A cheap and easy way to cover a window with frost to maintain privacy.
You don’t need expensive privacy films to cover your doors or windows! This easy solution is inexpensive and gives you instant privacy.
This idea is very simple and cheap, and helps solve a pesky privacy issue that can be expensive or messy to fix. I’ve shared this “trick” before (a long time ago), but it’s worth sharing again!
I have used this product to freeze glass on interior glass doors and windows and it is a great and inexpensive solution. Plus, it can be easily removed if you change your mind at any time.
The first time I did this was on our glass store door ten years ago:
Some helpful readers told me about this trick a long time ago. Who would have thought that transparent contact paper was the easiest and cheapest way to make a window special? I was pleasantly surprised when this trick actually worked!
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Haha! Not the best ever. I always feel sorry for our guests in particular. 😝
I don’t know what took me so long, but I finally managed to do the special window trick again, and it worked great.
Now there are a few ways to do this, but I promise this is the easiest. You can buy a matte window film, but those options are more expensive. You can also use a matte glass spray paint, but that’s messy — you have to worry about overspray and fumes… and it won’t hold up well over time on a window or door that gets a lot of use.
You can also use glass etching cream to do this permanently, but I would only try that in extreme cases.
For this homemade glass decorating method, you will need clear matte contact paper:
Nothing too extreme! It will look completely transparent on the paper cover, but as you can see, it’s actually not completely transparent.
To complete this easy project, all you need is a spray bottle with water, scissors, and some bubble-making equipment.
Before you begin, clean the window thoroughly with glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth.
Since this paper isn’t wide enough for the window, I cut the pieces to the size of the window panes. You can also cut them into strips, which is how I did it on the window in our old bathroom.
The handy grid on the paper makes it easy to cut straight lines. You don’t have to be really precise, especially for a window.
Submerge the window in plenty of water, then spread the contact paper across the surface of the glass. The water is essential, it makes it easier for you to maneuver so you can get it the way you want it.
You’ll get a lot of bubbles, but they’ll pop right away! I always use this pan scraper, but a debit card or squeegee will work too. You just need something with a smooth side to push the air bubbles out the sides. (I leave some space around each piece so I can do this.)
This time, the vinyl looked like this a day or so after it was installed:
But these marks will disappear after a few days. They look like bubbles, but they’re not. So don’t worry if they don’t look perfect right away.
Update: This is what the window looks like years later…the contact paper is still in excellent condition:
I just put it on the bottom of the window. You can’t see through it–everything will be blurry. When I did it last time, I thought it would bother us not being able to see, but it never happened.
You can’t control the window’s opacity as with other DIY options, but I’ve never found it necessary to do more work anyway.
Here’s a look at the finished window from the outside:
As you can see, we can still see clearly from the top of the window.
Also, if I was standing directly above it like I am (leaning on the window), my vision would be blurry but not overly so. But if I was just a few inches away I wouldn’t be able to see clearly.
At night with the light on, you will see the movement but not specific parts. 🙂
I took a picture of our son standing a little way away from the window and I couldn’t see him at all. I thought he walked away before I could take the picture:
I also love that you can’t tell that half of the window is covered from the outside. I’m thinking of doing this on some of the other bathroom windows as well.
This is what it looks like from the inside:
You can see the real effect here with the green trees above and below.
This method of cleaning contact paper is also easy to clean because you don’t need to maintain it. I spray the contact paper with glass cleaner and then wipe it down like the rest of the windows.
There are many places where this easy window film can be useful!
I can do this quick project in ten minutes, and a whole roll costs only a few dollars — one roll will easily cover an entire door or several windows. Have you ever tried this easy trick to decorate your windows?
PS: You can see the powder room renovation I did two years ago here:
