Are net curtains dated and ugly?

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

Not very exciting, but just wondered what the general opinion is of net curtains..
Our house is on a fairly busy street so I have net curtains at the front. I took them down to wash them today and am quite tempted to bin them.
Do you still have nets? do you love them? Or do you think they're ugly and old fashioned?
Is there a modern alternative that I don't know about?

[KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes]

I think they're hideous. There's a street in my town where net curtains go to die. Each house has filthy mismatched nets in every window. Various patterns in various shades of grey and brown.

But it's your home and if you like them you should have them.

[Seeline]

I live on a busy main road with a bus stop virtually outside. I hate nets, so only have them in our bedroom, which is in the front. More to protect the poor unsuspecting commuters on the top deck than anything else I know some people have had shuttery/blind things fitted, but I think that they make the room quite dark.

[BertieBotts]

Horrible. Get some sheer curtains instead or some of that stick on frostinng stuff? Ikea do the sheer curtains and I think next.

[Scuttle22]

They make the road look rubbish. I have a house opposite with them and they look awful and ruin their renovated property.

[megletthesecond]

I've got the floor length plain basic ikea nets in my bedroom. Something like a fiver.

Blinds in all the downstairs rooms though.

[Oblomov16]

I hate nets. So, I asked dh for blinds in lounge and 2 bedroom windows. Oh what a pain to clean they are - awful!

[redhat]

Yes, sorry.

Take them down and replace with a floor length voile behind your normal curtains. If you hang them on a cafe pole you will be able to have both poles up at the same time.

[KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes]

I just have curtains which I never close.

So people might see in. Who cares? I'm not hiding anything.

[60sname]

We have the frosting (from Wilko or similar) which in my opinion looks decent if you apply it properly. You do still lose a lot of light, even if you only cover part of the window

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

Thanks everyone. This has given me the push I needed to throw ours away now. Obviously all my neighbours have been tutting and sneering at my horrible nets and I was oblivious
Think we need something though. I don't want passers by to see me eating cereal at 3 in the afternoon in my pants or something.
Will look into sheer curtains.

[RiverTam]

I'm not a fan. I would try with nothing for a while, it may well be fine. Any kind of covering means you lose light which I would hate.

Can you plant something in the front garden to screen you a bit?

[60sname]

So people might see in. Who cares? I'm not hiding anything

And other people like to feel that their space is their own and not have random strangers peering in

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

redhat please could you explain what a cafe pole is?

[parmalilac]

I like Venetian blinds - they still allow a lot of light in and allow you to see out better. Re cleaning I close them and hoover with the soft brush attachment

[Evenstar]

It was expensive but I have replaced mine with half height shutters, they look so much nicer and let in a lot more light

[idontlikealdi]

We've got shutters, so much nicer.

[IfNotNowThenWhenever]

Nets are only minging if they are cheap nasty ones, or dirty. They are in fact an excellent crime prevention tool!
I had some nice lace ones from Ikea once, and currently have polka dot ones in my bedroom that look quite vintagey and sweet.
Blinds are the very devil.

[redhat]

[http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-cafe-rod-dia-10-13mm/p1539169]]

Like this op. It's basically a thin curtain pole and you hang it about an inch below your normal curtain pole so that the voile sits behind (you can hang them half way up the window like in a cafe - hence the name).

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

Thank you I quite like the idea of some thin voile.
The nets are in the bin so no going back now.

[Letmehaveausername]

Noooooo I love net curtains, so peed off that I can't find anywhere that actually sells them

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

I agree, Miaow I feel a bit exposed without them and I sometimes don't answer the door and pretend I'm not in
I also have a habit of walking about in my underwear waiting for fake tan to dry (something no one needs to see).

[MangoMoon]

I have a plain, sheer white type of net on my bedroom window which looks fine, but on the front downstairs window I have white vertical blinds.
Vertical blinds are great because you still get light even when closed, but you can also angle them when you do want them open - most houses round us have vertical blinds downstairs.

[MangoMoon]

Dunelm Mill have some decent nets Letme.

[CarpeJugulum]

What do people consider net and what do they consider voile? I get confused!

Net is patterned with holes and voile is light and sheer?