27 Jan 2021

I’ve been pondering window usage lately. I mean – someone has to, and it may as well be me.

A year or so ago, I had windows in my house tinted. The primary reason for the tinting was to reduce the glare my husband was experiencing on the television. It got to the stage where he had blinds fully shut during the day, so that he could watch whatever sporting game was on, without being distracted by reflections.

And because the level of annoyance he experienced was really annoying me, I got the windows tinted quite dark. The salesman was full of fun facts about the amount of heat I would either deflect or retain, and blah blah blah. All I wanted to know was – would it allow my husband to watch a sporting game without making the rest of the house tomb-like in the process???

The tinting was marginally successful in the tv glare category. The unexpected outcome of the tinting was that my houseplants started to die. En masse. They really do enjoy a little bit of UV light, and my heavy tinting eliminated this. Some happily relocated to the back patio, but some did not survive the experience.

Windows are a wonderful thing, when they perform the task you require them to do. When we renovated the en-suite bathroom last year, I made the unilateral decision that I did not want a window that could open. I wanted a fixed frosted glass pane, meaning that while I could not open the window, I also did not require any blinds or window treatments.

The outcome of this decision is a LOT of light is always available in the bathroom! Lots and lots. And that’s not a bad thing. The lack of blinds in there means I don’t have to dust them, and there’s more space for stuff on the window ledge.

Window decisions made by me in the house currently sit at a one-all draw for desired outcome.

I love open windows – when it’s not too hot, not too cold, not too windy, or not too noisy outside. And of course, fly screens attached to windows in Australia are not simply a good idea, they are essential. You know when you have a damaged fly screen – the flies and mosquitoes alert you to the issue fairly quickly.

But do you notice that we spend our time juggling window usage between wanting to see outside and let air and light in, or stopping people from the outside, looking in?

The whole point of a window is to provide access to something. I read somewhere that talked about children’s education in terms of windows of opportunity – optimum times when children learn things better. And windows of opportunity generally are times when you should grab the chance, while the window is open, to do something.

Preferably not to steal something, unless it’s my half dead plants.

Are you a window open or closed sort of person?