When you’re looking to outfit your windows with a new window treatment, it can be hard to decide which one is best suited for your home. Not knowing what’s available can make it even harder. In order to make an informed decision that works best for your budget and design, you should learn what the different benefits each style affords. Window shutters is a window treatment with many advantages that are sure to match most homes.
Window shutters are a unique treatment due to their innate versatility. Its frame of vertical stiles and horizontal mid rails creates a supportive frame for panels of slats that cover your window. Each of these pieces can be manipulated in some way, as its distinctive design allows you to adjust the stiles, rails, and panels as you please. Slats can be angled opened or closed; panels can be folded open or closed; and rails make it possible to isolate different panels to operate only parts of your shutters. Since they can be manipulated from all directions, window shutters give you unparalleled control over privacy and light regulation.
The construction of your window shutters also affects your privacy and light levels. The size of the individual slats and panels, as well as the number of slats and panels influence light distribution and privacy. While you can customize your window shutters to your exact specifications, they generally come in three styles.
Café style shutters fit only across the bottom portion of your windows, leaving the upper part of your windows free of coverings. This is a great option for those who want the most amount of sunlight shining into the spaces but who also want some privacy. The panels can remain shut and the slats angled down to create an impenetrable barrier, making it impossible for prying eyes to peak into your private moments. Meanwhile, the uncovered top portion of your window lets the sunshine stream uninhibited into your room. Of course, you can also re-angle the slats and even open the panels when privacy is not an issue.
Tier shutters, or as you might also know them as double hung shutters, cover the entirety of your window. Mid rails separate the bottom panels from those panels that cover the top of your windows, isolating each panel as a separate device. This construction style means that you can open the panels at the top while leaving those on the bottom closed or vice versa. Tier shutters offer a variety of combinations that affect light and visibility, as you angle the slats and manipulate the panels hinged on each mid rail.
Full height shutters also cover the entire window space; however, there is no mid rail piece that allows isolated operation. The panels (top and bottom) cannot be separated and open as one piece along the whole window, creating a clean, sophisticated look. Their slats can be angled opened or closed as one, allowing you the opportunity to control the amount of light that comes through. Where café shutters offer moderate privacy and optimum light, full height shutters offer discretion. With their slats angled down and the panels shut, they cover your windows much like any other full window treatment would.
Once you decide on the style of shutters you prefer, you can then move on to their look. Colour, texture, and material can affect your room as much as the design of the shutter, and you should consider which combination will best suit your room’s design. We offer window shutters in hardwood, faux-wood, and vinyl options, and our blind experts can help you install them wherever you want – in windows or doors.
With the right knowledge, you can make an informed decision when it comes to your window treatments. Understanding the advantages to each kind of window shutter means that you know what to expect from them. With an amazing capacity for modifications and manipulations, window shutters give you control over the amount of light and privacy your room has. Being able to tailor your window treatments to your daily preferences, means you’ll be happy with your choice for years to come.