Half Down or Half Up? Part 1 of a Series on Privacy Film

When I was a kid, the CBC aired a children's series called The Friendly Giant. At the beginning of every show, the Giant would encourage the viewers to "Look up, look waaaaaay up, and I'll call Rusty". I loved that show (I'm not altogether certain, but I think Rusty was a little talking chicken or something - my fav was Jerome his giraffe friend who poked his head through the castle window for his visits)

"Looking up" is a common euphemism for hope and optimism. It is said that churches of the past would paint the ceilings (a la the Sistine Chapel) so that the common man would raise their head to view them, giving them hope and the sense of being uplifted in their faith. And it is true, there is beauty in optimism in looking up.

This can be particularly true in a cityscape. Looking down, what do we see? Concrete, asphalt, dirt, car exhaust, litter and other debris. But to look up, you might see birds, trees, fluffy clouds and sunshine, images of nature that are common to city and rural countryside.

So where is the window film guy going with this? Well, often times when we want privacy or to block an unsightly view from our homes or offices we use blinds that pull down. Pulling a blind all the way down blocks out all light and all view. Pulling a blind half-way down improves light flow and typically does an effective job of improving privacy, but what of the view? Well, in many cases you are left with the worst view, the looking down view of dirty sidewalks, rubbish bins, or what-have-you.

Some of our window film customers have decided to take the 'Looking Up' approach to privacy, by applying decorative window films from the bottom half-up. Think about it, you still get the sunshine, trees and birds but not the sometimes unpleasant street-level views. We have applied this concept in both Toronto area homes and businesses with great success. You can use any sort of decorative film in this application, from a simple frost to more interesting patterned or textured films.

Of course, this application won't work for everyone, like Friendly, the giant's windows didn't have any glass, so this idea just wouldn't work for him! Check back again for more ideas for window privacy from Apex Window Films