Selection of window glass in the bathroom

Hello everyone,

we are currently planning the windows in our new build and are not quite sure about the glass or the privacy screening in the bathroom window...

The bathroom window on the 1st floor is at a sill height of about 1m with approximate dimensions of 1x1m. In the bathroom, right at the window is the bathtub, next to it the toilet and sink, and a shower a little further back in the room. From the outside, there is a communal path about 4m deep in front of the window, behind that a garden about 15m deep, then a street and houses which are about 20m away and would have a direct view into the bathroom. Generally, there is somewhat "open" space in front.

Generally, one usually wants to shield the bathroom from outside views and not constantly have to lower blinds when using it. Now the question arises whether to make this completely opaque with frosted glass/Satinato or initially use clear glass and later either partially make it non-transparent as needed with a film or use a pleated blind.

With the use of frosted glass/Satinato, I feel that the bathroom loses some brightness and is also too isolated, almost like having no window at all, just with daylight. Actually, it's quite nice to be able to look outside sometimes. I think this can also be done flexibly with good films, i.e. partially covered with squares or lines, which still allows the view to the outside from inside. And if you don’t like it, you can change it again or also optimize it with a pleated blind. Of course, the downside is that such things might not be durable over time, wear out, and might not be the optimal solution for privacy...

Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!

You can't really see much into the upper floor anyway, so I'd be relaxed about that. Generally, I would always choose a window with regular glass and provide privacy in other ways: film or pleated blinds. That can always be changed more easily to suit changing tastes. Personally, I'm a fan of pleated blinds because you can always let in more or less light and views depending on your current needs, and you just have to slide the pleated blind up or down briefly. A window by the bathtub is great if you can look outside while bathing. Personally, I wouldn't like always looking at frosted glass there. Although I'm also quite easygoing if someone from outside actually sees my silhouette (which can happen with light-colored pleated blinds). Well, the interested viewer will just have to deal with that, right? But as I said, anyone looking up from below really doesn't see much anyway. So...

By the way, I have had white pleated blinds in my current bathroom for 11 years, with a window directly facing the street and opposite a beer garden (so rather public, I was also taken aback back then when I moved in that the landlord used normal glass for the bathroom window, which is quite "public").

When the light is on inside, you can already see from outside whether someone is running around naked or not. In winter, we just lower the blinds, in summer there is often no need for light (and then the privacy protection is completely sufficient), and since we live in a small village with very little traffic, in summer when it is dark, we take the small risk of possibly letting our silhouettes be seen.

I had the pleated blinds custom-made by a good manufacturer and have already washed them once or twice. They have not yellowed so far. But when I lie in the bathtub, I can slide the pleated blinds down a bit and at least look out of the window from above. I always enjoy that.

We had the window in our guest bathroom on the ground floor fitted directly with Mastercarre glass, but only because it is on the ground floor and it is the guest bathroom. In our main bathroom in the attic, we wanted to have a clear view from both windows, so we created privacy with white pleated blinds there. The nice thing, as Climbee already mentioned, is that with the pleated blinds you are more flexible and can also replace them if you want a different color, for example. In addition, I can adjust the pleated blinds to the desired height so that they only cover the most important part and the view out of the window is still possible. We have had this solution for three years now and the pleated blinds still look like new (at that time, we also made sure that the fabrics are suitable for humid rooms).

Great, thank you very much for your feedback! This now also confirms for us to use regular glass and, if necessary, provide privacy with [Plissees]. I think the shading of a person behind the privacy screen is not really a problem, since there are no details... I also find the [Plissees] quite stylish, it’s a good solution!

We had the window in our guest bathroom on the ground floor fitted directly with Mastercarre glass,

That is pretty much the "bestseller" for this situation. I myself have clear glass throughout the apartment, including in the bathroom, and have applied a patterned film there. I didn’t go all the way to the frame with it but left about half a hand’s breadth of "transparency" all around to not completely "enclose" my "view" so to speak.