Saturday, February 21, 2009

Clear or not?

We're very happy with our blinds. But there is one tiny little detail that slipped past us. The French doors in the ensuite.

We have clear glass in all our windows, including bathrooms and toilet. I was happy with that, and never considered an upgrade to anything else. I love the look, and privacy shouldn't be an issue with venetians. Except for this....

Good light control, and the blinds match the timber doors pretty closely.

Closed. We have total privacy....or do we?

Um. The toilet is to one side of the doors, the shower to the other. And because the blinds can't be even partially recessed, there's a gap.



A pretty BIG gap....I could wave to the brickies working next door, while sitting on the loo.



We decided that we'd replace the blinds at some point with plantation shutters, custom-made to fit, but that in the meantime we'd get a privacy film applied to the glass, so we can live with what we have. We did some research and discovered that to get a company to come out and apply privacy film to the existing glass was about $250. Whaaat? It would only cost $200 to have the clear glass replaced with translucent.

I really didn't want a permanent change - I still like to be able to see out when I want to.

Then I came across this website. A translucent film that you can buy on a roll and apply yourself. For around $16. I emailed the company (they're in Thomastown) and they told me that Bunnings stock the product, or I can buy it direct from them. Today I found it in the flywire aisle at Bunnings. Problem solved!

We can't apply it just yet, as one of the doors is being replaced due to warping. But I'll post up some photos when we do.



Thought it might be a useful product for others to know about. :o)

6 comments:

G+A said...

Hey thanks for the tip about the window glazing! It might come in handy for me.

Too bad about your blinds...although plantation shutters do cost a fair bit, they'll make your home look even more beautiful. We currently have vertical blinds where we live and they are the most annoying things ever! Not only do they break so easily, but there are always gaps in between.

Kek said...

I figured there'd be plenty of other people in the same boat. The product looks easy to apply, but we'll see....

Verticals....ugh! Had those in our first house for years.

Toni said...

Hi Kek, well when I looked at the first two photos I thought that the blinds had been recessed in the frame. They look great!

okay, did you and BB do an experiment? Did one sit on the toilet and the other go outside?

Great that you found the film to add on. We realised after we moved in that we should have gotten an awning window to our ensuite toilet. We have Obscure glass but of course the window slides open so only half of it is obscure......

Kek said...

No, we didn't experiment exactly, and as long as it's bright outdoors it's not a big drama. At night it's a whole other story - and since the doors open right next to our alfresco room, that could be a problem...

Never thought about the sliding vs awning window thing. Ours is an awning, but we had a sliding window in our old house - it was a really high one though, and small too, so no privacy probs.

Lisa said...

Hey Kek - did you end up installing the window film?? I'm wanting frosted glass in my bathrooms but I'm trying to minimise my upgrade costs through the builder. I figure if I do this and then in a year or two pay for actual frosted glass if need be it will work out a lot cheaper!

Kek said...

Not yet Lisa....still waiting for one of the doors to be replaced. Hopefully that'll be soon.