Collaborative Post
Whether you live at home alone or with your family, one of your concerns is likely to be making sure you all feel safe and secure. Making sure you have the privacy you need, both individually and collectively, is key to happiness within the home. Let’s take a look at a few things you can do to create more privacy at home – you won’t be short of options both inside and outside of your home.
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Start With Your Garden
Privacy at home can start with your garden. The garden should be a wonderful place for family members to relax and catch up, but you don’t want your nosy neighbour or passers-by to peek in as you do so! Start by carefully selecting the right plants to ensure your garden is as private as possible. Choose large, leafy plants, trees, shrubs, and as many different textures and types as you can to create a leafy green haven. Bear in mind that the plants and trees you choose to add should vary depending on your soil type, your location, and the amount of light and rain you get in the area. Most people want to work on creating a sort of boundary with their plants while still allowing light through. Adding bamboo can actually make a wonderful ‘screen’ that many homeowners love the look of.
Many people choose to put up lattice fencing, and even high fences to keep prying eyes away, but it’s worth noting that your garden can feel small once you box it in to create privacy, so consider adding mirrors to open up the space. Most people don’t think of adding mirrors outdoors and only adorn the walls with them inside. However, mirrors outside can be a great decorative tool and still provide the same light-reflecting and space opening properties that they do when inside.
Make sure that as you make changes to your garden, you take the time to assess where you really need privacy, and consider both temporary and permanent options to suit your needs and garden’s orientation. Just bear in mind that you should also take precautions to ensure no intruder or criminal will feel comfortable hiding anywhere in the vicinity – sometimes, providing more privacy in the garden with plants and trees can also give criminals a place to hide, so adding CCTV to your safe haven can act as a deterrent. Every homeowner should invest in a sturdy gate with a lock, too!
2. Invest In The Right Window Dressings
Now, inside the home, you’re going to want to look at your window dressings. Window dressings come in all shapes and styles, and the ones you choose will depend entirely on the style you want to emulate in your home, as well as how much privacy you believe you need. Curtains can block out all light when shut, but when open, let in plenty of natural light. However, with that natural light often comes the ability to see into your home, so they are often more suited to some rooms than others. Blinds make a great addition, allowing you to let in as much light as you see fit while still having some privacy. Curtains are often a popular choice in bedrooms, while blinds can make a great choice for lounge and living areas. Some people even choose to go for both blinds and curtains so that they have complete control over light and privacy, along with total peace of mind.
However, this can depend on the look you want to go for and the location of your home. For complete privacy, plantation shutters could be a better option.
3. Use Partitions In Large Rooms
Now, if you’re looking to provide more privacy to other members of the family, partitions can be a great addition to the room. Screen partitions can be a good addition to a bedroom if you’re in need of an area to get changed, but you can even find storage partitions that can break up a large bedroom, ensuring that kids who need to share rooms still feel like they have their own designated space.
4. Ensure Soundproofing is A Priority
You don’t just want to focus on who can see what when it comes to creating privacy in your home, but who can hear what. Soundproofing is an underrated part of making a home more private, but it’s essential. Although you may want to wrap your kids up in cotton wool forever, for example, ensuring their rooms are soundproofed means that they can speak to friends without feeling like someone is always listening in. Hopefully, they will feel able to come to you if they do have an issue they want your help with, so you don’t need to listen to every conversation that they have.
Soundproofing is important for all kinds of other reasons – family members who play instruments, and even ensuring that young kids get a good night’s sleep while other family members may still be awake. Sealing doors, fixing holes or cracks in the walls, and even ensuring you use carpet rather than wooden floors can be simple ways to give people a little more privacy within the home.
5. Have Clear House Rules
Having clear house rules ensures that everybody in the household is on the same page. Make sure kids know what is expected of them and that they need to respect siblings’ privacy if requested. You wouldn’t like it if your kids constantly barged in on you when you wanted privacy and peace, so make sure you give them the same courtesy. Parents often feel entitled to barge into kids rooms whenever they want, but model privacy to them by knocking first. These small gestures can help you to create a healthy culture at home and ensure everybody feels happy and comfortable.
Creating privacy at home isn’t always easy, but with the above advice, you should be able to do it in no time. Which of these tips are you going to use? Leave a comment below!
