Privacy solutions for windows - grade II listed property

[CheerfulBunny]

OH and I are in the process of hopefully buying a very old grade II listed property which has no front garden and is 'on the street'. It's not a massively busy road and is semi rural but OH is pretty paranoid about home security so will want something up at the windows to stop people looking in. I LOATHE net curtains and really don't want them (we have plain ones at present because it's OHs house and he's not fussed about appearances) but as it's a very old house we're moving to, it tends to be dark so want to keep it as light as possible. I've looked at venetian or roman blinds but I'm not sure they're right, nor are roller blinds. There's also one way window film which gets poor reviews and sounds horrible.

If you have a very old property, how have you solved this problem? I've seen some William Morris voiles which are sort of OK - but isn't that just a fancy word for nets?? 😄

I have a grade 2 listed house similarly fronting the street and I have linen cafe curtains with brass pole - it looks lovely! You can get them from East London Cloth for example.

Film is fine when it is light outside and dark inside but works in reverse as soon as it is dark outside and light inside (i.e. you can't see out but everyone outside can see in).

Vertical, venetian or shutter blinds?
Angled correctly they allow plenty of light in but prevent people looking in unless they are in direct line of sight to see through the slats (and you angle these accordingly).

@ibelieveinmirrorballs Thank you! There are some lovely pictures on their website, very inspiring x

Shutters!

Plantation shutters are good - you can angle them to let in light but not let people see in. They also look OK with period windows.