Shutters versus curtains

We live in a very old house on the Swiss/FRench border and have outside shutters- and have decided not to have curtains to keep maximum light - love it.

Do you not miss curtains for the sound absorption? I really appreciate the sound deadening ability of fabric. I can't stand the echoey clattery noise without curtains especially if hard wood floors. Its curtains and carpets every time for me.

That's something that I hadn't considered Jane10, we have hard floors at the moment and it doesn't seem to make much difference but going without curtains too might perhaps be a step too far

We live in the countryside- the only noise is the distant sound of cow bells, and the odd tractor- and nobody can look in- as we have a large front garden- then a narrow field with no public access and the Church grounds.

We have wood blinds, no curtains, and also wood floors (with rugs). I love the extra light without curtains, but ours are painted slatted wooden blinds, not shutters, and we have double glazing so noise not an issue. Blinds can also be adjusted to prevent sun glare. We are fairly minimal in style and I know it wouldn't suit everyone but house is modern and well insulated, and OH has asthma, so it does keep dust down

Forgot to say. Curtains upstairs and I agree with CariGransnet.

We have them inside and they look very classy and surprisingly modern. We can tilt them either way. They look especially good on our upstairs balcony doors.
The downside is that the slats need a lot of dusting, but we are in London.

I don't mean the noise from outside. Sound waves bounce off hard shiny surfaces like glass and laminate/wood floors. This makes for an unpleasant atmosphere for us. I found out about this via my work with people with sensory sensitivities (ASD). I tried it at home and would never go back to rooms without soft furnishings to absorb sound waves. Much more relaxing atmosphere.

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.

Excuse the auto correct typos!

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!

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

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!

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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

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

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'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?