My sister tried that and made a dogs dinner of it. It all went blistery and crazy round the edges

We have Venetian blinds - very adjustable. Ours are wooden ones, bought off the peg for around £50 for the bay window, and trimmed to fit. If you're not handy with a hacksaw then you can buy them made-to-measure, but you pay through the nose for it.

If you're going down the film route I'd go for very plain to fit in with any deco scheme (they might be removable, but they probably cost a few quid!) If you have a bit of money to spend then you could consider having the lower window panes replaced with real frosted glass.

You can buy etching spray from DIY stores that you spray on the glass to give a frosted effect.

A house near me has their front windows done like this, with the majority of the glass being fosted but they have left a border of plain glass around the outside. It is very effective - looks great and you really can't see in from the outside (I'm one of those nosey people you are trying to counteract )

Aaaaaah!!! So that's what they should have done

We had exactly the same problem and ended up going for nets in the end, even though they're not really my thing. They have helped and I feel we have much more privacy now and because they're so white they seem to make the room brighter .