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paralegalnc

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what do you do to block out the lights coming from the inside of the house? I can't possibly stay out of the front of my house....

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Do you have window blinds like most people have? My blinds will be closed but also built lit frames for the outside of the windows. I don't think a little light from around the windows will matter and frankly, it then looks like someone is home as opposed to not.

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For the windows on my Garage doors, I just covered them with black bristol board. Cheap and easy. For the windows in side, I cut pieces of black coroplast to fit each window. That way I can easily remove them during the day, and just pop them on before the show starts.

On one of these coroplast window covers, I cut a hinged window so I can peek outside anytime.

ScottyMo

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I have blinds in one room, but the room in the front of the house is a HUGE window. I have shears in there. That's where I am most concerned. Thats our billiard room and I use the pool table to wrap gifts and stuff...LOL. Plus one night we will be having our christmas party in there. I think there are blankets covering the other rooms windows (kids, such decorating skill) But he won't be home much in December. I know its a silly thing but the one room is slap dab in the middle of my house ya know. Will kinda kill the effect. gunna have to look up coroplast...never heard of it.

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I have blinds in one room, but the room in the front of the house is a HUGE window. I have shears in there. That's where I am most concerned. Thats our billiard room and I use the pool table to wrap gifts and stuff...LOL. Plus one night we will be having our christmas party in there. I think there are blankets covering the other rooms windows (kids, such decorating skill) But he won't be home much in December. I know its a silly thing but the one room is slap dab in the middle of my house ya know. Will kinda kill the effect. gunna have to look up coroplast...never heard of it.

Coroplast is just a brand name of corrugated plastic sheets. Just like cardboard, but made of plastic. Very light wieght, rigid and easy to work with. Comes in 4x8 sheets. Cost for a sheet is between $15-20. Home depot definitely carries white and translucent. Some may carry other colors like black, etc.

ScottyMo

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yeah I feel stupid now...lol. I knew what it was....just didn't realize that was the brand name... trust me...I'm in HD every week! does the white stop the light?

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yeah I feel stupid now...lol. I knew what it was....just didn't realize that was the brand name... trust me...I'm in HD every week! does the white stop the light?

No, only use black if you are trying to block out light. White actually disperses the light but doesnt block the light

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You can probably get black Coro from printing or sign shops in your area if HD/Lowes doesn't have the size/color you need. I paid $24 for 4'x8' sheets about a year ago.

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I went to Big Lots and bought a few cheapo black fabric {not plastic!} shower curtains and cut them to my window sizes. Just hang then on a curtain rod using shower hooks, this way you can still slide them off to the side if you want to open them or lift them from the side to peek outside.

Got to go buy some for my new house this year since the windows are different. But they worked great at the old house and my old apartment windows which were about the same size.

Just make sure they are thick enough to block the interior light from getting out!

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Interesting question... here's my experience and observations - YMMV

The first year I was double-paranoid about light getting out and ruining the effect. Since it's only Sharon and me, we had no problems confining ourselves to the back of the house and still we put cardboard (painted black) in many of the front windows. We still laugh at that.

The second year we cut back on the black cardboard and ventured into the front room(s) more to peek out between the blinds.

In 2010 and last year we quit even thinking about it. We still don't turn on the overhead lights in the front rooms, but we don't hesitate to use a small table lamp. Why? Because in 2010, I went out on five or six separate occasions specifically to see if the inside lights were a problem or a distraction. On EVERY ONE of those occasions, I wound up watching the show for a while and/or visiting with people, and it was only after coming back inside that I remembered what I had gone outside for in the first place! After this happened not once or twice, but five or six times, I determined that there mustn't be much of a distraction since in all those times I had never noticed it.

Trust your sequencing to keep people's attention where you want it.

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Guest Don Gillespie

Well what my wife and I did was to leave all the blinds wide open we turned on all the lights and walked around nude, funny thing is the traffic increased dramatically, I was so proud of myself for creating such a stellar show with the lights no one noticed anyone in the house. :P

we just leave everything open we like to watch the traffic that way if gets stupid busy I can go out and direct traffic, which is pretty much every night, our indoor Christmas tree is in the middle of the window so that blocks a lot of peoples veiw of the inside of the home.

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Well what my wife and I did was to leave all the blinds wide open we turned on all the lights and walked around nude, funny thing is the traffic increased dramatically, I was so proud of myself for creating such a stellar show with the lights no one noticed anyone in the house. :P

we just leave everything open we like to watch the traffic that way if gets stupid busy I can go out and direct traffic, which is pretty much every night, our indoor Christmas tree is in the middle of the window so that blocks a lot of peoples veiw of the inside of the home.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.... gotta do what you gotta do!!

the bedroom windows I'm not concerned about...but the billiard window I am. Like I said that is where I usually wrap my gifts and stuff. Its usually a mess. I guess I'll just get poster board or something.

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