Reasons why curtains should be opened ...

[crimboAkimbo]

I've been trying for several years to train my teen to open his bedroom curtains in the mornings. It's not a huge issue, but I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to aspire to is it?

Thing is, his bedroom is at the back of the house and he doesn't go in it much between getting dressed in the morning and getting undressed at the end of the day. So, being in possession of a hyper-logical teenage brain, he just doesn't see the point.

Whenever this comes up (regularly) I have to go round the "but why?" loop, so I trot out the same old arguments - it's the respectable thing to do, it's good training for the future when you're living with other people, it's simple and I've asked you to do it so why not, it's my house and my rules, no play-station till they're open, etc etc. However, clearly none of these arguments are clinching enough to drive a permanent change of habit.

Any advice? (I know I will get "stop worrying about it and give him a break" but I'm hoping for some more positive steers too).

I always have my kitchen and living room blinds closed
It's right on the pavement and I get people banging on the window if they're open

Can not believe all these people who live with the curtains shut exist..
Do you mean ALL the curtains stay closed in the house?! What’s the point in having windows 😂
Totally odd. What if you had visitors round? Or a doctor or health visitor or something? Do you not open them still? I would assume people would ask why ?

To circulate air and prevent mould.
To let the light in which is beneficial to mental health and physical wellbeing (circadian rhythms).

Future girlfriends? It would be an absolute deal breaker for me. I just couldn't bear to live with someone so lazy they couldn't be arsed to pull curtains.

I personally like our curtains closed. I don't like people looking in through our front windows as kids come up to it and piss my cat off. I just find it more.. Cosy to have the darkness and a few candles on. If people are round ill open them but that's It.
But I don't know a teenager that did have their curtains open to be honest growing up.

I am genuinely shocked

It possibly depends where your window opens on.

Ours is right on the street and people walk past all day, including kids who like to knock and wave and annoy the cats. I don't have the curtains open t the front when I'm home cause I don't want strangers peering at me on tv sofa! But if I'm not home then they are opened.

The ones at the back are always open.

I never close my curtains and most of the windows have no curtains. I can sit on the loo and look at the hills behind the house. It is one of the advantages of living in the middle of nowhere.

My mother used to say the room needed sunlight for the air to stay healthy. Absolutely no idea if there's any truth at all in that. But I do now open and close the curtains every day.....

My line with dd is so her cacti survive.

On reflection I'm also obsessed with letting in the light and closing the curtains at the right time. I also love fresh air. Curtains shut during the day reminds me of serial killers sitting in the corner of American rooms with guns in their hands...waiting.

I don't see that it makes any difference at all. He prefers one way, you prefer the other, why is your way the only way? Its not hurting anyone and I'm sure the neighbours wont egg your house because one window has closed curtains.

Charolais I don't think I could wee in a bathroom with wide open views. Even if there are no people out there...what if a badger or hedgehog looked in??

Oh yeah- circadian rhythms. Apparently that's why kids are knackered after a day out playing. Not the play or the fresh air but the light hitting their retinas or some such.

I used to have this argument with my Mother.
I am now in my late thirties and I still don't do it regularly as in every morning open, every night close. And my Mother still goes on about it!
I get the 'neighbours with think it's a crack den/you're on the game' to which my response is 'I don't care, I know different' and also 'I work shifts and if I get in at 6 am do you really expect me to get up at 8 am to open the curtains?

I would pick your battles with this one. Does he clean his own window? I doubt it open the curtains to clean it otherwise you cant' do it properly. If you want them open, do it yourself. It's not important really. Some reasons on this thread are personal preference 'It's depressing' obviously not to him? If you go in his room when he's in it ask him to open them.Otherwise leave it and worry about other things.

Because uv light is excellent at killing bacteria and stopping a room from going musty even if you don’t open the window

Tawdy lol, I would love to see a British hedgehog here in the wilds of America. I do see deer and coyote and bad tempered American badgers from my window.

You get used to no curtains. I always say if someone wants to hike out here, climb the cliff behind the house, risking getting gunned down, well they are welcome to see my well-fed elderly body doing whatever.

I think it might bother our houseguests though.

I read somewhere that opening your curtains, letting the sunshine/daylight in and onto your pulled back bed clothes helped kill bed bugs! Not sure if I just imagined that though. DD does this (leaves her curtains closed), I just breezily go in and open them, I doubt she'll be doing it when she's settled in her own house but for now it's a teen thing and I've bigger battles to fight.

Do you mean ALL the curtains stay closed in the house?! What’s the point in having windows 😂
Totally odd. What if you had visitors round? Or a doctor or health visitor or something? Do you not open them still? I would assume people would ask why ?

Tattybogle89 Yes, all curtains closed all the time. I don’t like visitors so we rarely have any but if they don’t like it, they aren’t forced to stay. If people mention the curtains I simply explain that I don’t like natural light, I suffer with migraines. It’s never been an issue.

just couldn't bear to live with someone so lazy they couldn't be arsed to pull curtains.

HangtheblessedDJ It’s nothing to do with laziness; it’s a preference.

Moths breed in dark damp places land dust mites

For those of you that live straight onto a path and get bothered by kids etc, get slatted blinds then you can see out but it's very hard to see in, in the day.
I open my windows every day apart from the really cold spells we've had to change the air. It might only be 30 mins but I feel much better for it. All those cooking odours and stale air. Yuk!

Im sitting here reading these comments with a wry simle on my face wondering what you would think of me.

I recently sold a house where my bedroom and curtains were always drawn along with all the downstairs curtains and blinds. Why I hear you ask! The answer is simply too much sunlight. The windows were the half the height of the wall and the entire length. There was NO privacy at the front as it was a main raid so the kitchen blind was always up and at the back at the living area / bedroom direclty above had the sun on it all day so it was like a sauna and we were unable to watch the TV without the blackout curtains drawn at all time.

My new house has a totally different light and I love having the blinds (no curtains) open for as long as possible.

Jeez the thought of all these kids rattling about in the dark.mine would ask why the curtains were shut and want to open them to see out? What a waste of electricity aswell 🤷🏻‍♂️

People may think it's a cannabis farm if the curtains are always closed (although I believe that black bags at the windows are a more reliable indication).

It's just something you do each morning and evening.

It shows that you have a routine and have stuck to it. My late MIL always opened her curtains as she was worried that her neighbours would think that she hadn't got out of bed and was therefore ill - and think they should knock at the door to check.

This thread is making me think of The Twits not having any windows because they don't want people looking in, but it not occurring to them that they may want to look out.

We only keep the bedrooms where you get up and walk out of when you wake and then walk back into at bedtime shut. The rest are open. We had blinds made for our sun room but never ever close them because life really is far too short for that. We looked into an electric mechanised puller thing but it was £2k So we decided to just never shut them.

It is actually one of my pet hates so I can understand you OP.One of the first things I do in the morning is open all blinds and our shutters outside.I need daylight and fresh air in my house everyday.I hate coming home to a house that has been shuttered up all day.I also have two teenage boys and one opens his blinds/shutters and the other would live in darkness all day with lights on even if the sun is shining outside.Drives me bonkers.Homes that are shuttered and dark from the outside are so unwelcoming .