Do curtains HAVE to be lined?

[Dioskouri]

I am having some curtains made up for a downstairs room which already has cafe-style shutters on the windows. The fabric I have chosen is Nantucket in Denim by Clarke & Clarke: www.clarke-clarke.co.uk/design.php?hdnCollectionID=0&hdnDesignID=661&hdnColourID=5032

I have a sample, and it looks pretty thick and substantial.

Is lining essential? I don't want the curtains to be too heavy and bulky.

I wouldn't think so as you're not planning to sleep in there so cutting out light is less important. But the curtain material might fade on the reverse if it's unlined whereas the lining protects it.

Occurred to me that if you already have shutters, assuming they work, are curtains essential? We have no curtains at the back of the house downstairs as we're not overlooked and have never missed them. One less thing to collect dust.

You can having separate linings and join them to the curtains when you put the hooks in the header tapes rather than having the curtains made up lined.