Friday, November 13, 2009

Closed Door?

Bathroom Doors. Are they supposed to stay closed all the time? My bathroom door is NEVER closed, unless someone is using the potty. :)

I have noticed that everyone I visit, their bathroom door is closed. When people come over and they use the bathroom... they close the door. I think this may be a European thing, but I don't know how much I paid attention to people's bathroom doors.

I don't understand. Do most people keep their bathroom door closed all the time? I like every inside door in my house to be open. I always have my bathroom door open. An open door is helpful to see if the bathroom is in use. When I see the door closed I automatically assume someone is in there.

Is it rude to leave my bathroom door open all the time? I wonder if people show up to my house and leave thinking, "I can't believe her bathroom door was open"! If you have ever thought this when visiting my house, oh well. I like my bathroom door open. :)

Do me a favor everyone... go check you bathroom doors. Are they open or closed? Mine are open.

15 comments:

May said...

My bathroom doors are open, but then I have cats who think that closed doors are almost as unpleasant as cold showers. Plus how are they supposed to drink water from the tub if they can't access the bathroom? ;)

and hi! I'm May, I found you through Kelli.

Anonymous said...

LOL - I have never given this ANY thought. But now that I have, the door to the ensuite bathroom and the downstairs cloakroom are always closed, the door to the family bathroom is sometimes closed, sometimes open but no-one but family goes up there anyway.

I admit I would close our downstairs cloakroom door if I saw it open, and I can't think of any house I have visited recently that would leave it open, so I guess it is the norm here, if not Europe-wide, to close the door all the time.

C and H Romenesko said...

Hahahahaha! I always have the bathroom door open, unless it's in use, of course.

I, too have noticed the closed door thing when we visit our European friends. Take a mental count of who is in the living room, excuse yourself, knock on the door, enter slowwwwwly.

And, after our European guests leave our house, I always notice that our main floor bathroom door is closed. So, I've taken to closing the door before we get visitors...I wouldn't want to be the totally crazy American....well, maybe we already are, but no need to add fuel to their argument!

BABS said...

I am in COMPLETE OPPOSITION to people who leave their bathroom doors open.

;)

The proper way to tell if someone is behind the closed bathroom door, is to listen for singing.

LOL. No, but seriously, me closing bathroom doors at all is a relatively new thing.

Actually, the reason why we started shutting our bathroom doors in Denmark is because the drains are so bad here. I always close Danish bathroom doors because I worry about the house being engulfed in them there putrid backpuffs that seem to eventually emanate from all Danish pipes.

I think someone ought to politely talk to whomever it is sorting the pipes out here, because they need some serious reworking!

Kelli Nørgaard said...

Truth? Ours is open ALL the time... yep, all the time! (unless we have company of course). Guess we were both raised in a barn, as you would say in Texas about people who do this! LOL

PiNG aka Patti said...

I'm totally with you Tara - OPEN!

If it's in use, it's closed, otherwise, it's open. But yes, everyone else's house here seems to have the door closed and I'm always the one wondering if it's in use.

Fuzzy said...

What's weird with my in laws is they keep the bathroom door closed at all times, but don't bother LOCKING it when they're using it! I always have to stare and examine the light switch outside the door to try and guess if someone's on the toilet, or if the bathroom is free.

Bizarre, I tell you!

Khawaga said...

Open. At first I thought it was because we have children; then I realized we have always left our bathroom doors open because, as you say, a shut door means there's someone in there. Though it's bad Feng Shui to leave it open.

In general I find closed doors unfriendly and don't close them, which may be why our heating bill is so high.

Live, Play, and Read Together said...

Mine are closed because if they were open Mr. Jude would be playing in the toilet water, or unraveling the toilet paper, or playing in the trash can.. but, I guess I do always close them... hmmmm

Anonymous said...

I keep my doors closed for the Feng Shui aspect, and because the open door juts into our hallway. Toilet lid must also be closed to or all the money goes down the drain (feng shui). The only time they're open is when people are in there using it! (save for when we have guests).

But when I lived in the US, they were open if vacant, closed in use.

kelly said...

Doesn't the energy escape into the pan or something? We kept it shut out of necessity back home because of the smell. Also, the OCD.

Ingrid said...

I have never ever thought about this before! I don't think you have to bother and nobody here would think bad of you because of an open bathroom door. But I really think most people close the doors to bathrooms and toilets, both in Denmark and Sweden. We don't have any other doors closed, but always the bathroom doors. If I come to a friend in Sweden and the bathroom door is open I would guess some child had been there and forgot to close the door and yes, I would probably pass by and close it :-) .
I have really tried to think about why we do like this, it isn't something important we learn our children, we just do it, but if I should think about why I would prefer to have it closed, it would be because of the eventual smell.... It wouldn't be to nice to have that spread out all over the house, ha ha ha, and if someone is in there, they lock the door, we don't need a closed door to find out about that. I normally also from distance see if the light is on in there, and if so I assume it is occupaid. I really think you should go on showing you are American all the way, leave your door open, that is absolutely ok. Hugs!

Anonymous said...

Tara, As I grew up our bathroom door was always open. After I married the bathroom door is still always open. Do as you want and don't worry. Love your blog. Take Care. Love ya- Auntie Gail

Anonymous said...

Tara, As I grew up our bathroom door was always open. After I married the bathroom door is still always open. Do as you want and don't worry. Love your blog. Take Care. Love ya- Auntie Gail

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