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???

I love it too. I never pry too much, though. Just a discreet look in.

It's about warmth and family and cosiness, I think.

'Hygge'

My absolute favourite is the evening walk in December when it's acceptable to positively drink in the loveliness of Christmas trees lit up in the windows.

Our family does it every year on Christmas Day afternoon. It's a bit dependent on living in a built-up area but it's about as traditional to us as the mince pies and holly!

I love this, especially at Christmas.

DH gets enraged that I leave the curtains open to show off the tree lights :o It just looks so cosy.

Squoosh that Hoff pic is TERRIFYING!!! :o

I have goosebumps! !! Just clicked on the windowsofthewest link and saw a picture that i remember admiring about 12 years ago in a lively little coffee shop in derbyshire. I nearly bought it at the time. That was a good day that was!

Lovely not lively. It was quite sedate

I hate this. I think it's really rude to be gauping in to someone's home.

Thankfully live somewhere that isn't overlooked now, but when I lived on a normal residential street the curtains would be drawn before the lights went on. May be swayed into this mindset because we used to have nightmare neighbours, and the thought of the abusive twats blatantly peering in felt violating.

Another one who loves noseying around the West End and the New Town in Edinburgh. Was fab when DD was wee as she'd stop and bend down to see into basement flats and make me look too There's really no culture of net curtains here.

And I always wave if I see my neighbours in their front rooms.

My Grandma used to wave at people that looked into her house. We used to find it hilarious to watch them quickly turn away pretending that they weren't being nosey. It wasn't just evenings though - people used to look into her house all day long.

I don't like when there are people near the windows, feels awkward when I'm just admiring their curtains/lamps/plants etc, not spying on them!

Oh I never gawp. I make a point to only ever take the merest sneak of a peek.

Christmas is a different story, though - that's why they put the trees in the window, they want us to admire them

My friend moans that people look into their house in the evening. I suggested she shut her curtains and she asked why should she have to? Err...because it will stop them looking?! She is a bit of an attention seeker and I think that she likes people looking and also likes being able to moan about it.

In my world, if you leave your curtains open and the light on then its free rein on gawping! There is a cottage down the road that is the emptiest house I have ever seen. They have a bookshelf with ornaments in what I think should be a dining room and in the lounge they have 1 sofa and 1 TV. Thats it! I am fairly sure it isnt down to lack of funds if the two brand new cars on the drive are anything to go by. Oh, and the husband who lives there really shouldnt sit by the window with the curtains open when he is watching porn :o:o:o

Another one living in Australia and loving the nostalgic feeling of this thread. It's nearly all high- walled gardens where I live, so even seeing a pretty garden is getting less common. It's an aspect of Australia I found striking, so isolating, everyone disappearing behind huge fences and gates.

I do it all the time ! I used to patrol west London where loads of the houses had basements , so i would see all the families at home , and watch the staff scurrying about at all hours of the day and night , and it became a habit. So now when I walk the dogs , or go out riding I still do it . But then everyone also does it to us when they go past as well , so it's a two way thing .

I do this alot and always makes me feel gooey inside :D I know sometimes I leave my curtains open if its cosy as I want people to see in and if I dont I shut the world out ... neighbours a few doors down have the big lights on ALL the time with curtains open and obviously dont mind lol. I too sometimes look through my window when taking bin out etc and think arhhhhh how nice does it look hehe

We absolutely never put on the BIG lights ugh. Well not unless we're spider hunting.

I have a real fear of it being dark outside and someone peering in through the uncovered window. Not an innocent passer by, someone with mal-intent I mean.

On the flipside though I do love seeing inside people's rooms when they're lit by lamps and you have a brief snapshot of someone else's life.

At Christmas time I leave our rooms dark but with the trees lit so that people passing by can share in the spirit of the season.
That said we stay in rooms at the back of the house so those people can't see us just our furnishings.

Years ago my parents and I were walking through a very smart area after eating out and couldn't resist peaking through the windows in the lovely houses, until that is we found ourselves staring at a couple in an incredibly compromising position on their sofa. I'm a little more cautious now!

ItsAllGoingToBeFine I love that picture and bought a print of it it for my brother who used to love in Glasgow after seeing it in an exhibition! It is now framed and residing in San Francisco!!!

Always peak too! And love Christmas when the houses look lovely

My favourite " nosey in the window " memory was about 10 years ago on Christmas day.

It was about 7pm and the snow had fallen. I was walking the dogs. No one about. I looked in one window to see a family all sat round the table, laughing. All christmasy and lovely.

Made me smile.

One not so good was when I was about 13 years old coming home from babysitting. I looked in the neighbours window where I saw her sat on the sofa, legs akimbo looking at her Fanjo with a mirror

I shit you not.

I love it. Gives me ideas for how others deal with the same room layouts, or in neighborhoods not filled with blocks of the same era/style, gives you an idea of what those interesting from the outside homes look like inside. Of course, zoopla is even better...

Upthread someone posted a link to an artist who does 'through the window' themed work. Here is another, Avril Patton, from Glasgow.

www.finescottishart.co.uk/The_Gathering.php

i was going to post Avril Patton, Itsall! Seems all we Glasgow West Enders should form an evening walking club. For exercise and snooping!

I think I might also take on the idea of dressing the front window for the benefit of the nosey! We heave high bushes (as do many) but the glimpses through the branches are even more enticing than a clear view, IMO.

I like looking out my back windows into all the kitchens and dining rooms across the back court. Someday when we remodel, there are a couple I may drop a note through their letterbox to see the details, ours has been rearranged from the original, and I think we would like to put it back!

Oops, it seems I did post. Silly ipad locked up, thought it didnt go.

I LOVE doing this! In fact when me and my DH were first 'dating' when we were 18 we were skint and quite often just used to roam the streets together in the dark, nosing in at families eating their tea, drinking their wine etc. I agree Christmas is the absolute best time to do it. Something about it being so cold and crisp outside but seeing the warmth and love on the inside is fascinating to me. Me and DH used to judge people's tastes in wall paper and décor and get ideas for when we bought our own house. We dreamed of living in the area where we now do and dreamed of having family meals around the table because neither of us had ever had this as children. We now live in the area we used to roam around peering in through the windows! I love it.