During a recent trip, I came across two venues with rather unfortunate window placements. First, the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. When you’re waiting for a flight at the end of terminal 1, nearly every inch of the wall consists of huge windows without any tinting. It’s often quite sunny in Florida, so this design renders the airport space blindingly bright, and surely taxes their air conditioning system, too.

My second encounter with problematic windows was inside an IHOP restaurant. About half of the restaurant looks out onto a dumpster and trash area — not exactly what you want to be reminded of when having breakfast. In both of these cases, the venue could improve things considerably by recognizing that the windows aren’t doing them any favors. Then, choose a suitable approach to make things more appealing. For instance:

– Tint the windows
– Put up some semi-opaque blinds
– Cover the windows with artwork

Remember, anything that customers see through your windows becomes part of their overall experience and perception of your business. There’s no shame in reducing the amount of tell-all, see-through glass if it makes things easier and more pleasant for your customers.