3 Benefits of Having Plantation Shutters in the Winter

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3 Benefits of Having Plantation Shutters in the Winter

Plantation shutters are an ever growing trend in home decor.  They are a great looking modern alternative to the classic blind.  Their versatile nature makes them easy to install in any room of your house, or better yet all of the rooms in your house.  They can add light to the room or easily be shut to darken the room. They are great for those who have allergies, as they are easy to wipe down, removing dust and other allergens.  Plantation Shutters are remarkably easy to use as there are no complicated (and dangerous) strings and rods.  Having plantation shutters installed in your home will also increase the value of your home. While all of these things are great, how do plantation shutters help you during the winter?

Reduce Energy Costs

One of the top reasons why plantation shutters are so wonderful is that they keep the heat inside and reduce energy costs of your home.  The main cause of a cold home is heat loss. You can crank up the heater and turn on the fire, but if any heat can seep out through the cracks in windows and doors, the house will continue to be cold or either your energy costs will increase.  Studies show that anywhere from 25-50% of the energy can escape through your windows. Plantation shutters add a protective barrier between the windows and the rest of the home, helping the heat to stay inside.  You can shut the shutters to keep the cool drafts away from the rest of the home.  Of course, the major benefit of properly insulating your home is that your energy costs will become lower.

Privacy

Plantation shutters are an easy way to control the privacy of your home.  Unlike traditional blinds — that still allow people to peek in if you tip the slats the wrong way — plantation shutters offer total privacy.  If you close them, no one can look into your home. You can even adjust them to allow light to enter the home, but not allow others to see in.

Easy to Decorate

Because plantation shutters are solid and durable, they are easy to decorate during the winter and holiday months.  Many light-weight decorations such as cards, garlands, and lights will stay put without a struggle.  You also don’t have to worry about getting cords tangled up in your decor.

Plantation Shutters for Uniquely Shaped Windows

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Plantation Shutters for Uniquely Shaped Windows

Shopping for window treatments can get difficult when your home has uniquely shaped windows, such as circle windows or arched windows. The good news, though, is that there is a window treatment to solve this problem, and that window treatment is the custom plantation shutter. Here is a look at some of the most common shaped windows in homes and how custom plantation shutters can be made to fit them perfectly.

Circle and Oval Plantation Shutters

Oval Plantation ShuttersDoes your home have a circle or oval window? If you’ve considered blinds or shades for your windows in the past, you probably ruled out finding a suitable window treatment for this window. With plantation shutters, however, you can have a shutter custom made with precisely cut slats that cover only the circular shape of the window. Shutters can be made to have all horizontal slats, or they can be made to have slats that are oriented around the center of the circle (sunburst).

Arch Plantation Shutters

Custom Plantation Shutters Before Finish is Applied

Many of today’s windows feature an arch shaped window on top of a standard rectangular window. Arched windows actually come in many different types and have different names to classify them, including half-circle, eyebrow, quarter round, ellipse, and circle top. Whether your arched windows are perfect semi-circles (half circle), or they feature straight edges along the sides (eyebrow with extended legs), plantation shutters can be custom made to suit these windows. As with circular window shutters, arch window shutters can be made to have all horizontal slats, or slats that are oriented around the center of the arch (sunburst), depending on the shape of the window.

French door cut-out Plantation Shutters

Beautiful Shadowbox Plantation ShuttersSome French style doors feature a square or oval cut-out where the door handle is located. This might seem to complicate things when you choose to install plantation shutters on the glass of your French style door. The good news, however, is that custom plantation shutters solve this problem completely. Even if the glass on your door isn’t a perfect rectangle, a plantation shutter can be fitted and mounted with ease. And that’s something that blinds simply can’t do.

Other Plantation Shutters for Uniquely Shaped Windows

Odd Shaped Plantation ShuttersConsider the many window shapes that today’s homes have, including gothic arch, triangle, trapezoid, octagon, hexagon, pentagon, and quarter radius. Windows come in virtually countless shapes and sizes. Unlike any other type of window treatment, plantation shutters can be made to suit any and all of these shapes.

6 BENEFITS OF PLANTATION SHUTTERS

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6 BENEFITS OF PLANTATION SHUTTERS

Deciding what kind of window coverings to purchase for your home can be an arduous task. If you want plantation shutters you want to make sure they match the style of your home while providing as many benefits as possible. Shenandoah Shutters has compiled a list of 6 benefits you might not know could come from custom plantation shutters.

Custom Plantation Shutters Before Finish is Applied

  • Increase the value of your home.

Custom Plantation Shutters are one of the few window covering options that actually add value to your home and can increase the resale value of your home when you decide it’s time to move. Buying custom shutters now not only improves the look of the interior of your home, but they make a great investment!

  • Customization

From the color, size, finish, and mountings, shutters by Shenandoah Shutters are incredibly customizable. This means that they will match any room decor as we hand make each shutter we install in your home.

  • Long life span and low maintenance

Drapes and mini-blinds need to be periodically changed over time, but plantation shutters do not. Shutters by Shenandoah Shutters are made of hardwood and do not warp over time as they are extremely durable and built to last. You never have to change out plantation shutters.  A simple dusting every once in a while is all the maintenance they will ever need!

  • Help lower energy bills to save you money

Custom plantation shutters are fitted to the exact size of your window which reduces the amount of A/C and heat that leaks out of your home naturally. Since they are great insulators, you’ll be able to run the heating & cooling unit less and save money on your electricity bill. Come on, who doesn’t like saving money!

  • Privacy and Ventilation

Never worry about prying eyes again! Custom plantation shutters offer privacy while still letting light into your home. If angled correctly you can actually see out of the shutters, but others can’t see in. If you enjoy a breeze, then you’ll prefer shutters over mini-blinds when the window is open. Mini-blinds will rattle and sway from the wind, but plantation shutters are designed to be strong and not make noise.

  • Protect your furniture and flooring

Sunlight can cause furniture and flooring to fade and degrade over time, lessening their appearance and quality. With custom plantation shutters, you can actually direct where UV rays shine, keeping them away from your furniture and carpet. Mini-blinds have long cords that hang down which poses a danger to small children, but plantation shutters are cord-free!

These are just a few of the benefits to installing custom wood plantation shutters in your home. For more information be sure to speak to one of the experts at Shenandoah Shutters. We are the premier custom plantation shutter provider in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC!

Plantation Shutters: A Versatile Window Treatment

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My favorite window treatment, my absolute favorite window treatment is the plantation shutter.  Don’t get me wrong, I love other types of window treatments, too.  I love the way drapes soften a room and would love to one day add gorgeous silk taffeta drapes to my dining room. But I’d still keep my plantation shutters underneath those drapes.

Why do I love shutters so much? Well, there are a lot of reasons, one being their versatility. Take a look at the following series of pics…

When it’s very cold outside and you want a little extra insulation or privacy, you can close ’em all up.

closed plantation shutters

Now, let’s pretend your dining room is facing a nosey neighbor’s home or a busy street and you would like some light, as well as your privacy when you are dining. Open just the top…or, open the top and just slightly open the lower louvers for additional light while still maintaining your privacy. (Pic below shows the top open with the bottom closed.)

plantation shutters with top open

Perhaps, you only need a little privacy or you mainly use your shutters for sun control…you could open all the louvers. Shutters are perfect for allowing a great view of the outside (especially with the wider 3 1/2 inch louver) while preventing fading and the damaging effects of sunlight on fabrics and furnishings.

plantation shutters with open louvers

What about if it’s a beautiful sunny day and you really want to just enjoy the view? Throw those babies open and let the sun shine in! This is my favorite way to keep my shutters all Spring, Summer and Fall. I usually just close mine at night during the winter to help further insulate the windows.

plantation shutters fully open

My Plantation Shutter Story

I bought shutters for my windows a few years after I moved in. Later, I found out they are the one window treatment you can finance into the mortgage when you purchase a home. That’s because they remain with the home when you move and are popular with almost all buyers. Plus, they increase the value of any home in which they are installed.

When interest rates dropped many years ago, I refinanced my home to an even lower rate. When the appraiser came to my home, he told me he could include my existing shutters in his appraisal. I think that says a lot about the value shutters bring to a home. Along with hardwood floors, they are one of the most sought after features when home buyers are shopping for a home. That’s why you will almost always see them mentioned in real estate ads when a home has them.

They never go out of style or fade like draperies…and they coordinate with any future decorating changes made in a room because they are normally painted to match the woodwork. They are about double the cost of wood blinds, but drastically less than custom draperies. Draperies rarely increase the value of a home and are not included in the appraisal of a home because draperies left behind by a previous home owner do not usually coordinate with the new home owner’s furnishings or taste.

When it comes to shopping for plantation shutters, do not compromise and buy the least expensive available…you could end up with sap bleed or louvers that won’t stay closed. The features you should look for are: quality wood (never pine), mortised hinges, tension adjustment screws to prevent loose louvers, side rails that are at least 1 1/4 inches in thickness to prevent warping, and shutters that are custom measured, custom built and custom painted to match your trim color, not purchased from some factory and “cut down” to fit your windows.

Original post by Susan @ http://betweennapsontheporch.net

Interior Plantation Shutters – The Romantic Side

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“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”.  William Morris (1834-1896). Noted English designer, poet, and novelist.

Mr. Morris could have been referring to a well-crafted custom interior plantation shutters.  No other window treatment allows the control of light, privacy and a wonderful finishing aesthetic all in one fell swoop.  Keeping it simple.

interior plantation shuttersMore and more people are removing the clutter in their homes, putting things in their place creating a lighter, more organized breath of fresh air.   This truly creates a fresh breath in our feelings of contentment and well-being.  Shutters can help evoke simplicity.

Culling out the heaviness of draperies and blinds with the fresh look of shutters; opens up a room and lightens the mood.  With our hectic lives of “go here, go there”, it’s just a good feeling to come home to a sense of respite and calm.  Shutters provide simple lines of enough architectural detail to lend interest and warmth without the cumbersome fullness of fabric.

For guests approaching your home at sundown, the warmth of lamplight shining through angled louvers is the first welcome to them before you open the door.  We are home and can’t wait for you to arrive!

On the nights you come home from another day “in paradise” and want to shut out the hard cruel world, no other treatment will so beautifully cover those harsh dark rectangles of glass.  You will want to raise a glass of comfort in the coziness of your home fires.

Morning sunlight slanting through the good look of plantation shutters brings in your newest day.  For others, keeping your louvers closed from the intrusion of sunlight into your bedroom may not keep the rooster from crowing, or your alarm from buzzing, but probably will invite you to spend a little longer on your pillow.

There’s nothing romantic about sneezing from the dust collected on window treatment fabrics or selecting fabrics every few years to change with our color trends or whims.  A finer plantation shutter is the home investment that will continue to live in your home, bringing a commitment to your windows and all you have to do is enjoy.  A custom shutter built and installed by a company with many years of handcrafting expertise in their own wood shop will bring that commitment to you.  Soft window treatments certainly have their place, but for a simple and interesting look that is so easy to live with; a good shutter outshines the rest.

Decorating our home is a much-beloved chore of the heart for so many of us.  It’s where we return to every day to love our families, make memories and, yes, lick our wounds sometimes.  Life is complex.  Living in your home should not be.  We want our “things” around us and to feel at home.  And maybe be able to really appreciate our fireside for the joy it gives us.

Mr. Morris had the right idea in his day and time that is still more than ever, sage advice.

Benefits of Plantation Shutters

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Shenandoah Shutters’ plantation shutters are more than just an elegant look, they are low maintenance and beneficial to your health as well. Unlike curtains or blinds where dust tends to get trapped within the fabric or bind onto the plastic coating, our patented shutters are made of real wood and have a furniture quality finish which offers easy cleaning with just a simple wipe from a soft, damp cloth. This is great for those who suffer from allergies and an excellent deterrent for dust mites. The use of plantation shutters also allows the control of natural light. Natural light is known to increase productivity, brain activity becomes sharper and the immune system builds its defenses. All of this results in happier moods and a healthier you.