Nets or no nets

you can tell someones age from what they have at their windows, if they have nets they are over 55, usually over 60. voile panels they are 20's and the dreaded vertical blinds are usually 40 plus.
By the way I have vertical blinds but not the usual kind, I have the plastic heavy duty ones with no chains as they are cat proof (my babies used to chew the chains of the other sort).

We have a 'through kitchen' with windows front and rear so I have vertical blinds at the front - another reason is that birds have been known to slam against the window presumably because they can see straight through and don't realise there is a window there.

Yes Petallus DH bought ours on Amazon and cut it to size, peeled off the back and stuck it on. We have a small air bubble on one side but apart from that its fine. I think you can get different patterns but ours is plain.

We have an old-fashioned draper's shop. I went in recently (as I'm thinking of replacing the heavy curtains with something lighter next Spring and Summer) and they have a fabulous range of 'nets' - really beautiful. I do draw the line at voile panels - and tab tops.

I've been looking in curtain shops recently for new living room curtains, and yesterday thought I'd have a look at what 'nets' were on offer these days.

None, apparently, unless you want those jardiniere ones for kitchen windows. It's all voile panels now!

house improvementshows on TV where they said nets were a definite no go

Ah but there are nets and there are nets littlegran (apparently)

Personally, I think if people like something very much inside their home then they should have it - regardless of what others think. Most of the no-no attitudes come down to snobbery anyway.

i ]did have nets for several years but after watching so many house improvementshows on TV where they said nets were a definite no go. i took them all down and had blinds fitted. i can open and close the slats as i wish and now much prefer them.

goldengirl what is a window film exactly? Do you stick it on the window?

And did somebody say they washed their nets every week ? Mine get done about once a year.

Only one in the whole house. Large fifties window faces onto road which is slightly higher than lounge. Without it, we do feel very exposed, but don't have them in bedroom windows, just pull the curtains until we're dressed. Have thought of Venetian blinds but window is so big, it would have to be custom made and CBA.

Sorry I got carried away

My mother always said you can tell what people are like by there nets .Yes I have nets and am always being told how nice they look

My mother always said you can tell what people are like by there nets .Yes I have nets and am always being told how nice they look

Dear God, I thought the last net curtain died in 1970!
I do have an embroidered voile curtain in the groundfloor bathroom's clear window but that's not a net, it's not, IT'S NOT!

Oh, gathered, petallus. We have some at the window through which someone could just about peer in and see into the downstairs loo, if the door was open!

They're on one of those thin curtain poles.

I have dingey old nets at my bedroom window. People can see very clearly in otherwise as the ground slopes steeply upwards from my house. A neighbour once looked very deliberately in when I was walking around in the nude.

I've been meaning to do something else for ages. Not blinds as the window is rather wide. I am wondering if voile panels are supposed to be flat on the window or gathered.

Up until last weekend we had nets in the bathroom and downstairs loo in spite of the frosted glass because said glass was minimal and both windows look out onto quite a busy thoroughfare. We now have window film and the rooms are so much brighter.

DH has done the 'outside test' and says he can't see me on the loo even with the light on and I certainly can't see out but I'm still a little unsure. However there have been no crowds outside viewing so far - at least I don't think so. Thank goodness most passers by have their noses attached to their phones

I have 'nets' at the bedroom windows that are at the front of the house as the windows are very large (width and drop) but I have the nets/voiles/sheers on tapes with curtain hooks so that they can easily be opened and closed - they tend to be closed for privacy when dressing but other than that, they are left open as we all prefer the windows unshrouded (also gives a nice tonal touch to the window as they sit slightly behind the main curtains). Anyone who peeks in the downstairs windows is treated to a smile and a cheery wave

Nets used to be the thing to use [years ago] so I used to have them at least for the bedroom. However, most of our present house is private, so we only need vertical blinds in the south facing lounge, mainly so that we can watch tv [impossible on a sunny day otherwise.]It also gets rid of glare and heat, and we close them completely in the height of Summer, and it keeps the place cool.However, net, or lace/voile can look pretty, but it has to be very white.

Yes, if you tilt the blinds slightly the other way no-one can see in, the angle is wrong but you still get the light.

Yes, it does get too hot in the south. Our house stays at roughly 25 to 26 C all summer long indoors, and that is with the south-facing blinds closed and all south-facing windows firmly shut to not let any hot air in.

In the past I bought cotton lace curtains, rather than nets and draped them so that they covered most of the window. I bought huge lace tablecloths and bedspreads in Tenerife and used them over doors and larger windows. I was determined not to end up with greying fly-trodden nets.

It took me years to convince my then 'newish' husband to get rid of nets, I hated the things and he had them at every window, finally when we moved I threw them all away and convinced him that blinds of various sorts were fine.. as for burglars well nowadays you don't need to see inside to know that most of us have all the usual valuable items , tv, laptops, ipads etc etc etc .
Honestly you have to literally be looking right in the windows to see what's going on inside, from the pavement houses look dark inside and not much of anything can be seen, try looking into your neighbours from the pavement next time you are outside. Different of course if you literally have no front garden or the lights are on but I just tilt my blinds during the evening and then close them at bedtime.. I wouldn't go back to nets and I live in London on a road that has plenty of footfall at school time.

Like almost everything in life, it is simply a matter of personal preferrence, isn't it. Most of my windows have either vertical blinds, nets, or voile panels. I don't like people looking in at me, that's all. Harmless.
Each to his own.

I don't like nets and try to avoid them, but I have twice used them in our bedroom, when it could be seen into from the bedroom of the houses opposite. In one case the lady in the house opposite was a little odd, to say the least, among other things she used to make silent calls to me, until I learned to recognise and ignore them.

When DS had a house with a window to the pavement, he put a large vase of artificial flowers on the window sill. It stopped people seeing in but he could still see outand still got a lot of light. I have seen large model sailing ships standing on tables under windows on houses with similar problems. Cuts the view but not the light.

My little terraced house is only feet from the pavement and I made pretty voile curtains for the front windows when I moved in. I've now replaced them with vertical blinds downstairs and left the voile in the spare room. I really don't want passers-by to see what a slob I can be!

I've never seen the need for net curtains. As with baubles and bags my house is colder inside than out, it faces east and doesn't get a lot of sun even though we are on the top of a hill. Also I live in a small rural Northumbrian town, with only one bungalow as my neighbour.

My house is similar to thatbags, it is cooler in than outside. I have nets at the windows because I would be like a goldfish indoors. It is open plan outside but the front gardens are small. Although I have fencing outside at the rear, I would be seen by people living at the rear of the road close by. If I lived in the middle of nowhere rather than in London, I would not need nets.