Plantation Shutters

Plantation Shutters

Plantation shutters have certainly stood the test of time. This window shutter style was developed in ancient Greece. Plantation shutters were used to protect homes from the elements before the invention of glazed windows.

And they were used on isolated plantations to provide security from bandits. Their functionality has certainly been proven, and they’re also an attractive window treatment. Plantation shutters can be used on most sizes of interior windows, sliding glass doors, oddly-shaped windows, and french doors.

Choosing the Right Plantation Shutter

With plantation style shutters, you select the slat or louver size from choices just under two inches up to 5½ inches. Larger louvers will let more light and air into the room than smaller louvers. They’ll also offer the best view if you plan to leave the shutters closed and adjust the louvers. Note that when the louvers are closed, the room will not be completely dark. Some light will still trickle in between the slats.

Slat shape is your next choice. Elliptical slats are thicker in the front than in the back, providing a sturdier slat in comparison to the flat version. Most plantation shutters today are available with the elliptical slat, although you can find flat slats if you look hard enough, or you can special order them.

Your slats may be fixed or adjustable. Adjustable slats open and close by operating the tilt rod, letting in a little air and light when the interior shutters are closed. You can also leave them partially open to direct the light. Fixed slats remain stationary, so you’ll have to open and close the shutters themselves.

Divider rails can be installed on your interior window shutters to allow the top and bottom sections to operate independently with adjustable slats. Or, if you’ve selected fixed slats, you may still like the look of two sets of slats per shutter.

Plantation Shutters

Next, select how many shutters you want to install per window.

You can choose one large shutter, two shutters (installed one on each side to cover the entire window or to cover only the lower half of the window), or four shutters (covering each of the four quadrants of the window).

Each of these window shutter options offers a different look and varying light control. In general, the fewer shutters you use, the more light you’ll have in the room.

Style-wise, you can select painted or stained wood shutters, unfinished wood shutters, or vinyl shutters. Be aware that vinyl versions can be heavy, and make sure to choose high quality versions that don’t look and feel cheap.

Unfinished wood offers you the opportunity to match colors exactly, but be aware that with all of the slats, painting shutters is not the easiest of projects.

Your installation options will vary depending on the type of window you are covering and how you plan to hang the shutters. You may want to select window shutters with frames if you plan to mount them outside of the window.

You can also hinge the shutters differently depending on their use. For example, with two shutters you might want to hang one on each side of the window, or you may want to attach the shutters to each other with a hinge in the middle of the window and then attach the set to one side of the casing. This will allow the shutters to fold together and to one side.

Whatever style options you choose, it’s certain that your plantation shutters will give you an attractive look for your home.