faux etched glass window

I love the pattern that the the light makes on the wall when it goes through the contact paper.

Having lived in the city for several years, the idea of seeing into your neighbors home never really bothered me. In fact, I loved knowing that behind the hundreds of windows in a building were hundreds of individual stores happening all at once. I guess it's a little voyeuristic but I enjoyed seeing people going about their lives. Now that I'm in the suburbs though, seeing in people's windows seems a bit....creepy. 
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I'm lucky enough that in the summer the back of my house has a lot of trees giving us great privacy, but in the winter you can see right in. When we bought the house from bf's family, the kitchen and the back entry felt really dark. Part of it was just the nature of how the house faces, but a larger part of it was the dark wood paneling and curtains covering the window of the door. You can bet I painted that paneling as quick as possible, but I needed to do something about the door. Taking off the curtain made it look so much bigger, but it needed some kind of privacy. 
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The first thing I looked into was getting an etched glass door, which as it turns out can cost thousands of dollars. That wasn't happening. I then looked into the stick on privacy things that people put in their bathrooms, and I honestly hated all the patterns (we have one in my bathroom right now that we can't get off). Additionally they were about $40, which I thought was a bit much for something I didnt' even really like. I wanted something that I could switch up if I got sick of it. 
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The obvious answer? DIY. This is so simple. What you need:

• Clear contact paper (I used Con-Tact brand Clear Covering Self-Adhesive Film and it has worked out great).
• A stencil or pattern that you like. I used my Silhouette Portrait machine to cut one out, but it is NOT necessary to the project. You could easily just trace a shape you like. I used the cardboard from a tissue box.
• Scissors 

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The next part is easy, trace the shape onto the contact paper (make sure you do it on the tear-away paper side and not on the actual contact sheet). Cut out your shape, and stick it on the window. I used a credit card to smooth it and make sure there were no bubbles. It does take a few times to get the hang of it. You can easily remove it if you make a mistake so this is a low-pressure DIY.
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That's all there is to it. I have had it up for over a year and haven't had any problems with it. Obviously the tighter the pattern the more privacy. I really love the look of it, it lets light through and makes a beautiful pattern on the wall. At the same time, I know when I am sick of the trellis pattern (that is pretty much everywhere in my house) I can change it up! 
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If I do ever get the bathroom window cleared of the original privacy sticker that's on there I think I will try using my Silhouette machine right on the contact paper to do something ornate. You could get really creative with this and do seasonal shapes like snowflakes, or even a cityscape. I may try to use different colors to get a stained glass look in our basement...there are so many options! All in all this project cost me $8, not too bad! What pattern would you use?

I plan to add the upper level soon, but you know how that goes. I'll probably look at it for another five years and then remember to do it!