Any ideas for a window treatment that I haven't already thought of and already rejected

You could put strips across, similar to the obscure film you mentioned, or old fashioned cafe type curtain? Alternatively just make faces at those nosy enough to peer in……like I would.

My daughter has blinds that fit into the window frame itself so they don’t stick out any more than the window, if you see what I mean. It’s a very slender plastic -can’t think of the right word- runnel? at either side that the blind can run up and down.

She keeps them closed all the time and they let plenty of light in whilst giving her privacy at the front.

When we lived in an early Georgian house the sash windows were divided into small panes by glazing bars.
We also had the original wooden shutters. The house was well set back so we didn't have your problem Monica. When we lived in an ancient house in the cathedral close we had floor to ceiling windows. People wandering about the close used to peer into our sitting room.
I solved this with fine lawn curtains on a header tape so they hung well.
I can't think of anything else to suggest for your windows. Ours looked lovely. Nothing like the old style 'nets'.

How about something like these ?

www.blinds-2go.co.uk/conservatory-blinds or www.blinds-2go.co.uk/stick-on-blinds

We lived in a semi-basement flat for a while. Adhesive one way mirror film worked well. It is still available on the well known mail order firm - and other places I guess.

Meant to say - Hope you are enjoying your new home and settling in well.

We’ve just had our windows done with film - not mirror finish! The privacy effect is amazing and we’re so pleased to have got rid of the net curtains! It’s transformed the room. As with net curtains, the privacy effect is lost if you have a light on.

Here’s a link to the company that we used. They were brilliant!

smashgard.co.uk/

I’m not on commission, or connected with them - just very impressed!

jusnoneed

How about something like these ?

www.blinds-2go.co.uk/conservatory-blinds or www.blinds-2go.co.uk/stick-on-blinds

Yes, that’s what I meant think.

www.directorderblinds.co.uk/the-hive-gratia-collection-perfect-fit-pleated-blinds#136=534&185=1646

Insulate well, allow light.

Some have top up /bottom down features.

Squiffy

We’ve just had our windows done with film - not mirror finish! The privacy effect is amazing and we’re so pleased to have got rid of the net curtains! It’s transformed the room. As with net curtains, the privacy effect is lost if you have a light on.

Here’s a link to the company that we used. They were brilliant!

smashgard.co.uk/

I’m not on commission, or connected with them - just very impressed!

They look like a very good idea. Definitely something I would be interested in. Thank you!

Congratulations on your move MOnica. I hope you will be very happy in your new home.

Someone on here recommended perfect fit blinds to me, and they have been, well, perfect .

They fit the glass of the window, and can be moved from the top or bottom. Mine are thermal, and do keep the heat in or out, and light can get in when they are closed, so they afford privacy too.

You just need something for the daylight hours Monica? As at night you close the shutters? Does it look a bit bare without curtains?
I think it comes down to…do you like a clear view from your windows and need lots of light or not?I live in an old house with a tiny front garden too, but my house is set up slightly with a few steps, is yours pavement hight?
How large are the ships in bottles? Sounds a lovely idea to have them on the window sill and blocks passers by from really seeing in.Or a dried flower arrangement?

M0nica

We have just moved into an old, new home, it is right in the town centre - and like many town centre houses, it doesn't have any front garden.

Sometime in the 18th century the then owner decided to do up his rather old house by making it look modern with big beautiful sash windows, one each side of the front door.

The problem is the windows measure roughly 4 foot by 5 foot and these windows come with beautiful internal shutters, so I decided instead of having curtains at the front to use the shutters instead, but this makes it very difficult to find a way of stopping everyone walking past the house looking in the window and seeing us going about our daily lives.

Originally I planned to have a couple of model ships DH has, one on each window sill, but cannot do this if I use the shutters. Plantation shutters are out because they would stop me shutting the Georgian shutters, I have thought about net cutains, but I really, really really, hate net curtains. I have also considered obscured film stuck on the window panes, but feel that would make the windows look like office windows.

the only alternative I can think of is a roller blind made from a very fine butter muslin, actually attached to the top of the sliding sash window itself, which I could pull down or let up depending on the circumstances

But has anyone else any ideas about what I could do? Remember Georgian shutters that go from window sill to ceiling, so nothing on window cill and nothing on the window that would stop the shutters closing.

I have had those muslin type roller blinds made for all our windows (try makemyblinds) mine are behind Roman blinds though, you would probably see the brackets on yours, unless you can hide them in the recess.
Some good options on here.
Hope you've settled in nicely 😊

jusnoneed

How about something like these ?

www.blinds-2go.co.uk/conservatory-blinds or www.blinds-2go.co.uk/stick-on-blinds

They look very good rather than anything heavier.

Hope you'll be happy in your new home, M0nica 🏠

Wishing you a lovely time in your new home M0nica. I'm not a fan of nylon net curtains but I do love cotton lace ones - they can be a filigree type to let the light in.

Congratulations on your new home m0nica.

I think as others have said the perfect fit blinds that work from the bottom up could be a solution. You can pull them up to the height that stops folk looking in, there would be ample light and give you the ability to look outside - over the heads of those wandering past. As a serial interested (nosey!) person I’ve been frustrated by them in the past. Hope something works for you.

DD turned a small living room into a bedroom for DGS. It faces the street so she bought a stained glass privacy film for the window. It let's in plenty of light and stops people looking in.

Having had shutters in a previous house I don't think you'd fit the rollers anywhere.

I hated nets but eventually had some (stretched nearly flat) when we moved into this house on a main road. I couldn't get used to people looking in (though wasn't sure they really were!)... It has an enormous bay window that comes from mid calf up to the ceiling (3 metre drop).

We had some 1950s sort of Bauhaus style net/lace that was lots of little rectangles (sort of fishnet) which we used pulled nearly flat. Something similar would be easy to attach and not distracting from the inside.
I went to the Annie Albers exhibition and saw something equally simple there in a net that was a modern take on one of her fabrics. Not sure who did it. It could have been a Christopher Farr. I'd have a look there.

Or maybe look at MYB textiles. They still weave Scotish Madras lace and Nottingham lace.
They have some very contemporary and "sparse" fabrics as well as some fabulous period ones from their own archive. Some are stunninly dramatic and/or coloured. They manufacture here in the UK for "known" brands such as Timourous Beasties.

They are a really lovely company.

Re our own "nets" we grew an Amelanchier lamarckii in front of our big bay so now only have a piece over the door window... I know you can't plant a tree but maybe you could put a window box with lots of flowers in outside and just use a net until you have become accustomed to main street living?

Hope you find a solution.

Good luck in your new home 🏠-
You say you have shutters - I don’t know what shutters but I would presume they are like Venetian blinds. Do you think passers-by will be able to see through the slats?

Norah

www.directorderblinds.co.uk/the-hive-gratia-collection-perfect-fit-pleated-blinds#136=534&185=1646

Insulate well, allow light.

Some have top up /bottom down features.

I've had these for 14 years.
I love them in my current house.
They are also in the garden room of the house I shall soon be moving to.
I wouldn't consider them for the front windows of an old property though.
I would want to be able to see out. Not to have blinds down permanently.

My daughter's living room sounds very similar, including the lovely internal shutters. She, too, was averse to net curtains but tried this : totally plain net (she chose a cream colour as the interior paintwork wasn't bright white) attached as normal at the top of the window with a stretchy wire. Another wire at the bottom of the window frames to thread through the curtains' hem. There's no movement to the nets, and the fact that they sit close to panes means they're pretty unobtrusive. Depending on the style of your windows you could also try this covering only the bottom half of the windows.

Doodledog Monica's shutters are probably similar to the shutters in my former home. They are like tall narrow doors with a locking fitment on the inside.

Anyone who’s taken down any kind of net curtain from a window will know that suddenly the room is so much lighter and nicer.The other thing is that it’s harder to see into a room from the outside than you think, especially if there’s something of a good size on the windowsill inside.