<strong>Getting darker: </strong>Astrid Brooke says she considers curtains a bourgeois adornment to a window and has rarely felt the need for them. She also laments the loss of openness as more young people and expats opt to install them.
Getting darker: Astrid Brooke says she considers curtains a bourgeois adornment to a window and has rarely felt the need for them. She also laments the loss of openness as more young people and expats opt to install them.
Katja Brokke
<strong>Nothing to hide: </strong>Jan Willem van Hofwegen remembers watching TV shows through windows while riding his bike from house to house as a kid. "I think a lot of Dutch people don't use curtains because we like the light and we don't have anything to hide," he says.
Nothing to hide: Jan Willem van Hofwegen remembers watching TV shows through windows while riding his bike from house to house as a kid. "I think a lot of Dutch people don't use curtains because we like the light and we don't have anything to hide," he says.
Michel Schnater
<strong>Room with a view: </strong>Natasja Wielandt says she doesn't want curtains or blinds to obscure her view. "I myself only look at people's houses when I see something I like or that inspires me, like a beautiful furnished room or a beautiful garden," she says. "I have no need to watch people eating or sitting on the couch watching television."
Room with a view: Natasja Wielandt says she doesn't want curtains or blinds to obscure her view. "I myself only look at people's houses when I see something I like or that inspires me, like a beautiful furnished room or a beautiful garden," she says. "I have no need to watch people eating or sitting on the couch watching television."
Fay van den Bos
<strong>Tourist attraction: </strong>Marianna Beets lives in a tourist area and says she doesn't mind people stopping and staring through her windows. "When I wave they get shy, promptly aware of what they were doing, but most of the time they smile and wave back," she says. "I don't mind."<br />
Tourist attraction: Marianna Beets lives in a tourist area and says she doesn't mind people stopping and staring through her windows. "When I wave they get shy, promptly aware of what they were doing, but most of the time they smile and wave back," she says. "I don't mind."
Puk Beets
<strong>Showing off: </strong>The most popular explanation of the Dutch love of unobstructed windows stems from the protestant religious tradition of Calvinism, which insists that honest citizens have nothing to hide. A desire to show off possessions could be another explanation.
Showing off: The most popular explanation of the Dutch love of unobstructed windows stems from the protestant religious tradition of Calvinism, which insists that honest citizens have nothing to hide. A desire to show off possessions could be another explanation.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images