Whats the big deal about having your curtains open/shut?

Primrose

We sometimes close our curtains in the height of summer to keep the heat out. (common Mediterranean practice in hot countries to keep curtains and shutters closed). Some people also do this to stop bright sunlight fading their carpets or upholstery, or in winter to keep rooms better insulated when they're trying to cut down on heating bills.
I like to sleep with the curtains open at night so I can see the stars and sky if I wake. . My OH on the other hand likes them firmly closed so this is an ongoing debate after umpteen years. Generally though I like rooms to be bright and have as much natural daylight as possible in them. I know in times gone by drawn curtains were a universally adopted way of depicting a bereavement in the family so perhaps for some older people this is what they find a little unpleasant about them being drawn in ordinary circumstances.

chewynut

We don't have any curtains in our house. Upstairs has blinds but nothing downstairs. I think my mother hates curtains because the ones at my grandfather's were hideous and it was such a small dark house it must've been like living in a coffin. We're set back on a steep hill with a bungalow opposite and a field behind (for now!) so we're not really overlooked.

I open mine because I get the morning sun. My brother hardly bothers during winter because it's gone down before it makes it round his side of the house. In the summer he gets some glorious sunsets.

My mother and aunt like nothing more than wandering down country lanes and streets gawping openly into peoples' houses. They're more interested in the decor than what the inhabitants are doing though.

katie1812

I try and keep our curtains and blinds open in the day. Our lounge goes out to the back garden so not worried about people seeing in obviously! So curtains stay open. Everywhere else I keep the curtains or blind open, or maybe slightly angled, I like the natural light being let through, darkness and lights on I hate!!!

Slinky

My friend's MIL had a stroke, she lay on the floor for several hours until a neighbour noticed her curtains were still closed in the middle of the afternoon and investigated.

aileth

onlyroz wrote: »

I've never heard of the bereavement thing. My assumption would be, if I saw curtains closed during the day, that the occupant was a lazy slob.

I guess people who work shifts or are at home ill (for example, a bad migraine where darkness helps) and my dad, who was a copper and sometimes worked 9pm to 6am and then slept through the day, must've all been lazy slobs!

Logic at its finest.

Tropez

aileth wrote: »

I guess people who work shifts or are at home ill (for example, a bad migraine where darkness helps) and my dad, who was a copper and sometimes worked 9pm to 6am and then slept through the day, must've all been lazy slobs!

Logic at its finest.

To be fair though, work really does get in the way of me being lazy.

Bufger

Whenever my wife opens her curtains I close mine.

bedpotato_2

partialycloudy wrote: »

well I have to admit that our bedroom curtains are pretty much permanelty drawn closed.

Was that a typo or is that genuinely how you think that word is spelled and pronounced? I am not picking on you; just curious to know. I've never seen that spelling before and I'm wondering if there is a certain region in the UK where people pronounce it that way.

SallyUK

Our lounge curtains don't get closed until we're going to bed last thing at night, and they're opened first thing every morning.

When the mother in law comes to visit, she always asks, "Can I close the curtains?" as she hates sitting in the lounge with them open!

Sal
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