DIY Frosted Side Lights for Privacy

Good morning! Today’s project was super quick and easy and probably wouldn’t even need a post. I’m putting it out there anyway, because I think it’s easy to forget that you have a say in the way your house looks even if you don’t have the budget to redo what you don’t like.

An example of this would be the side lights in our entryway. I made them look more modern and streamlined by taking down the little gathered curtains on either side.

It instantly looked fresher but also I missed the privacy that we had with the curtains. Enter privacy film. I bought this YEARS ago because I used it on the window in our old bathroom. (See it here.) It’s Gilla Privacy Film *affiliate link used. There are different styles of “glass” to choose from but this one is just frosted. You can also find it at Home Depot and Lowes. I bought this kind
for the little kid’s bedroom window. It gets the afternoon sun and from
the second story it doesn’t get shaded until the sun is almost set.
BRUTAL.

On the directions it says you need this special spray to help you install it. No you don’t. Glass cleaner is just fine….and already on hand.

First you use a microfiber cloth to clean the glass. My sweet mom did this part for me since she’s sweet. Sorry I don’t have a picture of you working hard, momma. I’m sure you’re really bummed.

I set to work on cutting out the rectangles. At first I used a ruler and scissors. You can totally do it this way.

But since I wanted them to be precise and I am not a very detail oriented / precise kind-of-person, I switched over to a paper cutter. For small projects like this, LIFE SAVER!

I had all six cut perfectly to size in no time.

To apply them, you wet the window with glass cleaner.

Remove the sticky back off of the film.

Stick the film to the glass. Because there is liquid underneath it, you can move it around a bit but try to stick it close to where it will end up.

Once it’s on the window you’ll have air bubbles between the two layers.

Take a credit card (or fandango gift card) and squeegee the film until the air bubble and window cleaner are all gone.

That’s it! You can use a little blade if you have extra to trim. If there’s an air bubble you can’t get smooth you can also use the blade to poke a little hole so that the film will sit flush with the window.

It’s not a big, crazy difference but I do love the cleaner lines now that the curtains are gone.

So worth the 20 minutes of my time, for sure.

Speaking of time. Here are a few more things we’ve been spending time on lately. Since last week’s tour (here) I began painting the fireplace. I knew it needed to be done to brighten up the space and it totally has.

I’ve mentioned this on my Instagram stories but we’ve also been working to make the house more energy efficient. By we, I mean Joel. I’ve just been screaming at everyone to shut the door quickly. That’s helpful too. He, on the other hand has spent countless hours researching and working in the hot, hot attic.

We had radiant barrier installed. But before the insulation gets blown up there he has sealed every light and vent that leaks cold air from the house, to the attic. He sealed up the soffits in the kitchen so that we can remove them someday without insulation falling down on us!

He added foam board to the shared walls between the girls rooms and the attic.

And pulled himself into tiny, hard to reach areas to make sure there are no holes or leaky spots. This picture above is the tiny space between my office window and the roof.

Anyway, I have a whole post of that stuff coming at some point. Read: once our house is cooler. But I appreciate his hard work. It’s been a lot of hot and sweaty hours doing a project we weren’t exactly planning on. It’ll make a huge difference though. Thanks, my handsome man.

One more update! I have a pretty exciting meeting on Friday for something that could be awesome for the blog. Can’t wait to tell you more about it as I can!

Have a Happy Fourth! God bless the USA.

Thanks for reading, friends.