apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

no screen door=bugs?!??

Bugs was the first thing I thought of too!

Isn't the whole point of screen door that it keeps out bugs and dust and stuff? Since this curtain doesn't do that at all, isn't there "in place of nothing" rather than "in place of a screen door"?

And didn't wall all learn (somewhere during the MyFirstApartment(tm) years) that it's super annoying to have to brush aside curtains, or hanging strings of beads, or whatnot, every time you walk through a door?

me 3.

oops, that's "we all learn" not "wall all learn".

yeah... bugs.

I love the pink and sheer aqua floral though. I have been reconsidering my bedroom windows, that's just so pretty in the picture.

What I'm looking for is some sort of temporary screen door or pull-down-screen for my balcony door to keep bugs out and my cat in.

Er, I guess that is done in white but it gives off a pale pinkish hue, right? With the aqua lace it's nice.

Flowing curtain in lieu of screen door = free access to the indoors for bugs.

And if you don't care about letting the bugs in, why bother putting anything up at all?

This is my bedroom -- I am Micasaestrella. And I can tell you that NO bugs come in...especially flies which is what we were concerned with (and why I put it up to begin with...the screen doors we found were not to my liking and we needed SOMETHING).

I can now keep my bedroom door open all day and NOTHING comes in. Before, every fly and their mama came in here (along with the occasional butterfly). I swear!

I figure at the end of the summer, if the curtains are ruined, I can repurpose them and use them as rags.

The curtains are white sheer (I also have the same curtains --the white and the aqua -- in our bedroom to cover my husband's closet). But they do cast a pink hue in that pic.

I haven't noticed any dust or dirt coming in. I certainly see more around my windowsills that DO have screens.

BTW, my husband wasn't convinced that this would keep out the mosquitos/flies etc. but he is now a convert! The curtains are wide enough and long enough that there really isn't room for flying bugs to come in (I guess crawling bugs can get in but I haven't noticed any) and sheer enough to feel the breeze.

I like the idea in theory. It's pretty, but my cat would be right through it.

I think this is a great idea - I'm going to try this - it's far prettier than a screen door. It's gotta be better than nothing at all!

I don't understand why bugs fly in when i have a half inch hole in a window screen, but they don't somehow get around the curtain.

I like this idea, but the only screen door in my place is on the front door and I don't really want the neighbourhood cats roaming into my house. Not to mention the creak of the screen door lets me know when someone is coming in.

I love the wack of a screen door - sound of summer.

methinks micasaestrella doesn't live in the upper midwest.

mosquitoes, black flies, wasps...and mice, among other things that might get through this. But in bug free vancouver, it would probably work.

It's just a theory (and I could be totally off my rocker) but it's possible that the blowing, flowy curtain would actually deter flying bugs, whereas a screen (with a hole in it, as mentioned above) is a place for bugs to sit and rest, where they will eventually stumble across the hole and wander right inside.

I love the look of those glass, accordian doors that open your house right up to the outdoors, and I'm sure there'd be WAY more problems with bugs than with this curtain solution. Yet the accordian doors seem to be popular with many people. I wish I could just put up a little "No bugs allowed" sign, and the insects would get it. ;)

Valerie LA - I wish my cats were so normal. They are afraid of the curtains and can't seem to figure out how to go in and out.

Madsarah - Nope. Los Angeles - where this was posted. I think if I were to attempt to do this in a different climate or bug population I would be asking for major trouble!! :D

Amazing timing - I've been thinking about how to accomplish this as a replacement for the screen on our sliding glass door. We have a dog that needs access to the terrace (her wee-wee pad), and we are getting a lot of bugs. For the time being, we're not doing a doggie door.

I just today bought a tension rod some screen material, and various bits and pieces to fashion something similar. The screen material definitely isn't working. I need something more malleable - more like fabric than window screen. I can weight it at the bottom...but I wasn't thinking a sheer curtain like this would work. And I was JUST at Ikea the other day. I guess I'll take another ferry trip...unless any of you have screen/fabric ideas for me?

To sooth fears of bug, cat, racoon, and spider ingress, get an old screen door, remove the screening, and stretch or shir lacy fabric over the openings?

Not something I would do. I'm too paranoid about random strangers walking into my house.

Greer - One of my friends is going to weight the bottom and add velcro to the sides. She lives in a wind tunnel-like area and wants to make sure everything stays put. I like the sheer fabric because the air doesn't get blocked.

Aulaire - I LOVE that idea! I think I will do that with my front door screen door.

A final FYI...this is for our back bedroom door...that is in our backyard where you have to get past the neighbors' barking dogs and our locked gate. We obviously close and lock the door when we are not home. We don't keep the door open at night so we have no worries about the racoons and opossums (who are afraid to come over anyway as the neighbor's dog has killed enough of them). And our 3 assasin cats make sure that no mice or lizard ever cross our property line.

Greer, I've seen (somewhere, a long time ago on TV) a magnetic screen door. I think the screen material hemmed and attached (probably glued) to long magnetic strips. The magnets would adhere to the outside of the door frame. The mass of a small moving object such as a child or pet was sufficient to push the screen out, almost like a curtain, and afterwards it snapped back into place. The top was stapled or nailed in. It may have been the case that the upper portions of the sides were also permanently attached the frame and people of normal height used the door as a door. You could probably experiment with that; it would probably be less likely to get twisted and not adhere properly if only a small lower portion of the screen was loose.

Of course the curtain is a more aesthetically pleasing solution, but the magnetic screen door might be more practical for your situation.

Thanks guys. A friend actually called me just yesterday, having seen a similar screen in a catalog. It attaches with velcro and is weighted at the bottom. I ordered it, if it doesn't work I'll look for the screen with the magnets.