Plantation shutters

Thanks, both of you.

Venetian blinds are versatile, but difficult to clean, in my experience, WIWYA. We had them on a picture window in our first house, and they were great for privacy (and security - a policeman told us that they deter burglars because they would make a noise if they broke in through a window), but they were constantly dusty.

I've looked up durol blinds, thanks, Joseanne. Are they the same as Zebra blinds? They look interesting, but I'm not 100% clear how they work. Are there two blinds one behind the other? Also, the photos I saw were in modern settings, and my house is early 20th century - would they look ok in an older house?

We looked at plantation blinds for our large bay window. They were unsuitable because of the style if bay. The windows go up to the ceiling and the bay has a return corner on each side, so fixing the frame work was very difficult, unless the frame was over the actual glass.
It might be a good idea to get a company to come and look at your window to let you know what is possible.

We put in bog-standard venetian blinds on a south-facing bay window last winter. They help to keep the heat in in winter, and in the summer we tilt them one way to keep the sun out during the day and the other way to let cool air (if any) in at night. In between seasons they can be pulled up out of the way. Very happy with them.

Look up duorol blinds.
I promise they are 1000 times nicer than normal blinds. The mesh slats open and close to let light in, you can see out when open but people can't see in, they don't need dusting, they come in all colours. I have them in bay windows and in flat windows. No need for curtains. I'll look for a picture if you want.
Preferably decorate before installing window dressings, then carefully patch up after if necessary.