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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to ask the neighbours to open the curtains?

434 replies

cocostrawberry · 21/01/2015 14:41

A youngish couple with no children bought a house on our estate about a year ago. They don't get involved with any of the activities such as the summer bbq and basically seem to isolate themselves from the rest of us, their loss. However my main bug is that they NEVER have the living room curtains open and quite often leave the other ones shut also, today every single one of them are shut and I know they are home.

I've hinted a couple of times that it would be best for them to leave them open, the girl mumbled something about a projector and watching films, but they can't be watching films all the time.

AIBU to just point blank ask them to open the curtains during the day, it really depresses me to look across to their house with all the curtains closed, it doesn't look inviting and it looks odd compared to the rest of the estate, we all manage to open their curtains everyday, so why can't they? My DH thinks I'm BU and should just leave them to it but I think when it effects other people I have a right to say something?

OP posts:
Kittymum03 · 21/01/2015 18:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MiscellaneousAssortment · 21/01/2015 18:30

Snort!

RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 21/01/2015 18:37

Me too RevoltingPeasant Grin

I particularly enjoyed the sentence:

"I haven't opened my curtains since 2007 and I don't intend to start now"

And the idea of changing the wording to "drapes"

HellKitty · 21/01/2015 18:42

I was decorating the bathroom after the builders left. The window looked out over the main road and was clear glass - I used the builder's newspaper as privacy. Can you imagine the comments I got in the small village about having the Daily Mirror taped to the glass on full display?! I was almost tutted out of the county.

Jodie1982 · 21/01/2015 18:45

Maybe they're Vampires!!
Seriously it's none of your business. I've been leaving my curtains shut as it keeps the heat in, anybody ever asked me to open them id tell them to EffOff!!

DamsonInDistress · 21/01/2015 18:48

Are you fucking insane op?!

But yes to Classics for the thread, brilliant!

LittleBairn · 21/01/2015 18:51

We haven't open the blinds in the two years we have lived here. We have nosey neighbours.

TheHorseHasBolted · 21/01/2015 18:56

I think YABU. I've never heard of "curtain etiquette" before and cannot see any reason at all why opening or shutting the curtains shouldn't be a personal choice. You say you find the shut curtains "depressing" but what if someone painted their house a colour you consider depressing? Would you feel entitled to have a go at them for that?

Salmotrutta · 21/01/2015 18:59

I'll bet you aren't allowed to paint your house any old colour on the OPs street TheHorse.

Oh no.

It probably has to be pre-approved paint by order of the Neigjbourhood Association.

Salmotrutta · 21/01/2015 19:00

I have no idea what a "neigjbourhood" is by the way.

Gruntfuttock · 21/01/2015 19:01

FightOrFlight "I replied "no, it was my bra and I was getting a top out of the wardrobe to put on - why the hell were you looking at my bedroom window and admiring what I was wearing?""

What did she say to that?

TookALittleLongWayRound · 21/01/2015 19:02

Germgirl did you see my post? My 65 was a typo and should have been approx 75. Do I possibly live next to your Dad? Grin

AnyoneforTurps · 21/01/2015 19:03

Can I just add:

Do you mean to tell me that my children have been roaming about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes?

Bogeyface · 21/01/2015 19:04

The curtain rail started to come away in our bedroom, so I took the curtains down to fix it. Had the shock of my life, turns out my "blue" bedroom carpet is in fact green....who knew?! :o

Ohfourfoxache · 21/01/2015 19:04

Does the stray "j" stand for judgemental, Salmo? Grin

Salmotrutta · 21/01/2015 19:05

Very possibly... Grin

NotGoingOut17 · 21/01/2015 19:05

I thought your post could be about me at first but no fucker has invited us to a summer bbq. We moved into our house about 5 months ago and I think our front room curtains have been open about twice - the reason being we don't go in that room, at the moment it's a shit tip following a rewire and my eagerness to begin stripping wall paper off even though we were meant to be concentrating on a different room.

The whole house is a tip following the rewire - each room has various degrees of stripped back wall paper where they chased out and different levels of how well the plastering has been done. Unfortunately we both work full time so are limited in how much we can do, we're doing a room at a time, but in the meantime I'm in no rush to expose how shit our house looks to the outside world (the front room also has various shelving units etc being stored there waiting to be moved when other rooms have been decorated).

If it was a room we were using I'd imagine we would open the curtains more but to be honest in the morning when we are rushing for a train it's the last thing on my mind and I have to say I don't bother going round the other rooms opening the curtains.

On the plus side, we have just decorated one of the bedrooms but there is no curtains in there yet - I reckon our neighbours would have more complaints about that!

katese11 · 21/01/2015 19:06

love it turps! I have an old curtain that I'm making into a dress for singalong SOM

MooMaid · 21/01/2015 19:06

Ba ha ha! What a strange outlook on life!

KingJoffreyObviouslyWatchesHol · 21/01/2015 19:07

Ooo, I love how you can say anything and yet Captain von Trap and his thighs are somehow relevant.

ifgrandmahadawilly · 21/01/2015 19:08

This is about the most unreasonable I think anyone has ever been on aibu.

WOW.

I may just be biased though because I also rarely open my curtains. I hate sunlight. Gives me a headache. Also, my house is quite messy and sometimes I walk around half dressed.

One time a neighbour actually accused my partner and I of growing canabis, based on the fact that we never open our curtains / have blackout blinds on some of them. 'Coincidentally' we got inspected by our LL a few days later.

Bogeyface · 21/01/2015 19:09

Well, may I ask what you expected to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom nauseatingly smug surburban hell family estate house window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain...?

UncleT · 21/01/2015 19:12

People really should mind their own business.

Salmotrutta · 21/01/2015 19:14

Maybe one of the people is suffering from a medical condition that means sunlight is a problem OP!

Did you think of that?

Like porphyria or something.

IAmAllImportant · 21/01/2015 19:15

I would really wind you up OP.

I fell out with my neighbours (finding out they were slagging me off to all and sundry) and whenever any curtains shut in our house, the kids going to bed, me going to bed after a night shift, prompted an increase in noise levels.

We decided to take the power and knowledge away from them and keep them shut! Problem solved. I'm sure they don't like it though and put it down to us being lazy!