To enjoy looking through other people's windows in the evening.

[LEMmingaround]

I do this when i walk to and from my little cleaning job. It makes me feel all warm inside!

Doesn't matter what people are doing, what they have on display etc, its better when they have lamps rather than lights and i love to see families sat with their dinners on their laps or kids playing on the floor in front of the fire. Or single folk sat with their lap-top and or .

I'm not being nosey, it just makes me feel nice

I'm a weirdo aren't i???

Team Scotland - wallpaper is William Morris 'Standen' in very neutraltone, no dog, huge gold framed oil painting on back wall of 19th century gent with whiskers whose eyes follow you round the room and for Aberdeen where more is definitely more - a pretty titchy tv!

By whiskers i mean facial hair, sideburns etc - not cat whiskers .......

I love it! The best bit about travelling by bus.

Many years ago I walked into a parking meter in Chelsea whilst I was nosing into people's basement kitchens.
Oh how DH laughed!
I, too also love looking into people's gardens & the backs of their houses whilst travelling on the train.

Our house is right on the pavement and I HATE people who do this. MYOB. OTOH I close my curtains as soon as it gets dark enough to need lights on.

I do remember one time when I was staying in a beautiful holiday cottage. Some people walked past and actually came up to the window to peer inside. I was reading a book and it suddenly went dark as the lady had her hands up to the window to see better you know how you cup your hands round your eyes to shade them? Then they buggered off - clearly had no idea I was there.

THAT's rude. Walking past and looking in isn't.

There's a word for this - I think it's a something-philia. Tried googling but can't find it, does anyone know?

But yes, I love it too. Christmas time is the best for seeing everyone's cosy twinkly lights and presents under the tree.

I love that Snoogy thanks for posting it.

Ohh reading this has made me feel all nostalgic! I live in Australia now and everyone most unfairly has their blinds shut all the time, however growing up in England we'd always go for a walk after dinner and I loved seeing what everyone else's front room looked like. Christmas was especially lovely.

I also loved seeing everyone's back garden from the train going up to London.
It's VERY rare to find any open blinds/curtains over here, but if I do spot any, I get all excited and have a good old peep.

If you've ever walked past mine and peered in.......I was just checking it........... honest.

i love this thread

What a lovely thread! I love doing this too, it's one of the best things about going for evening walks in the autumn/winter. Fair's fair, we have a big bay window and no nets (hate the things) and a cosy lamp on a timer that comes on before we get home, so people are welcome to peer into our house.

We have a tradition of walking round the neighbourhood on Boxing Day, at about 4pm, just as everyone is settled down but haven't yet drawn their curtains.

You can see the awkward family games of Trivial Pursuit/Monopoly/etc, the grannies trying to play on the Wii, the teenagers silhouetted upstairs on their computers, and best of all one year I swear every other house's televsion was tuned to the Two Ronnies Marathon. And the outlaws skulking outside having a quick smoke or making thoroughly unnecessary adjustments to car seats etc - anything to get out of the stifling sitting rooms of pils.

having a cosy, nosy Christmas/Boxing Day stroll is a FABulous idea

so fabulous I am nicking it. Thank you

Have to admit, I do it. Not because I'm being noisy or judgemental - I just like to see places looking homely with the lights on.

I'm afraid I never look in other people's windows (because I have a vague feeling that it's a bit rude) and I've made sure no-one can see in my windows, day or night.

You lot must be the some of the people who stand outside our house trying to gawp in!

Yay - discussion of the day!!!! wahooo fame at last

Yes, I can't help feeling it's rude and invasive, I do peek in occasionally but would be mortified if I caught the eye of anyone in the house and I get irritated by people peeking into mine during the day (curtains always shut at night except Christmas, no nets because we have a fabulous view, but it is tempting). Having said that, if people leave their curtains open presumably they don't feel the way I do, so not a problem.

For those concerned about people looking in during the day, you can get privacy film which covers the windows and is reflective so nosy parkers can't snoop!

I do this when I ride out, you get an excellent vantage point on top of the horse!

FoulsomeAndMaggotwise

crytoscopophilia - to harbour an urge to look through the windows of peoples homes as you pass

Had to get an actual hard copy book off the shelf (Bill Brysons Mother Tongue) as I knew I had read it and also couldn't think of the correct phrase to google.

I do it too.

I have yet to find anything that would stop people looking in that would be acceptable on either outward view or aesthetic grounds. It's not a big enough problem that I want to do much about it IYSWIM, but I do think people that do it are a bit ill-mannered, and from the speed with which they tend to turn away when you catch their eye can't help thinking they know they are.

This is a daytime one but I was at Pilates today when suddenly my teacher started excitedly telling me to get off the reformer machine thingy and look out the window. It's in a mews and opposite are the back of conversion flats. A bloke was having a shower and the window was framing him. Despite being opaque you could more or less see everything .... He was being VERY thorough

It isn't weird at all. After all, they could close their curtains if they didn't wish to be seen. I love walking round our village now the evenings are 'drawing in' and glimpsing just the same sort of things - people sitting at their meal, or watching TV, all cosy and homely. It always makes me think of a Charles Dickens novel. Anyway, I know them all (v small village!) so it's even nicer to see them relaxing. Most of them are my friends!

So it's not just me then
I don't want to spy on people in their homes, but I like looking at their decorations and the warm light looks so nice in the dark!