A Detailed Guide to Window Shutters

To know in detail about the windows of your house, take a 360-degree-view of your house from inside out and notice how your windows look like. Does it look too plain? Deeply look into the window’s frame, glass and just the way they sit there. Now your actual work begins! Analyse everything that is in and around your house. Imagine the windows with a little treatment added to the interior as well as exterior window coverings.

Why are shutters designed?

The window shutters are designed keeping in mind the two major functions. First, they should help to protect against the elements especially wind along with the privacy as well. Secondly, they provide a decorative look to your house.

Why this guide?

You might be thinking why we are providing you with this detailed guide. And the reason behind this is to help people in their research about home decor and styling. We even have conducted a research on a particular topic (here- shutters) and present it in front of our audience in a way that actually makes a sense.

Here, in this guide we have a series of different sections explaining the different elements of a shutter. These all aspects will surely help you in buying best suitable shutters for your home. Let’s have a look:

1. Shutter location: Interior vs. Exterior
1. Interior shutters: Such shutters are easily adjustable from inside from privacy point of view. Moreover, the interior window coverings offer many options for the homeowner like partial, full height, tier-on-tier window coverings. Else, you can also get custom shutters built based on your specifications.
2. Exterior shutters: Mostly, the windows at the exterior of your house are meant for aesthetic purpose or curb appeal. On other side they can be functional as they provide privacy.
2. Panel Styles:
1. Louvered: These shutters features a series of wooden slats that overlap each other on the same frame and are used for both interior as well as exterior shutters. They can be adjusted to let in more or less light. These shutters add a country-like look to your home.
2. Raised panel: These shutters are made with box-like designs where a series of rectangular features will stand out from the rest of the frame. This shutter design is typically identical to the cabinets in your kitchen.
3. Shaker: It looks similar to the raised panel shutter but has a flat body. The rectangular shape gives it a nicer and detailed look without having sticking out.
4. Plantation: These shutters offer wide louvers or angled slats fixed around a series of invitation and also allow light to move through them.
5. Others: There are many other panel styles that can also be considered including half-louvered, Scandinavian, board and batten.
3. Window coverage:
1. Cafe style: The windows with this type of covering combines a plantation setup on the bottom part of the window. This is given a nicer look that also adds a stunning appearance with a strong sense of detail in mind.
2. Full height: This type of coverage can be combined with any shutter type out of louvered and solid shutters.
3. Tier-on-tier: This type of window coverage gives you an option for which part of your window you’d like to open and which part you’d like to close.
4. Shutter shapes: There are a number of shutter shapes to choose from amongst the popular choices. Some of these shapes are- arch, rectangle, French door cuts, trapezoid, circles and speciality shapes like- perfect arch, full arch, eyebrow arch, angle top, octagon etc.
5. Accordion shutters: Most of the shutters are single panel, means they do not have any fold. However, for the wider windows, folding shutters are better option rather non-folding ones. There are three types of shutters as far as panel folds are concerned:
1. No-fold i.e. single panel
2. Bi-fold i.e. two panels
3. Tri-fold
6. Shutter materials: While looking for the shutters, there are many great materials available for you to take a look at. And as a homeowner, you should choose the option that works best for you. The available materials includes- wood, engineered wood, laminate, PVC, metal and foam synthetic. Wisely choose the material for the window shutters of your house.