absolutely fine however she came over one morning last week at around 08:30 am and my curtains were still drawn.

Most weekdays I get up around 06:00, walk the dog go to the gym, get home shower and start work at 09:00. It was still dark when I got up but obviously not by the time I got home.

My friend owns a nightclub in the nearest city. I used to work there on a weekend while studying. Some Saturday nights if I am free, I go to see friend, have a few drinks and help tidy up, look after the staff (he has acts on often)do anything that needs doing. He doesn't close until 04:00-05:00 so sometimes I get home and It's early hours of the morning-I don't open my curtains when I get home and am generally still asleep at daybreak-again my Mum had driven to my house around 10:00 and I was just getting up, my curtains still drawn.

This is very unacceptable apparently, 'people will think It's a dosshouse' etc etc.

I live in a very quiet private road, next to no foot traffic, not sure if this makes a difference but I am damned if I am getting home at 04:00 and getting up again at 07:00 (ish) just to open my bloody curtains-and should I just open them while It's still dark if I am heading off to walk my dog/gym before daybreak?

I am not the most observant with house situations-if a neighbour of mine didn't open their curtains I doubt I'd notice unless it had been days on end.

i didn’t know it was! I work from home and mine are still drawn!

Very old fashioned !

personally I can’t see who it harms to leave then shut so it’s etiquette not manners ( to pick up theme from another thread)

Mine are drawn permanently - bedroom at front of house with floor to ceiling window. I want to be able to go into there from the shower/get dressed/breastfeed without being on display. I don't care at all what the neighbours think.

I suppose you haven't scrubbed your front step or washed your nets lately either. Your poor mother, with such a heathen for a daughter....
😆

I think your DM is a being a bit daft in this situation, does anyone honestly care about when their neighbours draw their curtains? My Gran used to tell my mum off for not drawing hers at twilight, you just can’t win sometimes. Good luck with your mum and just ignore.

I feel better if I open the curtains and make my bed before leaving the bedroom, makes me feel like I’ve achieved something!

Half of our curtains are usually closed because of the angle of the sun and the impact it has on wfh or watching tv.

I’ll join you being a heathan!

it used to be an indication that someone had died to leave curtains closed - therefore it was presumed if you didn't open them that was the reason. However life changes and I don't think many people are bothered any more. I rarely actually close my curtains because I'm not directly overlooked.

I have curtains shut currently - kitchen and dining to keep things cosy and keep the sun out.
living room open because the light is different on this side of the house and the gloom felt depressing.
bedrooms all drawn because I haven’t been in there since I got up, DD’s are always open as no one ever goes in there.

if I was walking past someone’s house and their blinds or curtains were down, I’d think sun/heat/CBA rather than ‘dosshouse’ (don’t even know what that means specifically tbh). In fact I was admiring someone’s wooden blinds in the middle of the day just last week.

Really bad.
If this Government had any backbone they would have introduced a law about it by now, instead of mucking about with the Winter Fuel Allowance.

This is what my thought process were too! It's not 1960! 😂

Thank you for all the responses! I am tempted to show my Mum this thread!
A few years ago the same 'argument' popped up (my Mum is generally great by the way). I lived with my then DP and we both worked nights-in summer we'd open the curtains before going to bed-but not winter obviously. Eventually I ended up telling my Mum I would give her a key and if it was so important she could tiptoe in while we slept and open them herself (she didn't take me up on it)!

Sunlight works on the pineal gland with the retina to suppress melatonin,to wake you up
Medical fact,as soon as possible you need sunlight. It's why so many people complain they can't sleep or are tired in the mornings. If I see the curtains closed walking my dogs that are normally open,it's a sign for concern. My ndn haven't opened blinds or curtains for 15 years, I find that extremely weird. They have the same room layout as us,it must be ridiculously dark, they have to put lights on,on a brilliantly sunny day!

I usually do this too! But, not today. I had a crap sleep and am looking forward to a nap after work so my bedroom curtains are firmly closed ready for me! I did make my bed though.

I understand this, I just don't think it applies so well to my specific situation(s)! I don't want to be awake 3 hours after going to bed. And does this mean that we're supposed to leave our curtains open while we sleep so that the sunlight wakes us? Not always practicable if you go to bed too late to have a full night's sleep before daybreak (like in summer when the sun rises a lot earlier)?

Loads of people don’t like feeling overlooked by their neighbours or pasers-by so they have permanently closed blinds at the front and open blinds at the back or whatever side is less overlooked. It’s the modern equivalent of net curtains. Your mum needs to file it under not worth getting worried about. Nobody owes anyone else a good view into their private living space.

I was brought up this way so I always open the front room curtains before I go to bed 😉

I’ve heard it’s top of their agenda for the summer months.

You are an adult ✔️
They are your curtains ✔️
Your mums opinion on curtain "opening times" is weird.
Just do as you please. This is a "her" problem.
HTH.

we are overlooked and woe betide any double decker bus stopping outside
our curtains are always closed

This, absolutely.

A lot of people have net curtains or blinds on their front windows and you can’t really tell if they are open or closed so I don’t think it’s a big issue. I never open the blinds at the front properly because there are other windows in the room and I want the privacy. Sometimes I don’t open my bedroom blinds straight away because there’s light from the hallway window. When I see curtains closed all day I assume the person gets up really early when it’s dark and leaves for the day. But on the whole I’m not really looking at other people’s curtains and I don’t think most people are either 🤔

I open ours when I get up because I love to open the windows and air the house. Some days though this might be as late as 9am if we are lucky enough to have a lie in! I’m more bemused by people that never open a window. I’d personally hate to live in a stuffy house but that’s my personal preference.
I think your mums is quite a dated view.

We don’t have any net curtains and only have blinds in the bedrooms because of the sun interrupting sleep.

I only close the curtains to block out the sun (quite often during the daytime especially since both DH and I wfh and our offices are located at the back of the house which means the sun is straight in our face or on the monitor. The children will close the curtains after school at certain times to watch tv. However, I don’t typically close the curtains when it gets dark because nobody can see into our house but I do close them when we all go to bed.

You obviously plan accordingly,to your need to sleep wake. We have blackout linings in the bedrooms,it gets light here at 4.30 in summer. I open curtains when I get up, window,that's always open!