Dressing a window is one of the most important things you can do in a decoration scheme, both for the aesthetic value that curtains and blinds have, but also for creating privacy, screening your interior from the outside world. There are plenty of situations where you might want that privacy without blocking out the daylight – if your bathroom or bedroom is overlooked, for example, and you want to get dressed in the morning without people peering in.
There are plenty of options to choose from in this scenario: many interior designers will use a semi-sheer blind alongside a curtain, so that the blind can be used to filter out harsh daylight or temporarily block the view in while the curtains are open. “I tend to have sheer roller blinds behind the curtains so that one can have privacy without having to grope around in the dark to get dressed in the morning,” explains Rita Konig. Other spaces are more suited to blinds alone, café curtains (which) cover the lower half of a window with a sheer fabric, or shutters. Here we consider the pros and cons of the various options, and where to find the best versions of each.
Sheer blinds and curtains
Sheer blinds can be incredibly helpful in many spaces, and can be used in addition to curtains or on their own. Their delicacy can be an intriguing element in an interior, and there are so many pretty styles out there, but of course they have the disadvantage that they won’t create total privacy at night when the lights are on. For this reason, we frequently see them flying solo in kitchens, for example, where there’s less of a need for privacy, and where swathes of curtain fabric would not be suitable, but they can be helpful for filtering daylight and blocking out the dark at night. Interior designer Virginia White often uses blinds made from book cloth by Marianna Kennedy, which she pairs with cream linen curtains in her own flat in Highgate. For an even more translucent effect, cotton voiles can be a pretty, understated addition to a scheme. Lots of designers also adore chik blinds, a style of bamboo blind originating in India, which can be used either by themselves or alongside a more opaque blind if more privacy is required at night.
Café curtains
