Windows Privacy

Patricia Taylor asked:


Windows play an important place in a family’s health and well-being. They are the eyes to the world. Windows let the sun’s light in, warm and light the home, and expand the living space.

Window treatments are part of a room’s decorating scheme, protect furniture and carpets from fading, trap heat in the winter, let the breeze enter the room in the summer, and frame the window.

However, most window treatments are expensive. A drab, basic window treatment for a small window can start at $200.00. It can easily cost $10 000 to buy suitable window coverings to fit into today’s suburban home. An upscale home with arched and two-story windows can easily cost the homeowner in excess of $25 000.00.

This does not mean that the average homeowner needs to settle for second rate window treatments.

The first thing the home decorator needs to ask is what they need. Sales people can easily convince home decorators that they need lined and weighted curtains with Scotchguard and UV protectors on them. This is not true.

Not all windows need lined curtains. Rooms that face the sun in the winter, and are not used often, can get away with a temporary lining under the curtains. However, this lining doesn’t need to have a UV screen. In fact, it can be a simple sheet of flannel that is clipped to the curtain rod and removed when people use the room.

People never think of using many inexpensive decorative things for window coverings such as louvered doors, screens, and even certain papers. These items can easily be used as window coverings.

In fact, using reclaimed kitchen cabinet doors to cover basement windows in the winter will not only keep the cold out, they can be painted to add an artistic flair to the room. When done right, visitors may not even realize that the framed pictures are covering windows.

One often overlooked window treatment is to just leave it alone. A beautiful trim, framing a window that overlooks a garden, can be far more beautiful than a $2 000 professionally made curtain.

Another decoration is stained glass. There are several artisan shops where you can purchase custom-made stained glass covers for windows. This may be the perfect choice for a bathroom or master bedroom where you want to let in maximum light, but have 100% privacy.

While a stained glass window from a professional is not ‘inexpensive’ there are many reclaimed stores with old church windows that an artisan can easily cut down to fit your windows.

Another twist is the glass blocks that have been used to divide rooms and separate living areas. Stacking these glass blocks in the window will still allow light to enter while keeping the heat in, and maintaining privacy.

Construction reclaimed stores, and shopping online, are the places to find the best deals. One often overlooked deal is the bedding sets sold online. For the price of a comforter bedding set in a local department store, you can buy a complete 11 piece bedroom set, including curtains, if you shop online.

A little ingenuity and care and you can save thousands of dollars dressing your home’s windows, and even outdo the homes where more than $25 000 was spent on the window treatments.



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Richard Dinae asked:


Households are hard to manage when you have kids running around, chores undone, and a home-based job to fulfill. A day of working your way into the mess and fixing it up seems like forever to accomplish. What more if you have to go through improvements to beautify your home and make it feel homier despite the loads of work on your shoulders? Should you push through window tinting works and make things done? On the other hand, should you postpone it some other time?

Deciding if you really need home window tinting is as necessary as deciding if you need to secure yourself even while you are home. Did you know that a window tint secures you and your home’s interior health? Especially now, modern homes have larger and more windows around the house to create a sense of spaciousness, beauty, and chic style.

• First, window tinting covers the home interiors from the damaging rays of the sun. Since it could not enter your home, it secures your fabrics, wood, artworks, carpets, and other fixtures from damaging over time.

• Second, window tinting provides a cooler ambiance to your home and minimizes the glare due to sunrays. It reduces the enormous amount of heat to enter your home; and it cuts the detrimental UV sunrays.

• Third, despite the tint, you can still manage to have the benefit of seeing the beautiful vistas around you; plus, the fact that having window tint is a beautiful home detail improvement.

• Fourth, even with window tinting, you can still enjoy a natural lighting all throughout your home. Since you are not closing down blades, slight sun will still pass through your home but without the UV rays anymore.

• Fifth, which many think as the best possible reason to make use of tinting, is because of the acquired privacy that it bestows on homeowners. Of course, several people do not want to keep their window shades pulled down all the time because it hampers them from seeing the panoramic view. With window tint, you can pick a tint with superior reflective rate to give the utmost privacy you want for your homes.

For most homeowners, they still depend on window tinting as the best alternative to protect your health and your home as well. Although, there are some homeowners who cannot manage to support the costs of installing one. What else is left of them? Not much really, except to open their windows and feel the warmth of the sun whilst watching outdoors, unless you fully understand the detrimental effects of too much sun. Still, the harmful sunrays will provide more damage to your home and furnishings rather than the cost of installing window tinting.

Deciding window tinting for your home does not mean getting it done by tomorrow. You can still look into the chances of retaining the old window styles of your homes for the meantime, and later see if there is a stable flow of cash in your pocket to secure window tinting for your home.



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Astin Sharon asked:


Christmas is around the corner and surely all of you must be busy in shopping for your home dcor. This festive season you can give your home the desired look or even add extra colors and delight by using window blinds. If you are not aware of blinds then here is something extraordinary which is of great interest to you. Window blinds are used by large number of people to decorate their room windows. Different types of blinds enable people to give specific feel and ambience to different rooms.

Blinds are not only meant to give style and new dimension to your room, but in fact its major use is to provide you privacy and functionality. With blinds you can control the amount of light entering your room. If you want sunrays to enter your room to give you warmth or if you want a complete blackout in your room, then all you need is window blind.

Some of the different types of blinds are Venetian, blinds, vertical blinds, wooden blinds, pleated blinds, blackout blinds and many more. Remember that each of the type is designed keeping in mind the desired function expected from it. If you don’t want to spend large sum of money and still wish to buy blinds then the best option is to go for wooden blinds as they are cheap and easily available. Let’s discuss some of the blinds in detail:

Wooden Blinds- These blinds look really elegant and can provide ultimate appearance to your entire room or home. Available in different colors, it gives you an opportunity to select any one complimenting the color of your furniture or room wall. Such blinds are flexible in nature as you can allow sunlight to enter the room and also can provide privacy to extreme level.

Vertical Blinds- These blinds are very popular among the masses as they can be used or three purposes. Firstly it can add splendor to your lovely room with its elegant and mind-boggling appearance. Secondly it provides privacy by blocking the sunrays to enter the room. Thirdly they give you control to decrease or increase the amount of light.

Roller Blinds- Roller blinds are gaining immense popularity with their superb style and amazing functionality. They act as perfect blinds to suit your needs and requirements.

It is advisable to know your needs and requirements before buying any particular blind type as that will make your money worth.



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Keith George asked:


Curtains are materials that are hung over a window for decoration and other purposes. The main purposes are to provide privacy, block sunlight and decoration.

If the window looks onto streets or sidewalks, then curtains can be used for privacy. Translucent curtains like net curtains or sheer curtains will only block sunlight partially. These types of curtains do not provide any privacy, especially at night. For privacy opaque curtains are better.

Curtains are also used for light control to prevent glare, for sleeping during the day, or watching TV etc. Opaque curtains are suited for light control. For partial light control sheer or net type curtains are better suited.

Curtains are also used for increasing the aesthetic appeal of a room. An elegant curtain greatly increases the aesthetics of a room and gives an opulent look. On the contrary dirty or ill matched curtains give a room a gloomy look. When the window looks onto a street it is better to give thought to the underside of the curtain as the curtain can be seen from outside and will dictate the appearance of the house.

Types of Curtains.

There are lots of varieties of curtains available in the market today. A few of them are:

Curtain Valance. These have deep frill fabrics framing the window and usually the curtain rod is hidden. They generally have pleated heading. The pleated headings can be decorated using braid, ribbons, tassels and trimmings.

Cascade Curtains. Cascaded curtains consist of two or more curtains hung over the window. The tiers are hung from transoms. Shirred curtains. These types of curtains have the fabric threaded through curtain rods at the top and bottom.

Tie back curtains. These curtains are gathered at the sides of the window and decoratively tied back at the lower part of the curtain with a sleeve or cord.

Cafe curtains. These are designed to cover only half of the window and are stationary. They are usually used in kitchens and bathrooms for privacy and are made form scalloped headings.

Pelmets. Pelmets are structures mounted above the windows on which the curtain rod is fixed.

The choice of curtains depends on the purpose for which the curtains are being installed. Color, fabric and style of curtain give the room a formal or informal appearance.

There are lots of decorative rods, pelmets, cordings, sleeves, beads, fringes, rings, eyelets available in the market to decorate curtains. Also a thought should be given on safety for floor length curtains when pets and children are present in the house.



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Astin Sharon asked:


Gone are the days when people used to apply curtains or some other cloth for covering their room or office windows as in today’s modern world, the existence of window blinds speak a lot about privacy and fashion world. We all want some amount of sunlight to enter our room especially at the time of chilling winters when one desire to feel some warmth. However many a times either you get immense quantity of sunlight heating up your body after few minutes or may get less sunlight which still makes you deprived of warmth. Thus to avoid this, window blinds act as the perfect window covering giving you variety of options according to your need and requirement.

Several types of blinds are available in the market like office blinds, roller blinds, vertical blinds, each designed to serve a specific purpose. Because of the multi purpose nature of blinds, they have become quite popular and demanding, overcoming traditional materials like curtains applied in offices and public buildings. The availability of different types of blinds in different colors, styles and designs enable you to match the color of your blind with your furniture color. Also this allows you to give any irregular shaped window at your home an attractive and elegant look.

Blind are made up of different materials. One can have blinds made of wood, fabric and other materials depending upon the requirement. Each of the material offers specific advantage to the consumer. Window blinds come with different functions like some may have the cord pull system and other can be operated automatically via remote control. To make your money worth you should choose those window blinds which add extra charm and elegance to your home décor. Also one should buy quality window blinds from a credible dealer like www.ultrasound-blinds.co.uk

Buying quality blinds from such a dealer will assure superior performance of your blinds. Also such companies offer cleaning, repair and maintenance services to increase the shelf life of your blinds. It is really a foolish step to buy cheap window blinds as initially they may enhance the appearance of your room and serve your specific purpose but after some weeks will start to get old, losing harm and elegance.

How to choose right window blinds?

It is really a hard thing to choose the right window blind for your room. Gauging at different types of blinds makes you confused regarding trusting any one of them. However the foremost thing while deciding to buy the window blinds is to know the color and style scheme you want for your blind. This can be evaluated by considering the wall color and furniture color in your room.

Window blinds can be made from different materials like vinyl, wood, and fabric. If you want sophisticated look without any other decoration then wooden blinds or roman blinds are the best option. Vertical blinds are also a good option if you want to block the sunrays as such blinds give you the power to control the amount of light entering your room. Vertical blinds are easy to clean and act as the perfect style statement for your home décor.

If we talk about the roller blinds then they are the ones which offer utmost privacy and light control ability. Roller Blinds are the modern face of window blinds and can enhance the appearance of your room to a great extent. Different types of roller blinds are available like day/night style of roller blinds, plain roller blinds, lace and sunscreen roller blinds and many more.

Specially made for your office, office blinds understand the office environment and offer options to perform various functions like privacy, light control and many others. To conclude, window blinds are one of the most important features of home décor and if used sensibly can enhance the overall beauty of the room.



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Tim Lee asked:


If you’re planning to dress up your window or just want to add new elements for a completely different look, what better way to do that than to use window treatments? If used effectively, window treatments can provide efficient light and privacy control, create the illusion of space, hide structural defects and create a whole new ambience in any area in your house.

Basically, there are different kinds of window treatments you can use either by themselves or combined. These are drapes, curtains, blinds and shutters. Your pick on which of these window treatments to use will depend on your needs and the particular look you want to give a room.

1. Drapes and curtains

Drapes and curtains are probably the most common window treatments.

If you want to expand the room and create the illusion of a bigger space, use light colored curtains and light fabrics. Light colors also allow more light and create a sunnier room. Let in the breeze and sunshine with tiebacks that either match the curtains or provide a great accent.

Drapes are perfect for Victorian-inspired rooms or if you want to create a romantic, opulent look. They can make any window look elegant especially if you choose colors and texture that are rich and luxurious. If you have tall windows, use heavy drapes to keep the windows from overwhelming your window treatments. Lighter drapes look best in smaller windows.

2. Shutters and blinds

Shutters and blinds can be made with fabric, vinyl or wood.

Shutters create a look that is similar to the plantations of the Old South. You get great control over light and privacy by simply opening or closing the louvers. They also offer great protection from wind and dust. If you want a country-style house or a look reminiscent of a Paris apartment or a nice remote beach house, shutters make a perfect window treatment for your home.

Blinds also allow you to manipulate light and give you better control over privacy. If you have large windows, you can try festoon blinds. This type of blinds will work well if you want the puffy, romantic look. If not, go for plain fabric blinds or Roman blinds, which allow you to lift an entire portion of the fabric to keep the window view clear.



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Jude Wright asked:


One of the most important tasks in home decorating is choosing window coverings. Your window covering choice depends on several factors: how much natural light you want in the room, whether you need privacy from the street or neighbors, the colors that will work in your room and how much you can afford.

Here are the eight steps that need to be taken in choosing a window covering:

1. Choose the color of the draperies. Do you want them to blend in with your wall and furniture colors or do you want them to “pop.”

2. Decide on whether you need sheers with your drapery and the weight of the fabric (for privacy). You will also need to determine what type of fabric that you want. Silk draperies would work for a more formal room. You may also want to consider using window shades or wooden shutters depending upon the style of your room.

3. Do you want a plain or a patterned fabric? Choose carefully because you don’t want large patterned draperies to clash with the fabric you may have on your furniture.

4. Decide on whether or not you need insulated draperies. Insulated drapes make your draperies hang better and help prevent cold air from entering a room in winter months. Insulated drapes are also used to block out light in a bedroom for people who like to sleep in or for city dwellers who have a lot of light from street lamps and traffic. They can also mute the sounds of city living.

5. Measure your windows. Be sure to add six to eight inches for the hang from drapery rods to the top of the window and from the bottom of the window to the floor.

6. Choose the appropriate drapery hardware or curtain rods that will fit your window. Other drapery hardware you may need, are tie-backs, curtain rings and finials.

7. After you have determined the type, color and size of the draperies that you need, decide on whether they will be custom made or ready made. Ready made draperies are much less expensive than custom draperies. They can be found in many different styles and colors. Ready made draperies are also pre-made in different weights of fabrics. Some people use ready-made sheers with custom draperies added over the top.

8. Once all of the above decisions have been made, it’s time to go shopping. You can purchase ready made drapes from department stores, custom draperies from home interior design shops or just purchase the fabric and make them yourself. It all depends on the cost and the creation difficulty of the style that you have chosen.

Whether or not you use an interior designer, your choices for window coverings determines a lot about how your room will look when it is finished. Choosing window coverings and hardware is an important part of your home decorating projects.



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Carol Freyer asked:


Many homeowners find that, while they like the convenience that society affords them and their families, that they do not like the lack of privacy that comes with living closely with other families. It can be difficult to effect changes in a place that is already built or where local zoning laws have to be circumnavigated before one can put up a fence. Plants are an effective solution to many privacy woes and here’s some ideas that you can use to put them to work for you.

Trees are very good natural barriers and shields. They can provide shade and, in the case of some varieties, fruit or edible bark. Trees can add value to your home as well. Unfortunately, if you don’t have grown trees in strategic locations on your property, they are expensive to buy and have planted. Some adult trees cost more than even a relatively expensive fence, but if you want insta-privacy via trees, they are probably your best bet.

Another method of gaining some separation from the outside world is a hedge. Hedges can be cultivated to grow quite tall, but even a lower hedge can prevent people and animals from wandering easily into your space. They also can provide some natural light while still forming a barrier. Many different plants can be used to create hedges; people who want quick privacy might naturally gravitate toward the faster-growing varieties, but the celerity of growth also means more frequent pruning to keep the hedge looking good.

Planting a line of ornamental grasses can decoratively screen some areas of your property from prying eyes. There are many varieties to choose from that suit different climates and soils. They are fast growing, transplant easily and many are not tasty to local wildlife. Also, they are pretty cheap to buy, making them a low-cost, tasteful option for the homeowner on a budget.

Bamboo is a plant that may not come immediately to mind when thinking of ornamental grasses, but it is a fast growing grass that can be used to create an unusual barrier. Be sure to look for “clumping” bamboo, as the “running” version will try to “run” away and grow in every available area around the original planting. Some people use barriers to prevent inadvertent colonization.

Terracing a garden by creating various levels can be another strategy that gives you the maximum enjoyment of a slope and maximum privacy due to the varied heights you can create to work with. If you place tall plants in the highest terrace, you can create a verdant “wall” that slopes into your property or towards the street. Terraces also provide measured space between your property and the public area, something that sloping ground is not effective at.

Trellis plants, like ivy, can be used to cover up places on a fence or standing structure without seeming artificial or garish. If managed properly, they can even provide a green curtain in front of windows that can be hung in front or tied back as inclination dictates. Climbing roses can provide a sharp deterrent to not-so-casual onlookers.

Inside your house, you can use plants to screen windows while allowing light in. Hanging plants can be used to screen windows or even create private areas within the home. Some ornamental plants, like cacti, provide a barrier of thorns in windows that can deter idle hands from entering.

Plants require regular maintenance, both to look good and to stay healthy. Depending on the type of plant, they may be expensive or difficult to procure. Some plants require special treatment, either to stay healthy or to keep the area looking tidy. If the maintenance isn’t an issue, especially if gardening is a passion of yours, then this could be an ideal way to gain a little bit more privacy out-of-doors as well as in.



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Arvi asked:


Transparent decorative window film is a useful choice for windows where you want privacy but still want to let the sun shine in. Available in many patterns, decorative window film can add the rich look of stained glass windows to your building, be it commercial or residential. Decorative window film is an excellent option when thinking about installing stained glass windows. Decorative window film will give you the look of stained glass windows at a fraction of the cost.

Decorative window film is ideally suited for applications that require day or night privacy without sacrificing the natural light levels in both commercial and residential applications. Commercial films are found in banks, restaurants, health clubs, hotel foyers, conference rooms, and are used as office partitioning. Commercial buildings are dramatically increasing the use of internal glass walls as partitioning which brings natural light into offices, creating greater work productivity, as well as the illusion of a more spacious room with privacy.

You can bring color and texture to virtually any glass window, door, or room divider. Subtly or sensationally, decorative window film tinting puts multiple colors and patterns at your disposal: red, yellow, green, blue, bronze, white, black, matte, frost. Combine any or all to splash on virtually any color. Achieve any hue. Diffuse, focus, or block light completely.

A decorative film window reduces glare and offers UV protection. It is scratch resistant and very easy to maintain. Sometimes fingerprints and other marks can never be successfully removed from etched glass; this is not a problem with a decorative film window. Both the window and the film can be cleaned with common commercial cleaners or with soap and water.

Decorative window film offers the following advantages:· Adds privacy · Enhances the door or window design (or any glass surface) · Increases window safety · Rejects harmful UV rays · Cuts window glare & protects interior, without reducing ambient light · Easily maintained        · Makes glass surfaces clearly and beautifully visible · Delineates passageways · Enhances safety in public spaces · Adds flexibility to displays



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Richard Rogers asked:


When you browse the web information is continuously collected by the websites you visit and by your own computer. For example, websites at a minimum collect information about the web browser you use the operating system of your computer and the geography you reside from. However, what surprises most users is the amount of information that is collected on your computer from your surfing habits and daily use.

Your web browser stores a lot of different types of information which is designed to improve your internet surfing experience but nevertheless poses a privacy risk. The sites or URLs which you visit are stored in the browser’s “history.” Search results are saved when you enter a search term into a search engine like Google. Web content and images are stored in the “temp” folder. Files that you download are stored in the download manager.

Websites also place “Cookies” onto your hard drive. A cookie is a small text file and is used by websites to offer advanced features. Some of the information that cookies store include shopping basket items or log-in information for a membership site. Cookies can also store information about when you visited the site including date and time.

Given all this information being collected above you can easily see why this could become a privacy risk. It would not take someone who knew what they were doing too long to figure out what websites you visit, what you have bought online and what search terms you are looking for. This is unfortunately not the end of it.

If you are a user of instant messenger or chat programs like AIM, MSN Instant Messenger or even Skype then it is important to be aware that the programs saves your chat history. Most programs allow you turn this feature off.

There are number of other places besides your web browser where information is stored on your computer. This data can allow people to figure out what you have been doing on your computer. Media players like RealPlayer and Microsoft Media Play store audio and video playing history. Microsoft Office like Excel and PowerPoint applications store information about the most recently accessed files.

Another important thing to remember is that when you delete a file it is not necessarily permanently erased and can be recovered with the right software. When you first hit delete the file is moved to the Recycle Bin. Even when you empty the Recycle Bin the file still exists on your hard drive until Windows overwrites it.

Here are two things you can do to help reduce the privacy risks from your computer.

Use a free software tool called “CCleaner” (http://www.ccleaner.com) to clear information collected by your web browser and Windows’s Temp Folder. This software automates the manual process of using your browser options menu to clean out cookies, URL history etc. Try to run this tool once a week or more frequently if you are a heavy internet user. If you work with sensitive data files on your computer then you may want to consider investing in secure file “shredder” software. This type of software actually overwrites or “bleaches” the file you want to delete which means that it cannot be restored.

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