AIBU to ask why so many people don’t draw their curtains? Like, ever

[RollyPollyBatFace]

Are you one of these people? And if so, why?

my job entails visiting people’s homes. Not in any caring capacity or anything like that. And what I notice so so much is houses with all the curtains drawn. At morning, afternoon, you name it.

Literally people sat indoors with lights pn and curtains drawn.

im the type to draw curtains as soon as up and open windows for an hour or so. So it really puzzles me that some people never do this

so - if you’re one of those people I’d really like to know why!

and I’m not talking about a night shift worker, or someone who goes to work at 4am or someone with a migraine etc etc. I’m talking about families who don’t appear to know that curtains open

And before anyone says it, no, I absolutely do not have anything else to worry about 🤣

I'm the opposite. I never close my curtains. They are purely decorative in the lounge and I don't even have curtains at my bedroom windows xx

All my curtains are decorative and never get closed

@BlackCatGoesHome well now I need to know how you don’t wake up in July at 6am to glaring light!!

@JaceLancs not even bedroom?! I mean I do have some in a living room downstairs that I don’t pull I suppose but only because they’re floor length and across French doors leading to another sort of room but bedroom ones - always. Well, Roman blinds technically

I do - that’s sort of the point, waking with daylight rather than an alarm clock. Also never close curtains or blinds.

I really want to know about the people sat indoors in all weathers in the dark / lights on at 2pm etc

reveal yourselves

A friend of mine always has her curtains closed. Her family are Muslim and she leaves them closed so she can move around her house and not worry about people looking in and being seen.

@biscuitscake some of the houses I visit are home to Muslim families so yep, I can see how that is a reason

This used to be me for years... only cos we didn't have blinds and the windows were big and directly onto street so I didnt fancy people having a gawp plus it was distracting always having my eye caught when people walked past/cats jumped on fence/trucks etc drove past...
Im someone who likes lots of natural light and in hindsight probably should have just bought blinds or shutters 😅🙈

We keep the curtains/blinds closed in the winter at the front of the house to conserve the heat (no double glazing) and shut in the summer as it's on the south/west facing side to keep the sun/heat out. Also stops nosy neighbours peering in. Curtains open facing out the back of the house where there's no overlooking, and plenty of light comes in.

I’m a bit like this at this time of year. It’s going dark by 4pm and I want the lights on but my house is on a busy road so I’m not that comfortable sitting there on display. The only time I’d do it in the summer is if we were watching a film and we couldn’t see for the sun coming in.

My OH is the opposite, incidentally. He’ll undress with the big light on and the curtains open left to his own devices.

more like 4.30 in the summer. No idea why that’s a good thing, denying yourself sleep!

Jesus. So she has to deny herself having daylight in her house. How utterly miserable.

I do if it’s really sunny as don’t want it pouring in the house.

I'm the opposite. Ours are never drawn in the living area (we have roman blinds not curtains) and the kitchen has no window covering at all. Blinds drawn in bedroom at night on the velux.

My inlaws are like this though, they have vertical blinds and curtains and the vertical blinds are closed all day in case someone sees in. From the quiet cul de sac road 20 feet away. 🙄

Me too, no curtains in my house. I have blinds in the bedroom, but rarely use them as I get dressed/undressed without the light on. I have no curtains or blinds in the front room at all.

I live in a normal street with people walking past, but the neighbour opposite's house is facing 90deg to ours, so we're not facing and waving at each other on the sofa!

We never close our bedroom blind - not possible for anyone from outside to see in unless they can fly.

6am is a perfectly ordinary time to get up (I get up at 5:45am on work days) but years of shift work in the past, and the fact that one of my babies barely slept for years, and even before that a tendency to work through the night on essays etc. combine to mean I can sleep through the sun rising very easily indeed at weekends, and absolutely love being half woken by natural sunlight and being able to roll over and go back to sleep, on the rare occasions I do half wake before the alarm.

Stops my dog staring out the window... And then barking at other dogs that may go past... Or cats winding him up

Presumably only at the front of the house, and they have the rear curtains open?

I think I'd prefer to use some sort of privacy film on the window than close curtains and lose the sunlight. I have no idea about muslim privacy culture and if that would be sufficient tho.

I rarely close any curtains downstairs. We live in the middle of nowhere and the house is well back from the road so nobody can see in anyway. DH WFH and has blinds in his office which he closes on bright days so he can see his computer screen better, but there's windows on 2 sides of the room and he never has both sides shut at once so there's still plenty of natural light. Other than that, as a PP said, the curtains downstairs in our house are entirely decorative.
On the other hand, the curtains on the upstairs landing are always closed as we have a cork tiled floor which fades in sunlight. I can't be bothered closing them on sunny days and opening them on dull ones so I just leave them shut all the time.

The only time my curtains are closed during the day is when I’m washing my net curtains (or getting dressed, though that’s usually before I’ve opened them or in the bathroom) because I hate the idea of being visible.

We have neighbours across the road who don't have any curtains or blinds. This means we have to keep our shutters almost closed for privacy. They don't have any window coverings in their bedroom either. I find it really bizarre.

What is really strange is that they are muslim family from Iran. Been here about 10 years.

I sometimes leave my curtains closed all day if I've left before it's light and don't get back in until it's dark (frequently Monday to Friday). I figure it keeps the heat in. I do always open windows for half an hour first thing for fresh air).

In laws life is dedicated to daytime TV, they have views over open country, and we pointed out that if they let the sun in it help warm the house, but they prefer to sit in the cold and the dark, "I cant see the TV, shut that curtain". "Cash in the attic" etc, trumps all other considerations..