Interior Decorating With Plantation Shutters

When decorating your home, remember to think about window coverings as an integral design element. With so many materials available today, choosing the right plantation shutters for your windows is both easy and affordable.

Just what are plantation shutters? As the name suggests, these window coverings were originally used in plantations, either in the deep South of the United States or in the Caribbean nations where slavery was the order of the day. Thankfully, slavery is now abolished, but the residual bonus is the window coverings we still call plantation shutters.

In warmer climates where curtains are perhaps unnecessary, shutters make good sense. They can block out the light and let in air at the same time. Plantation shutters are also referred to as louvers or California blinds.

Traditionally this style of shutter was made from a hardwood available locally (in the case of an actual plantation). Today's plantation shutters are made from plastic, MDF (medium density fiberboard) or a blend of hardwoods. These materials all resist warping and a fairly wide price range is available today.

Traditional wood shutters provide a warmer color as part of your room decor and as stated previously, they are usually made of hardwood, which is fairly durable. Plantation shutters made of wood, however, can warp dramatically depending on temperature and exposure to sunlight. A more durable material would be MDF, which also has the advantage of being lower cost and available in a variety of colors and finishes.

It's important to remember that the hardware used to hang your blinds can be a design element as well, and there is a wide range of styles available. Many hinges and frames can be painted to match existing room decor. Another element to look for in plantation shutters is a hidden and offset tilt bar which controls the tilt of the blinds.

Depending on your location, plantation shutters by themselves can be sufficient window coverings. These can be paired with a drape, but generally blinds stand alone. For those who live in colder climates, shutters should act as a barrier to cold coming through your windows; factor this into your ultimate choice.

Finally, when choosing blinds as a window covering option, be sure to investigate the warranty offered by the company of your choice. High quality blinds should last for the lifetime of your home.

Simon Harris writers about Discount Plantation Shutters at http://www.shutter-world.com

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Quality Plantation Shutters - How to Tell the Good From the Bad - Part 1 of 3

Plantation shutters can be purchased at almost every price imaginable. If you're not a professional in the shutter industry, how do you distinguish between high-quality and low-quality products? There are a number of factors you can use to compare plantation shutters before making a commitment. In this article, we will explain how to tell the good from the bad.

Only wood plantation shutters will be discussed, since shutters made from MDF, composite, and polymer materials are different enough from wood plantation shutters in design and construction as to make fair comparisons impossible.

Telling High Quality From Low Quality

Let's compare two typical plantation shutter panels to illustrate the differences between higher and lower quality shutters.

Visualize this: both panels are 12" wide by 21" tall. They're made from the same Basswood, and have 3-1/2" louvers. Even with these elements being identical, you will see some surprising differences in the design, construction, and components of the imported and the custom-made shutter.

Good Design Means A Better Fit With Your Window

The first difference between these two shutter panels is in the number of louvers they have and the overall louver area. The higher-quality shutter has 5 louvers, while the lower-quality shutter has only 4. The reason has nothing to do with aesthetics, but with how the shutters were designed. One is a true custom-made shutter that was designed and manufactured for a specific window; the other is known as "cut-to-fit."

This design difference is the single most important factor in understanding a shutter's quality. Here's why:

The factory that makes the lower-quality shutters makes them to predetermined sizes; in this case, the heights of the shutters are made in 3-inch increments. So the factory makes shutters that are 18", 21", and 24" tall. If none of these dimensions fits your window's measurements exactly, the U.S. distributor takes a shutter the next size up and cuts it down to fit your window. This means the shutters have to be designed with taller rails and wider stiles so these pieces are large enough to cut down. For most customers, the result is a shutter with a larger area proportionally of stiles and rails, and a smaller area for the louvers. Fewer louvers mean less light and a more restricted view.

In contrast, the higher-quality shutter is customized to fit the window right from the start. Each shutter is designed to fit the measurements of a specific window in your home. In this sense, it's like a suit that's been tailor-made for its owner from the cutting of the fabric to the final fitting. The result is a more balanced shutter and a brighter and airier window.

While the cut-to-fit technique is less expensive, the overall lower quality is obvious even to the casual observer.

The Right Hinge Makes A Stronger Shutter

Two basic types of hinges are used on shutters: butt and non-mortise. When you unfold a butt hinge, it can resemble a butterfly, with the left flap the same size as the right one. With butt hinges, the two flaps fold together (or "butt up") against each other.

In contrast, the left and right pieces of an open non-mortise hinge aren't the same. Flaps on a non-mortise hinge fold one-above-the-other or one-inside-the-other. With non-mortise hinges, the two flaps are each only half the height of the hinge.

For butt hinges to fit properly, the edge of the shutter has to be mortised, or chiseled out, so that the hinge is counter-sunk into the shutter and its surface is flush with the surface of the shutter. In contrast, non-mortised hinges (as their name implies) do not require this sort of modification to the shutter.

It's less expensive for manufacturers to use non-mortised hinges, since they don't require mortising. However, non-mortise hinges are weaker than butt hinges, since each hinge flap is only half the size of a butt hinge flap. Weaker hinges may hold up well for a few years, but quality plantation shutters are made to last for decades.

Two Layers Are Better Than One

When plantation shutters are finished with paint or clear topcoats, some manufacturers try to save money by applying just one layer of topcoat over a stain, or only one layer of paint over primer. High-quality shutters have at least two coats of each.

A painted plantation shutter with only one coat of paint will have a rougher feel than one with two or more coats. And stained shutter will have a richer luster if a second layer of clear coat is applied.

Buy A Quality Shutter...But Don't Buy More Than You Need

There are literally thousands of shutters on the market today. Most of them display a mix of high-quality and lesser-quality characteristics. Buying quality is important; but buying more shutter than you need is a waste of money. Hopefully you are now armed with the information to shop knowledgeably for the quality shutters you need and want for your home and lifestyle.

Nathan Newton is a principal at Shutter Classic. See the full article and learn more about quality plantation shutters by visiting our web site.

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