Blind date

Net curtains, once the perfect vantage point from which to spy without being seen, were also the perfect camouflage for nosey parkers keeping an eye on the comings and goings of near neighbours.

The original neighbourhood watch, if you will.

And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing — the net’s slip from interior fashion has left our homes exposed to other prying eye, those rather more sinister ones whose intent is checking out what we own.