I think SOME miniblinds like those plastic ones - UGH! - are utterly wretched, but others aren't so bad, like wood ones in particular are not dated at all. We had wood 1" blinds in our previous house's master bedroom and even though I'm not really a blinds person they did look nice. We have a bay window 6 feet from the sidewalk in our current house and I put up 2" wood blinds, which do look very good and will look even better once we get those dadratted drapes up with them to soften the total effect! Whether 1" or 2" work better depends on your room. Our current windows are quite large and 1" blinds would have looked super busy IMO, as well as being a bit scrawny for the depth of the window casing. The casings were quite shallow in our previous house, so 1" blinds fit those windows better. The 2" ones do let in a lot of light when open, because the spaces between the slats are wider, and it's nicely possible to tilt them at just the right angle that people can't see in from the street but light still comes in. Because it was a big hassle to get at the middle window of the bay (we would be climbing over a chair and table to reach the cords) we sprung for the motorized tilt option on that one so it would ever get opened/closed at all. I am going to disagree with some other folks: extremely functional as they may be, I think the top-down blinds look a little odd from the outside - I think they're best on the sides or rear of a house, not "in your face" right in front. Maybe if you're in a very contemporary building, I don't know. If the view in from the street is only through the lower half of the window (I'm guessing typical double-hungs) and the style suits your decor and architecture, shutters that only cover the lower sash are efficient and attractive. They completely block visibility from outside and still allow generous amounts of light in through the top half of the window, so there would be no hassle with opening and closing a window treatment.

Thanks for the replies...grandma: I've thought about the curtain idea, but decided against it because of the way that shower curtains sometimes wrap themselves around people while showering. Ok, an exaggeration, I know, but imagine that from both sides. Shivers. Terriks: I saw the instructions on on the Terrell Design site and thought that I could do something like that with goretex or other water proof fabric. I might just do it...

What you’re trying to achieve will end up incorporating 3 different types of treatments when all said and done. Simplify- maybe consider doing something like plantation shutters on the windows which would give you tilt options for day and night and give you a nice finished window look. :)

We used the higher-end line from Sunshine Windows called Vanguard. We did all binds-in-glass for the bedrooms and bathroom. You don’t get great room darkening, but it sure is nice and dust-free. If you don’t have these brands in your area, check with the folks over on the Windows and Doors forum and see what the window pros there suggest. There are dozens of smaller window companies and there are probably some near you doing vinyl/fiberglass hybrid windows like my Vanguards. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/query/windows-and-doors