What should go on a bathroom window? Two things decide it: where the window sits relative to the shower, and who can see in once the light is on.
Most of the pages that answer this question are written by people who sell blinds or windows. I sew fabric in Sherbrooke, so here is how I choose, one window at a time, with the products I don't make named as plainly as the ones I do.
Day and night are two different problems
During the day it is brighter outside than in. From the street, a sheer is hard to see through, while you can see out perfectly well.
After dark it flips. The room is lit, the street is black, and the same sheer turns nearly transparent. Frosted glass does something similar: with a light on behind it, a silhouette shows through.
So before you choose anything, ask when the room gets used most. A bathroom where people shower in the evening, on a window facing the street, needs a fabric that actually hides, drawn once the light goes on.
My answer, window by window
| Your window | What I would put on it |
|---|---|
| At eye level, facing a neighbour | A cafe curtain on the lower half |
| Already frosted or textured glass | A light sheer to soften it, or nothing |
| Facing the street, room used at night | A Roman shade or a blackout panel, closed in the evening |
| Small, high window over the vanity | Often nothing, or a short Roman shade |
| Inside the shower or the tub surround | A vinyl roller shade or a shutter, which I don't make |
A cafe curtain for the window that faces the neighbours
It covers the lower half of the window, hung at mid-height on a slim rod. You get privacy at eye level and daylight through the top. I go into the details in my cafe curtain post.
In a bathroom I make it in washable linen or cotton, unlined, so it dries quickly.
A sheer over glass that is already frosted
If the pane is frosted, textured or filmed, daytime privacy is handled. The fabric is there to warm the room up and soften the light, and a light linen sheer does that well. It can stay short.
Keep the night-time silhouette in mind, though. If the window faces the street, add a Roman shade you lower in the evening.
A Roman shade, to hide the room at night and keep the light by day
This is often the best answer in a bathroom. Raised, it clears almost the whole window. Lowered, it hides everything, provided it is sewn in a fabric dense enough to stop a silhouette.
A few rules I follow in bathrooms:
- I mount it outside the frame, on the wall above, so air moves between the fabric and the glass.
- I keep the fabric simple, with no bonded lining, so it dries fast.
- One Roman shade tops out at about 150 cm wide. On a wider window I make two or more and hang them side by side.
The lifting mechanism comes with the shade. The rest is in my Roman shades post.
A blackout panel for the street-facing window
A bathroom facing the street is lit up for everyone outside after dark. A blackout panel mounted outside the frame and drawn in the evening takes care of that completely. Open it during the day and the window is clear again.
Health Canada points out that heavy curtains or blinds kept closed can trap cold and moisture against the glass and cause condensation. Open them during the day and leave air behind them. Its guide to moisture and mould has the details.
What I don't make
I would rather say this up front: I don't install privacy film, textured glass, vinyl roller shades or shutters. Privacy film is a do-it-yourself job, and on a window you never want to open up to the view, it works well. For a window inside the shower, a vinyl shade or a composite shutter is the right choice, and I am not going to pretend fabric belongs there.
A bathroom window that runs with condensation all winter is a separate problem, and I cover it in my guide to bathroom window treatments.
Common questions
What kind of blind works in a bathroom?
For a window outside the shower, a Roman shade in washable fabric, mounted outside the frame. For a window inside the shower, a vinyl roller shade, which I don't make.
How do I make a bathroom window opaque?
Permanently, with privacy film or textured glass. Adjustably, with a Roman shade or a blackout fabric panel that you close at night and open during the day.
What curtains work on a bathroom window?
An unlined cafe curtain in linen or cotton, mounted outside the frame and ending above the sill. The fabrics that cope with humidity are covered in my condensation guide.
Where to start
Go outside one evening with the bathroom light on and look at the window from the street or the yard. What you can see from out there tells you what fabric you need.
Then call me at 873 200-4056 and tell me where the window sits relative to the shower, and what it faces. You can also book a consultation. Everything I make for this room is on my bathroom window treatments page.
