Have a look here for voile examples:
http://curtainscurtainscurtains.co.uk/voiles.asp

It's generally a sheet of thin materal, with a pattern in it.
Not like nets - which I think are very fussy

I'm not a fan of nets, too frilly for my liking, but I did have voile curtains in the bay windows of my last house. Voile is a soft, sheer fabric, and you can get it absolutely plain: no prints or woven patterns. Ikea do ready-made voile curtains for very little money.

We now have wooden venetian blinds at the front of the house. If you angle them right (pointing down into the room) people on the street can't see in, but we still get the sunlight.

A modern alternative to nets and blinds is to use frosted glass. You can get kits to do the windows yourself: spray-on frosting, paint-on frosting and self-adhesive film. Each has advantages and disadvantages, but if you really want it to look sleek, fork out for a glazer to replace the pane. This works especially well if you have tall windows with upper and lower panes - you just get the lower panes frosted.

A final word on nets, voiles and those bamboo blinds: if it's lighter in your house than it is outside, people can see straight in...
...everything!

oooooooooooooooooo...now I just don't know....
We have venetian blinds inthe kitchen and bathroom (both at the back) but we put them up in the day. We are naked at the front. We've thought about nets too...but we like looking out as much as people like looking in....have to admit, we haven't got them as we're not keen...voile can be nice, i also like vertical blinds, our neighbours opposite have them and you can't see in at all...
I think I don't like nets...yep...i don't like them.
Voile, can be nice, if I was going to go with anything it would be vertical blinds for the front. In terms of security, I've always thought blinds were better as people can't see in and if they try to break in through the 'blind' windows, they'd make a lot of noise...

WE have blinds for the same reason, I hate folk staring in and we are close to a path that many use.

How do you put up a shelf Deccy, sound good but how on earth do you do it?

I don't like nets either, nothing dates a house quicker.

They are even worse when they go grey and people don't wash them!

I have vertical blinds also and in my dining room have lovely voile which is cream with a little pattern on them, it just takes the plainess away from just the blinds.

If you tilt your vertical blinds at an angle, it is much more private

We have verticle blinds on all the bedrooms, expensive though. The lounge is at the back and overlooks the garden so nothing at the french doors. french doors in the kitchen too so they are naked as well. Dining room is at the front and has voile in the bay window

Thanks guys and thanks for the link Hev.

So can you have v.blinds AND a voile?

Yuk! Nets are horrible!!
I know what you mean though - very handy for privacy without blocking the light.
Ikea do some slightly more modern/trendy versions of net curtains & I think they're pretty cheap.

errrr.... in the usual way, I guess!!!!
Seriously, if the window is narrow, you can stick the brackets at the sides so they screw into the sides of the window recess.
The traditional way is to simply plonk some suitable supports on the window ledge and rest a plank on top. For example, you could paint three identical jam jars for a cheap and personalised result, find a decent plank and sand it smooth, varnish it if you're that keen.... then you can move it somewhere else if you don't like it, or change the height at a later date.

Can't wait to see the end result of Loki, a plank and some plants.......