I Hate blinds but at this time I live in an apartment and the blinds come with the rent so I have blinds pulled up at least 1/2 the way. My 2 cats (here on The Boys) cannot get to the blinds to tear them apart which they would love to do. I've push-pinned old mismatched sheets up for the lower half of the windows so the boys can get behind them and enjoy the sunshine. The Boys go from window to window to catch all the sun's rays every day. Because I live on the ground level, I cannot open the cuttains without lots of prying eyes. They stay shut.
However my preference is always cutains with blackout shades for the southwest side of my house as soon as I get one.