A house with a lot of glass gives incredible views and the interior and exterior spaces seem to blend seamlessly. But a drawback is that everyone else has the same view, except they're looking in.
Generally, this isn't an issue because blinds and the natural surroundings block most of the sightlines into our house. However, our all-glass front door provides us little privacy from frequent passersby and seems to attract the hands and faces of the neighborhood kids like moths to a light.
Because the doorway is positioned in the main artery of our house, strolls to the kitchen must be done fully attired.
We love the natural light that flows in from the two big panes of glass, but we needed more privacy. We considered applying a thin layer of frosted film over the windows of the doors, but this would prevent us from seeing out the front door.
Our solution was simple: We cut the thin film to the proper size of the window, holding it down from the top so that it was 5 feet from the floor. We then added a second strip to each window about 2 inches above the first one, to the top of the window. This gave us a 2-inch swath across the center of the window that provided a view to the street, but prevented a view into the home from outside. Problem solved, and it cost only about $14.
To learn more about Jason Hammond's new house and to see photos and previous blog posts, go to www.startribune.com/newhouse. Or e-mail him at hammond@mojosolo.com.
