Thank you, HIwE! The shutters have a classy look to them. I will see what they will cost tomorrow...Have a good evening, eveyone!

When I had side lights I had some lace curtains - the rods were magnetic that fit onto the window frame. You could do the same with some sheers.

Boy I haven't seen a peephole in a front door of a home ever?.....especially new construction.

Apparently it's standard with our builder if you sandblast or frost the side windows for security reasons. The windows and views in our new house are all mostly in the back since we back onto beautiful conservation space so the peep hole works well for us given our location.

If we had our new windows sandblasted, it would void our window guarantee totally. They are slightly tinted and super rated for energy efficiency. Our main views are to the back as well, as we have a nice view of trees and sky. Our house is set back a fair piece from the street and sidewalk. We chose this style of entry door and large 13 inch wide sidelights to see outside at whim as we walk through the front hall to access other rooms and for the light they provide.

I was excited to see these sidelight shutters as below can be totally opened up wide or closed tightly. This IS the way to go for me!

Beautiful! And I love the door colour too!

Plantation shutters. I have them and love them.

Here is a company that sells the sheers and rods for attaching curtains to door sidelights.

http://www.sidelightcurtains.com/fabricchoices.html

http://www.sidelightcurtains.com/curtainrods.html

Thanks for this, BeverlyFLA, although a person on the outside can still go up to the window and see through the sheers into the house. Not that this will ever happen, but can. Unless you shirred them very tightly, I guess.

Em, yes the more fabric, the more privacy. I have used curtains like this on French doors that were entrances to bathrooms and, depending on the fabric selection, had complete privacy, but translucent light.

Of course your other option is Plantation Shutters, but there is a huge difference in price so take that into consideration. Additionally, the shutters will not allow light into the foyer unless you have them open, and then you have no privacy.

I also used frosted window film, but cut in a pattern to add some detail and interest to the window. I got the idea from pinterest and this blog post was helpful. It was a tedious process but cheap if I decide one day I don't like the look of it.

Frost film with a custom cut peephole and a cat viewing "window" at the bottom of a sidelite. Complete privacy with lots of light coming in and easy to clean. This film also provides 99% UV rejection to protect the hardwood floors from fading.

I just changed mine for the film but it doesn't look that good,

Hi, I currently have similar sidelight curtains/sheers that @BeverlyFLADeziner has pictured above. They are very easy to install and work well for privacy (You can't see through the sheers into the house and you can easily pull them over a bit if you want to see who is knocking on the door)

I have plantation shutters on my other windows. I love them but I personally find them to be too bulky for tiny sidelight windows.

The sheers are much easier to install and much less expensive than plantation shutters, so if you want to try something quick and easy - try the sidelight sheers with tension rods. You can find them at any hardware store, such as the Home Depot or Lowe's.

And here's a pic of my front door, with the sheers. Trust me - no one can see into our home from the outside, I've tried :-)

Hello Everyone! Well, talk about timing. We have shirred off white fabric curtains on spring rods either side of the townhouse windows where we are renting. Yyyy...no. Not the right thing for our new house. So yesterday I had a window /drapery company come by the new house and we looked at the Plantation shutters. They won't fit our sidelights right: the vanes are too deep. And there was so much trim around the p. shutters as part of their construction, it cut out a lot of the glass, letting in less light. So my husband and I decided the best way to go was with the 2" mini blinds in a alabaster colour. Thank you, everyone...especially Home Interiors with Ease for the video about the glass that encases mini blinds, what a cool idea! But I am tough! I have made a solemn committment to cleaning these mini blind vanes for as long as I live, lol. :0

Apparently an older thing to do was to run a whole curtain across a door to keep out drafts. I don't know if that would work for you but it is still done and I like the look in the right kind of home. I understand being able to see whose at the door from a distance, during the day it would be nice and night complete privacy. Maybe think of it more like a sliding door and less like two narrow windows."

The problem is and I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this is most blinds or shades don't come that narrow bc you can't fit all the works in the headrail. Shutters would be a great plan.

Well I decided to go with off white crushed voile sheers that hang from the top of the windows, from above the transom to the floor. They puddle onto the floor on eqch side and the right side curtain that blows around when the door opens, get anchored during the day by a decorarive silk cord tie-back. The mini blinds didn't look right...they were flimsy. The planation shutters had too thick a border around it, cutting down the amount of glass to see out and the vanes were too deep. A complete custom frame box would have needed to be made to house the shutter vanes. Very expensive and bulky looking.

I had a boarder who was vane, expensive, thick and bulky looking. I thought he was deep because he wrote poetry.

I just wanted to add that window film comes in some patterns that allow you partial view outside. I have been looking at a lot of it to cover some transoms - I don't need privacy but would like to block some of the morning sun. But no view at all would not suit me. Good luck with the curtains you have chosen.

Tibbletrouble...that shirr is a flimsy description of your poor boarder. A cording to people that knew him he was a romantic, not material-istic. Lol

Oh, so you got taken in too? "Sheer" fantasy!

A-hem. No need to needle me about it. Sew what? If you panel others on this thread they might tell you at least he's not viole-nt. Hahaha

You are blind to his faults!

Well he isn't the shade-y character you think he is!

I really shutter to think what he's like now!

Well in my view, he seams a-door-able but women need to enter into relationships one small step at a time.

You dont think he's a bit of a pane?

His intentions clearly are transparent.

Here is the foyer today. I tied back the voile draperies to let the light in better. It is east facing and very sunny first thing in the am. It is now past noon.

Very "Gone With the Wind" like.

Thanks Tribbletrouble. Actually, my daughter's name is "Tara".

That's great!

Oh Embee I am not to crazy about the sheers...your home is so pretty and the sheers just look blah..maybe down the road you will do something a little more custom with more of a clean line....of course if you just love it than I understand...hope you are loving e erythromycin minute in your new home!!!

Hi HIWE! You are right...they are just a make do for the summer. Gosh...I would rather have NO coverings, but ....???

Hahahaha...there have been a few Advil moments with the new build..no Erythromycin ones though. Don't you just love spell check? Haha

Maybe for the winter months a tone on tone jacquard type material pair of drapes in place of the sheers? Comments?

I've heard Jac Quard is an out and out Parisian snob!

Oh no drapes..no fabric by the door..it will get so soiled over time...save your money..if not a blind of some kind..just frost the glass yourself...one can from any craft store...

Hahaha...soooo "Lame".

@Zzmom40... I think I would like to still search around for Cali shutters. The ones I have seen so far require a thick casing around, and deep thick vanes letting in little light. Different suppliers must have different styles...Home Depot and Lowes seem to be the only stores in my area offering them though. We have no animals or small children going in and out, touching the window dressings so drapes might be the way to go if the shutters don't fit right. The glass is 13 inches wide.

I would prefer just frosting the glass somehow, it will let light in plus give you privacy.

Or just leave as is. Do those narrow windows in what appears to be a foyer really give enough of a view in that you are worried about privacy?

Hi Susanalanandwrigley...yes it is a rather large foyer. In the daytime it is not an issue...but nightfall it is nice to have them covered. Hhhmmmnnn...maybe I should just buy a decorative free standing screen and place it in the foyer where the hallway narrows and this will block out the view from the street...?

I realize I'm late to the party (what else is new?), but I don't think I saw anyone offer 2" wood (or faux wood) blinds as an option, so, here's offering! They're less expensive than plantation shutters, but the slats can be tilted AND raised completely. :)

Plus, if somebody rings your doorbell but you don't feel like answering it, you can hide--if the slats are closed! With film and sheers, people can still see your shadow, and if you don't answer the door they'll think you're weird. Or anti-social. Or agoraphobic. Maybe all three.

Home Interiors with Ease: Have you really never seen a residential entry door with a peephole??

Have you considered micro mini blinds? They are just 1/2 inch maybe less and disappear when raised. I like the look even when down. They can install in a very small window ledge. I think they look neat and modern.

We had this same type of window configuration in a prior home because we had mild weather year around I put larger pals tees with tall topiaries on each side of the front door.

HIWE.. We mentioned about getting a peep hole for our front doort and our custom builder was astonished. He said he hasn't seen them in door for years! It seems to me that many people have c.c.tv as part of their home alarm systems. The front door as with the rest of the entries can be easily viewed on monitors in various parts of the house and there are phone apps that allows you to see who is at the door even when you are away. I guess peepholes went the way of the brass kickplates and brass coach-lamps, lol.

@Sammy. Good thinking, and funny! Tee hee. :)

Rule one of design. The builder is not a designer. There are heaps of peepholes on google

http://www.peepholesecurity.com/products.htm