What's the best & least expensive way to create privacy for your deck?

Ahh, the best is seldom the cheapest. Imagine asking what is the best & least expensive car. You'll likely have to pick one or settle in the middle:

http://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/outdoor-spaces/easy-ways-to-add-privacy-to-a-deck-or-patio-pictures

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/deck-privacy-screens/

https://www.hometalk.com/diy/outdoor/decks/how-to-add-privacy-to-a-deck-wood-lattice-screen-510584

Canvas drop cloth curtains. Lg potted palms and other plants. Hinges screens (buy or make), open with plants attached or covered in canvas/outdoor fabric. Many possibilities. Have fun!

I have a nice front porch but not comfortable seeing the road. I use White plastic bamboo blinds...very cheap at the local Big Lot Store and last a very long time. I use 6 fters.....zip tie to the railings on top....and to the railings on bottom. Wind is the main issue but with a few good zip ties have gone through 2 summers and winters without issue. And the added bonus is? When it snows? These blinds keep out most of the snow !!

You can purchase inexpensive curtain panels or make curtains out of canvas drop clothes/table clothes/shower curtains (waterproof). Hang them with tension rods. Everything can be easily removed to clean.

To get the results you want... you either have to spend time to do it yourself.... or the money to have someone else do it for you. AND the more effort YOU put into it, to do it right... will determine how durable and long lasting it is....in other words.... you won't be doing it again next year. Galvanized pipe can provide the structure to hang the curtains from. Shade cloth (Home Depot, Lowe's) , sail cloth (online), Ripstop nylon (Joann's) , canvas tarps can provide the fabric for the curtains. You can use a sewn in rod pocket, grommets and shower curtain rings, or fabric/ribbon ties or tabs to hang the curtains.

Privacy does not need to be opaque... so a material like Ripstop Nylon (used for flags and banners, etc.) will let the light thru and still provide privacy. There are also outdoor roller shades that are sold in the drapery dept. at the big box stores.

Most of it has been said, but I'll add my 2¢. I have a 14x40, covered patio, with visible neighbors on back and one side/end. I frequently host my very large family for holidays and special events, so we usually spill over onto the patio and yard. I use the soft screens, which I purchased, for when I just want to help with mosquitoes and/or flies (a real problem, in East Texas.) For when I am wanting a barrier to back yard neighbor, I use a few coordinating sheets, (found 3 at a Goodwill, purchased cheap coordinating from WM, ) and for when it is cold, (Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve, sometimes) I use clear plastic shower curtains, from the $$Store. Because they are so light weight, I ran a colored strip of duck tape along bottom edge. My rods (2 old broom handles and 3 dow rods, all painted) are suspended from hooks I purchased from the hardware store. Sheet/curtains hang with rod pockets, the screen and clear plastics are hung with shower rings that are same color as rods. so changing out, as warranted, is easy. Keep it all in a covered plastic tub, on the patio. Use color coordinated bungee cords, when I want to tie back to upright posts. I gathered all this in stages, but probably have less than $200 invested, all totalled. Have had all of it for 3-5 years, and everything has held up, very well. Eaves of the roof protect the rods and rings from sun and weather, so have never even had to repaint, yet. I wash the cloth ones a couple of times a year, as needed. (On the West end, I have a single, 6ft vinyl rolling shade, to protect against direct setting sun. It actually drops outside of anything else I may have up.)

At my son's home, I helped him design a wall of pallets, standing them on edge and stacked 2 high, on just his East end. Planted herbs, which are colorful, fragrant, available to harvest for cooking, and several help reduce presence of mosquitoes, etc. Pallets were free and used wood from others to put "floors" in the shelves, to be able to plant in them. Investment, other than time, were a few screws, which he had, potting soil and plants. I later made a single "valance" from a piece of painter's drop cloth. It already had a few splatters on it, so I just added a bit more, emphasizing the colors in his cushions. It is about 20" so, that leaves a very small gap between the bottom of it and the top of the planters. Lots of privacy at very little cost. Not sure, but I think he has it on a tension rod.

bamboo shades, that you can roll up or down. attach with S hooks, take down in the winter

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