Window shutters are an often-overlooked form of window furnishing. Most people turn to curtains or blinds to dress their windows, but shutters can offer an attractive and quirky alternative, and they have many practical benefits, too.
Sound and Thermal Insulation
While shutters are closed, the wooden panels offer good sound insulation, and some heat insulation, too. This works both ways – in the summer, it’s possible to open the windows while keeping the panels shut, allowing air to flow while keeping the heat from the sun out.
You can achieve similar results with thick, heavy curtains if you want a more traditional look for your living room. Shutters make a good choice for a kitchen or bathroom, however, where thicker fabrics aren’t ideal. That leads us to…
Low Maintenance Requirements
Blinds and curtains can attract dust, and keeping the fabrics clean can be difficult. Plantation shutters are a good choice for people with allergies, because they are easy to keep clean. Simply wipe them down with a damp cloth from time to time and you won’t have any issues with dust build-up. When you need a fresh look, simply re-paint the shutter in a different colour!
Added Privacy
When you close a set of shutters they cover the whole window. When you adjust the louvres you can let light in, without making it easy for people to see inside your home, in a similar way to how you can let a little light in by adjusting venetian blinds. Curtains, on the other hand, are either open or closed, so unless you have net curtains behind them to filter the light, you lose all privacy when you open them.
Extra Curb Appeal
Interior shutters are a nice added-extra that could make your home more appealing to prospective buyers. They are a more ‘semi-permanent’ fixture than curtains or blinds, however, and this could backfire if the prospective buyer doesn’t like them. That said, it’s relatively easy to remove a set of shutters and replace them with blinds or curtains if that’s what the buyer prefers, and you can remind them of this.
UV Protection
Shutters with louvres can be angled to control how much light gets into the room – in much the same way that blinds can be angled. When you want to let light flood into the room, the panels can be fully opened. Adjusting the louvres can direct light away from furniture and flooring, prolonging the life of the furniture and preventing patterns from fading.
Many shutters are finished with a UV-protective layer, which will protect the paint or wood stain finish, and stop the panels from warping.
Shutters are timeless, and are a stylish and eye-catching window treatment. They may not suit every room, but there is a certain appeal to having them on the ground floor – especially for kitchens, and “the den”. If you like the soft and elegant look of curtains, don’t forget that you can use tie backs as a trim around your shutters, to enjoy the best of both worlds.
