To think blinds at the window are just pug ugly and to vow never to have any?

[TheHouseOnTheLane]

I suspect I am BU because I accept that some people like them....but why? They make the interior of a room look hard and cold and un-cosy....some people team them with curtains and that's just fussy...

They're hard to clean...can't shove them in the washing machine. How DO you clean them? They rattle....loads have those dangerous fittings...what's the attraction?

Yabu

I have blinds and curtains at the windows and everyone who comes into my home loves how warm and welcoming it is. I won't change them.

YABU

Curtains are fussy dust-traps.
We have some, for insulation purposes, but I much prefer my sleek, clean, minimalist blinds.
Horses for courses

I love net curtains in just the right set of circumstances, like French caf?? windows, at half-height

TheHouse but window frosting doesn't work when it's dark outside and you have the light on unfortunately the man who lives opposite doesn't know this

I have vertical blinds and no curtains, my windows go right up to the ceiling so no wall above to fit a track or a pole and if I had had curtains they would have to be 90" wide and 130" long and would be really heavy and very expensive. I live in an apartment in a converted mill and nearly everyone has some type of blind or shutters, 35 properties and only two have curtains and they are higher up and have much smaller windows.
I have been here 8 years and have got used to the verticals now and you can get replacement slats quite cheaply when you fancy a change.

Ooh but lovely thick cream venetian blinds are naice.

This is what I have. I live in Florida; it's the best way to keep heat out while allowing light in.

How bizarre.

What on earth are you trying to achieve by starting a thread like this? Consensus that you are not unreasonable in thinking blinds are universally crap? If you want to start a blinds v curtains discussion, wouldn't Chat or Property be more appropriate? This isn't a question of reasonableness. It's personal preference.

Are you kidding, John? This is the most important quandary of our generation: blinds or curtains. Or shutters, which are infinitely better than both.

I think it depends on (a) the style of the house and its setting and (b) the style and size of the windows. If you have a big old country house with French windows decorated in a more traditional style then long thick curtains with sashes are perfect. If it's the little Mediterranean bolthole with smaller windows pot plants and whatnot, then painted shutters are very cute. A Victorian townhouse is all about venetian blinds.

I don't even want to think about frosting.

I have mostly blinds in my house. The only curtains are at patio doors in the dining room. I actually have blinds there too and never close the curtains.

I hate curtains as they get dusty and block out too much light and look, to me, heavy and frumpy. I have some roman blinds, some wooden venetian blinds and some roller blind. They look modern and let so much more light into the rooms. I am not overlooked so only shut the bedroom blinds at night.

I much prefer blinds. They look neater, they don't collect masses of dust and the cats can't use them for climbing practise.

The Venetian blinds in our south facing kitchen prevent the sun from shining directly in my eyes without being fully closed. Nothing else will achieve that because, well physics.

What Brock said.
It's not unreasonable for your personal preference to be that you hate blinds, but of course, it's not unreasonable that other people like them.
It's not really an "AIBU" question, is it?

We have shutters in the kitchen - they're the original Georgian ones. I like them as the hinges are all higgledy-piggledy so when they're closed there are gaps I can see out of but people can't see in.

We have curtains in some rooms. DH has bamboo blinds in his studio, and quite a few rooms have nothing. We rarely close the curtains except in winter, when we do it for warmth.

But what else do you have on velux windows? We had velux in our bedroom and when dd was little we needed to block them out otherwise she wouldn't have napped.

Also, over the patio doors in the kitchen. I don't want the sun streaming in when I'm eating breakfast or lunch. But curtains would get filthy sitting on a kitchen floor. We raise them up most of the time do they don't really get dirty. Curtains would have little hand prints all over them.

I don't have any curtains or net curtains, my windows all have blinds or nothing. I'm in a flat and we're not overlooked at all, I have 5 velux windows, which have blinds, ds bedroom has a roller blind, the lounge has 2 of the velux's and at the other end has full length window / door which has vertical blinds. I love it, it's so light, minimalist and unfussy. Cosyness comes from the blankets / lighting / candles / rugs etc I can't bear nets, or flouncy drapey curtains.

All blinds here

Curtains, blinds and nets/voiles all serve different purposes.

I use the blinds to keep the sun out otherwise it is ridiculously hot and bright.

YABU

I even have a net curtain but the alternative is the neighbour being able to see into my entire house -upstairs and downstairs

I hate vertical blinds. Who wants to feel like they're living in an office? I'm not fond of horizontal types either really, unless they're natural wood ones. Even then they're only tolerable and not particularly desirable.

It's just personal opinion though.

I love blinds.

And curtains (even nets)

And shutters.

It just depends on what a particular room/window needs.

Being against blinds is kind of like being against doors.

I'm not fond of verticals either. For a while they were ubiquitous in Florida for sliding glass patio doors because those expanses of glass are a real challenge in a hot climate. Luckily my patio doors are in a room that faces north and we have woods behind us so I don't have anything covering them. If I needed a covering, I would probably use lightweight curtains.

"What are you all hiding from anyway?"

I'm hiding from my in-laws. They park outside and peer through the windows. Sometimes they were outside for hours, either directly outside or further down the street. A neighbour rang me at work once to tell me she'd seen them looking through the windows and the letterbox.

I have been NC with them for about four years now, and the stalking and spying they put me through then (and they still turn up from time to time now) gave me panic attacks.

Before we got blinds I had to keep the curtains shut just to feel safe in the house. Now I can angle the blinds and not feel 'looked at' and it's better than the other option, which was to paint 'fuck off' on the front of the house and hope they got the message.

The last time I know they were outside the house was about a month or so ago, DH was home and went out to tell them to leave. Then it was days of misery, phone calls and text messages, and threats to come back.

We have blinds with curtains in the living room for two reasons really, one being the spying in-laws and the other being the radiator under the window. I like long curtains that reach the floor, so with the curtains closed the radiator just heated the back of them.

With blinds I can close them and have privacy but also stay warm, or close the curtains if the heating isn't on.

I don't like those vertical blinds that belong in offices though.

Vertical blinds are just ghastly.

I quite like venetians and plantation shutters though.

Why do you care? Do you think that all houses should be decorated to your taste?
You dress your windows however you see fit.
I will do the same for mine.
I don't care about yours, I don't care about your opinion about mine :)

Vertical blinds in a home make me shudder.

I have both downstairs - roller blinds which are one way so I can see out, but no other bugger can see in during the day, and big thick curtains for night time. I had voiles previously which I like but which are not compatible with cats and rapidly end up with so many holes they look like nets, whereas they can slip under the blinds and still see out.

I have windows that go the full width of my livingroom and allow you to see straight through in to the kitchen too.

There was a similar thread on here. Posters sated that only working class people had dentists vertical blinds.

I have wooden blinds.