PLEASE help with window treatments!
Can anyone suggest window treatments for these two windows of our cottage which we're just starting to renovate? Walls are 25" thick stone, screens on exterior. Both ground-level with public walkway passing by outside, so how to get (1) some privacy (2) while still permitting as much ventilation as possible (we usually have windows wide open as shown (and even sometimes remove window panels entirely for the season).
Prefer to have entire sill available to the inside for fan and/or lighting.
Wide-slat venetian blinds just inside the screens would 'tick all the boxes' for me, but worry they'd deteriorate quickly in the elements.
Please forgive the horrible photos!
Prefer to have entire sill available to the inside for fan and/or lighting.
Wide-slat venetian blinds just inside the screens would 'tick all the boxes' for me, but worry they'd deteriorate quickly in the elements.
Please forgive the horrible photos!
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If you can post some photos showing the outside of the building that shows the height of the windows relative to a passerby, that would help.
I assume you mean instead of the shutters in the position we have them? (they are due to be replaced because they were damaged, but so far we expect to replace them with something in the same position). The problems I see with louvered shutters outside are two: (1) we wouldn't be able to open and close them easily from the inside, and (2) we'd lose the protection of the screens (ewwww! little lizards crawling between the louvers!). I love the idea of pierced screens, however, especially if they're just on the bottom half. At least for people to look in they'd have to stop and squint through small holes -- should stop all but the most brazen.
I don't think Ihave a good photo of the outside (but I'll double check) but basically I'd need to block off the bottom third of the whole window opening.
New Orleans solutions should be about right in regard to climate at least, since the cottage is in Greece.
Forgot to mention that non-curtain solutions are also possible, that is, things like plants, trees, window boxes. However, some flexibility with the light would be preferred, the path IS public so I don't have rights to do anything which would impede passage, and we're only in the house a month or so a year (until retirement) so plants requiring constant attention wouldn't really work.
A wood or metal screen: Exterior of the Juliet House Flying Point Residence Private Commission : Brisbane
The only thing that will obscure visibility at night is a solid surface. To your lattice screen above, you can staple a sunproof fabric such as Sunbrella or even a quarter-inch thick piece of plastic or plywood at the height that people would look in.
Another idea is to make the view in the opposite direction from the windows much more interesting than the windows. After the building materials get cleaned up on the verge on the other side of the public path, you might consider putting in some interesting plants, a sun dial, a solar fountain birdbath or small wind-activated decorations such as spinners or garden flags to distract the passers-by. Putting decorations out for a month or so only while you are in residence will keep them from getting tattered by the sun.
I'd be remiss if I did not suggest that you look around at the solutions found in other Greek cottages. Architecture evolves to meet local needs. The louvered shutters are traditional because they obscure the view and allow ventilation in hot climates.
Just remember having said indeed bougainvillea -- or the more fragrant jasmine -- grow beautifully here and require relatively little work to maintain. Great ideas.
But what struck me as brilliant was the suggestion to distract the passers-by, something I'd never thought of despite trying to think 'outside of the box'. And although actually across the footpath it isn't our property, we're on good terms with our neighbor and I doubt he'd mind.
As for looking around at other Greek cottages to see what they're doing, I have done so, but I have a slightly different mindset being an ex-pat. Two solutions I see, for instance, are either closing windows and curtains and cranking up the A/C -- no! -- or just letting everyone peer in to their hearts' content. Equally 'no!'. The louvered shutters aren't quite as functional as you might think: first of all, there are often no real gaps between the louvers so there goes the ventilation, and they're also not adjustable so it's either fully-dark/fully-stuffy, or open, albeit partially as I show in my photos is a possible compromise ...
I've even wondered about stringing up a sort of mirror mobile just inside the screen thinking that might confuse the viewer enough, although I doubt I'd have complete faith in that solution alone come night-time.
Anyhow, one of these solutions -- or perhaps several combined -- should do the trick. Thank you SO much to those of you who took the time to offer suggestions :-)
Either way, while I do like the looks of those, the shade they cast, and the air they let through, and let's not forget their low cost -- at night they really don't provide any real privacy, sadly. And lining them would defeat some of the pro's it seems.
Not easy windows!
That's an interesting thought -- I think you mean these shutters, am I correct?
If so, I love how they look inside and would seem to meet most of my wish list. As long as I can get them installed over the screens, and I'm sure i could with a fairly straightforward frame. Hmmm, nice. Thanks! (I suppose the only downside is that they couldn't ever be VERY open, right?)