Shutters versus curtains

not april, july

I ordered plantation shutters for my whole house, they will be arriving in the country early april and installed very soon after. I did decide to get wood, white teak stained white with white mdf in the bathroom. At the moment I have JL paper blinds up and they let in a lot of light, I have become used to that and am sleeping well so if there is light creep, it will not bother me. I am forward planning to old age, no curtains to take down any more, just a wipe over will suit me

Interesting thread about plantation shutters. I am thinking about having them installed in my home and appreciate the comments about them people have made. We are thinking of going with this company: shuttermebeautifuluk.co.uk/ anyone heard of/used them before?

I'd definitely have blinds throughout the house if it were up to me it isn't .

Curtains are such a pain especially in a room with tall windows.

We have old fashioned solid oak shutters, unpainted. They block out 100% of light and the insulation is amazing. They are easiest of things to dust as no louvres so only need doing once in a blue moon. We 'inherited' one set of white plantation shutters upstairs which yellowed horribly and are now replaced. THey did not block out all the light either. We also have a parquet floor downstairs and the clarity and pure sound of music has to be heard to be believed. There is nothing to absorb and distort sound. However it's like anything else in life, all down to personal preference.

I got shutters in the kitchen to begin with, mainly so that I could have the window open and keep out the cat from next door, who adopted me for some reason. I liked them so much I went on to have them at every window. I love that I can have my bedroom window open at night without worrying about a burglar climbing in!

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We have external roller blinds which you can get in either plastic or metal. The roller mechanism is fairly hefty and would I imagine be expensive. I've only had to replace the blinds which were reasonably priced. Actually ours fit between our primary and secondary glazing and when fully lowered completely block out the light. I prefer mine 'loosened' slightly to let in tiny pinpricks of light. If I move back to the UK this will be my first project.

I have Venetian blinds downstairs which came with the house - they are brown & I so wish they were white but when I googled painting them it seemed a real faff - someone might know an easy way! For the main bedroom window I have gauze type pull up blinds & silk curtains with black out linings. This means I can open the curtains but have the blinds down until dressed etc but then pull them up for maximum light. There's no light gets in at night & this system works really well.

I have plantation shutters in all rooms in my sea facing bungalow, and they are wonderful. They provide an extra layer of insulation in winter and can keep the rooms cooler in summer (if closed) If morning light is a problem you can have a blackout blind incorporated into the shutter frames. Having them half open makes lovely patterns of sunlight around the room, they look sleek and tidy, are easy to clean and I love them. Mine don't have a central control rod but operate by moving a slat, then all slats move in unison. They are also split at the tops to match up with the little windows so I can close the bottom half but have the top bit and the little window open for ventilation if needed. The only downside is that they are quite expensive.

I'm trying to follow this thread but am still confused. What I need is something that completely shuts out the light. Our bedroom has a street light outside and the curtains, even with blackout lining, still let in cracks of light around the sides and at the top. Would shutters be the answer?

We have plantation shutters in our bedroom which we love. I'd have them in every room if I could afford them. We bought from B & Q who were very reasonable.

I seem to be on two threads here about this! I' m not obsessing, honest!

Didn't know they do black out shutters Stella. Am l allowed on here to ask the make/supplier?

I live in an Edwardian property. Last year I got rid of all the curtains in favour of wooden venetian blinds. Every morning I'm awake at sunrise, it's driving me barmey, the dog starts scratching the minute it's light so that doesn't help! I've already had to but blackout curtains for my son's room and I fear I will be going that way to! I miss my former heavy curtains so much!

Friends of ours have plantation shutters plus curtains. The shutters are lovely because you can adjust how much light you want to come in and in their old cottage look very attractive. On the negative side, they do not completely keep out the light - though, obviously, that may not be an issue for you.

In my present home, we have shutters everywhere. I don't understand the point made by one poster (sorry forgot the name and no time to scroll back) that she likes curtains in bedrooms to shut out the light. Shutters do that just as well. You can even buy blackout shutters. They have an extra line of wood to shut out even the smallest chink! I love my shutters. They look great, can be adjusted easily, angled if the sun is in your face etc, and when you see they layer of dust on them as you are cleaning (very easy, just a wipe), you realise how much dust must gather in curtains before we're even close to the stage of having them cleaned!

We had Hillarys' white painted basswood plantation shutters fitted to our bedroom and cloakroom windows a few of years back. We too have nice champagne coloured silk 'dress' drapes on two sets of French windows, though. I absolutely adore the shutters and the lovely way they filter the sunlight when open, and keep the room almost totally dark when closed.

We have cottage style dormer windows in some of our bedrooms. Finding something that fitted snugly into the dormer and kept the light out but didn't flap noisily in the breeze (as both curtains and roller blinds did) was necessary because, until I retired, I was a shift worker and often needed to sleep during the day after night shifts. These shutters were ideal.

It is much less work wiping shutters clean than taking down curtains, removing hooks and washing and ironing the curtains. The effect of pure white shutters against coloured walls is lovely. Also, when you just want to pop into the bedroom during the day to change your clothes, you don't have to draw the curtains and cause the neighbours to wonder what you're up to! A simple tilt of a rod gives you privacy. You can also look out without being visible to passers by. If ever I move, I shall have these shutters installed again.

I think shutters are rather nice, but I do think that good quality heavy well lined curtains assist in the overall warmth of the house in winter.

i have "dress curtains" in bedrooms, lounge and dining room with cream wooden venetian blinds behind. the curtains are never closed and the blinds keep the light out at night.
my kitchen has a roller blind and the bathroom and loo have pleated blinds - all keep the light out and we have no echos in any of those rooms.
i decided to have vertical blinds in the conservatory and, after a while, roof blinds too. while the vertical blinds are rarely closed the roof ones have remained across the roof ever since they were put up.
not sure i'd like shutters though even though they've looked good in some of the makeover shows i've watched on the tele - they wouldn't look "right" in my house.

I have outside shutters on most of our windows and doors and also curtains inside - but the pole is longer and goes past the window either side allowing the curtains to be pulled back sufficiently to expose all the window. The curtains also need to do that as the windows open inwards. I like the extra warmth the curtains give in the winter and hate looking at blank glass which looks black in the dark!

oh I see jane10- our house is 16C with wood floors and 3' thick stone walls- and no unpleasant sound waves

My house is mid Victorian and still has the original shutters in 6 of the rooms. I use 4 of those but the radiators in the other 2, my bedroom and the sitting room, are in the way so have huge 10' curtains which are really cosy in winter. All the windows are double/triple glazed and carpets on all floors except kitchen and bathrooms so no problems with noise. DD has plantation shutters in her house in Oz, which are lovely, but what a palaver to open and shut them all each morning and night and because the windows are always open they are a complete b-----r to keep clean!

Excuse the auto correct typos!

We only have curtains in one room, the lounge. They are two flat panels when they are drawn, so they look like blinds come to think of it.

We have silk-effect Roman blinds in the bedrooms and "vision blinds" in the kitchen. The vision finds were a brilliant buy, they are on a continuous loop with either transparent or solid strips lining up horizontally. So they let light in even when they are not pulled up.

We have bamboo wood floors and the house is very quiet - there are soft furnishings of course in the shape of sofas etc. And our walls are soundproof so we don't hear the neighbours.

I do know what you mean though Jane because you often find the noise factor in modern restaurants with "industrial" design and decor. I avoid those because you can't have a conversation. I met a friend in a trendy cafe the other day that had "sound proofing" panels hung on the walls instead of paintings, and that were very effective.