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?

I think blinds are the modern version of nets.

One of my homemade bathroom window covers , excuse my sad looking fish it was all I could manage (am not very arty, I just sew).

But they are crisp white linen and I like them, sadly we are not allowed frosted glass (not overlooked either but I would be waving my bum out of the window at night).

Nets are the nylon stuff - go for the real stuff:

www.mybtextiles.com/

Anything in the windows looks tacky if it is left to get dirty, including the windows.

I'm looking to get rid of my 'nets' (sheer muslin panels) and replace them with window film - www.brume.co.uk/c/2/window-film

I hate net curtains but I have to have them as people can see right in our windows. We tried the curtain type things and the kids pulled them down and the blinds made it too dark.

I got some sheers from ebay, they were very cheap. I don't get the same feeling of privacy as with nets, but someone would have to be very determined to gawp in at us to see us. And it does look cleaner.

I'd love shutters but they wouldn't suit my house. I live on a VERY busy main rd with flats opposite. The dc bedrooms are at the front so I'm not comfortable with them having nothing There not exactly nets I suppose they are voile. Oldest dd has some that sparkle which look lovely in the sun. My living room has two front windows with Roman blinds which I love. Spent a lot of money having them done and no ones allowed to touch them lol so they aren't even used. Sure I'm not the only one who does this. Am I ?

Well you wouldn't want to be considered lower middle class now would you?

I think crisp white nets look great.

I hate nets but as my windows are 3m by 2.5m and we live on a road with a lot of foot traffic, if I don't have them, I feel like I am on a cinema screen, so we've got them. Weirdly I hate voiles even more so nets are my only option.

Ps, just plain ones. Lacey ones are horrific.

Thank god I live on a street that doesn't care if you have nets or not. I have nets in the front, I have a huge window, can't afford blinds and we live on a busy bus route and high theft area so nets are perfect for me. I get very anxious if I feel people can see in my front room, I'm a very private person

Is being lower middle class or working class a bad thing then?

We have a net curtain in our living room where the window faces the street. It's a more modern version one with big flowers, not the lacey tiny flower type version. It does the job and I wash it regularly. I think it looks fine. Personally not a fan of shutters or blinds as I don't think they look so homely, but that's just me.

I used to have plain cotton muslin 'Nets' that I made, I bought the fabric from John Lewis. They looked really nice, we have a huge bay window so they gave the bedroom privacy. The only reason I don't have them now is that after we had our windows done DH wouldn't drill holes into them! Plus, the cat likes to sleep on the windowsill and she'd catch them with her claws when she stretched!

Having been googling for our bedroom (quite overlooked and as we have blackout blinds it doesn't work if you just want to change your top quickly!) and you can get stick on net rods CoCo - would they work for your new windows?

Thanks for everyone's ideas and suggestions on the important topic of net curtains!
I am very ashamed to admit that our nets upstairs were lacy old fashioned ones
I have replaced them with some very sheer plain fabric with tiny stars embroidered on (not really sure if they're violes but I like them and they make the whole room light and airy)

Am still looking for something tasteful and not too expensive for the front room window..

My nieces had a lovely time yesterday playing weddings with the old nets, draping them over their shoulders and head and arguing about who should be the bride.

*Whoops, Voiles I mean.

I think shutters or voiles are a more modern alternative, nets can be a bit granny looking.

We are decorating a new house with a big window in the stairwell that faces the street. We don't want to keep opening and closing blinds, so I want to use voile nets to let in lots of light. But how can we have privacy at night when the lights are on indoors?

I lkie this computermanswife, hang voile on the pole closest to the glass and your main curtains on the other pole and then draw your main curtains at night.

We got roller blinds made out of a sheer fabric like a stiff voile. It's fantastic as we can roll them up/down easily, and they sit in the window behind the curtains. It's very neat and clean looking, lets plenty of light in, but obscures the view in from outside.

I can't believe that we couldn't find something like it in mass production as it just ticked all the boxes.

Hate nets...I think old fashioned.

I agree with PP that if I was on a busy road I'd go for frosted glass or sheer curtains (which I guess are the more up to date version of nets).

I think they are old fashioned too, but I love bright white net curtains. I'm working class and proud!

Do people still use net curtains?

If u want privacy then get blinds. We have vertical blinds or wooden blinds in all rooms.

I had this issue in a previous house and used voiile. Had a gorgeous cream silk one downstairs with a thick antique gold border and antique gold silk curtains and upstairs plain cream voile with cream curtains, the voile stayed over the window all the time and the curtains shut at night. All were long to the floor, they worked and looked lovely.

The issue with nets is they got a bad rep as predominantly when you saw them they were dirty . Whatever you put up you need to keep it clean. I think people just stop looking at them and don't realise they are noticeably dirty.