Anyone got shutters as opposed to curtains/blinds? (and are they tres expensive???)

[tiredemma]

Love the look of shutters but have a feeling they are £££££££

Whats a realistic price?

I had a quote on shutters for my living room - a large bay window (so effectively 3 windows). It was something like £1800 - and am temporarily impecunious or I would have ordered them.

Roman blinds would be £300 per window,plus fabric, curtains would be about £300 per pair plus fabric, so I don't think they compare too badly.

There are often offers advertised by Thomas Sanderson who now do shutters, don't know how they compare to curtains etc I'm afraid, but agree they look tres chic!

hmmm. I suppose not bad when you think about draping the windows in lovely materials, which would also be expensive.

Shutters look chic but don't always keep all the druahgts out.

Champagne - are curtains better for the draughts, do you think? Would be shit to fork out for shutters and then need curtains too...

Hi
Good shutters are expensive....but so are good curtains!!!!!!
Shutters don't help with draughts at all!
Curtains can create the room that you want from chic to country house just the right choice of fabric and design.
(I run a soft furnishing company that makes blinds curtains and supplies shutters if I can help at all let me know)

We've got single glazed windows and the shutters help prevent heat loss. Really noticeable this winter.

Expensive no - rustic yes, planks nailed on to a cross batten, blacksmith made hinges and nails with a wooden latch.

Enjoying not having bulky curtains here.

I have shutters. Not cheap but no regrets. They look really good. Ours DO keep the cold out and are as efficient as black out blinds at keeping day light out. We got ours online from a really good company (did our own measuring and fitting, DH likes that kind of things) and saved about 50%.

Here's some tips from someone whose married to somebody with vast experience in the industry.

The vast majority of shutters in the uk, look the same, central wand, with a hole at the side of the frame going into a louvre.

They are chinese shutters, they are not MDF as a lot of people claim, they are LDF the difference being medium density, and light density.

The cheapest place to buy them is at b&q, california shutter company do them via some sort of deal, get them damp, they swell, the plastic coating comes off, and they are prone to discolouration, they are however, cheap, and precisely the same as everyone else sells.

They are not made to measure, but made to fit, there is a vast difference there.

If anyone needs any advice, feel free to PM me.

I haven't got shutters, but I do have Venetian blinds. They're obviously more expensive than a roller blind. That said we've had them for 12 years and they still look great.

Most do have a smooth finish. I put one Venetian blind up which doesn't have a smooth finish - which I loved at the time as looked more natural. But it's a nightmare to clean - a real dust collector. Don't be tempted (there aren't a lot of these around though, so maybe you won't be!).

@yorkshireness: Would you be able to recommend a good company to go with re getting made to measure shutters and what material (hardwood) to use?

We had shutters fitted into two of our ground floor front windows as they are South facing and we constantly had to draw the curtains to stop the sun getting in people's eyes, also because I have always loved shutters! They are largish windows, one is a bay, and they cost about £600 each so not cheap at all but they look lovely.

As a pp said, the salesman told us that most shutters are made by two factories in China and shipped over (hence an 8-10 week lead time). You can get wood or the ldf material. We were advised to go for the ldf as it won't warp and they still look good. There's a thorough measuring process as they are shipped ready made and most windows (or at least the spaces they fit in, are not properly square. Also all the sections and openings are designed to align to your existing windows.

I've got shutters - started in the sitting room (bay + side window) and now have them in a total of 10 windows (sitting room 2, dining room 1, Garden room 1, landing 1, study 2, DS bedroom 2, spare bedroom 1).

Yes, they are expensive - I did not get them all done in one go! No regrets - I love how you can alter the light coming through and the privacy and how easy they are too keep clean. I wouldn't want anymore though - it is nice to have a splash of fabric in some of the rooms.

We got all of ours from Hillarys - Most are the cheaper white ones (and they haven't discoloured) made out of basswood - obviously it depend on the size and these prices are from about 4 years ago now:

3 shutters (2 average size + 1 very small) £650
2 shutters (1 large + 1 very small) £665
3 shutters (2 average size + 1 quite large) £790

The two in the sitting room were about £900 (I think - it was further back) and more expensive due to the bay window and that they were the more expensive type (not white).

I think you can get more expensive ones than this though.

I wanted shutters for our French doors but we're quoted 1800! Got fitted venetians instead for 180 and they look really smart

I have them and love them. We have plantation style so I flip them up and not down so we have no issue with draughts.