If you had shutters put in were you pleased with results?

[whataboutbob]

I'm thinking of putting PS in our flat. Have been here 12 years and still just have 2 cheap ikea curtains hanging from a pole, do not meet fully in middle, don't exclude any light, look naff.
I realise it's going to be expensive, I was in John Lewis and for our 2 windows, about 1m by 2m each it will be about £1200. But I think they'll "upgrade" the room, look smart and exclude more light in the evening,
I'd value comments from those who've had them installed, and any recommendations fo good firms. Thank you.

Yes yes and yes!! We had plantation shutters put in our house and they completely transformed the rooms - they are low maintenance and still look brand new four years after installation. We live in a very hot bright climate and I love the way they transform the light - you can angle them so that the light filters in differently and adjust depending on whether you want some soft light coming in or none at all. Best decision ever - and wonderful to be freed from the horrible drudgery of curtain washing and getting those damn curtain hooks back on. Also they are neutral and dont date so its very easy to update a room without having to be bound by curtain / blinds pattern and colour. Go ahead and do it, its an asset to your home :)

Yes, I love ours. John Lewis will be pricey! Our local blinds shop used the same supplier but were half the price. Only disappointment is that they are not as "blackout" as I thought they would be. (But better than normal curtains.)

Watching with interest, as I have some arriving in 4 weeks time. Too late to change my mind if loads of bad reviews! I was inspired to get mine after my dcats ruined my curtains and nets!

I have them in my kitchen from John Leeis and love them. We have very tall windows there so had half shutters. They are very successful.

Thanks everyone. Lobelia I'm guessing you don't live in Britain! I thought about them after my mum's french cousin visited and commented people don't have shutters in england, and why not? Why not indeed I wondered. Ceci- it'll be interesting to see your cats' reaction to the shutters. Video it, it might end up being a youtube sensation!
The posts have encouraged me to go for it. Any further brand recommendations?

Mine are truly a thing of beauty. I went for mdf in the end and they look just as good I think as solid wood. My bay window was about £850 I think. Be aware they have a long lead time wherever you get them from. If you do a Mumsnet search on plantation shutters there's quite a few threads! Where abouts are you if you want recommendations?

Thanks Smell, I think I'll end up going for MDF too. I am in South London.

Love mine and have them in the sitting room, our bedroom, dining area. All windows are 2m wide. I had wood and got the from Utterly Shutterly. They were cheaper than posh curtains. I love the fact that we can open them wide and see the window space or keep them across opening the slats. It is great if its very sunny or if you go away because you can turn the slats upwards so they look open but no one can peep in easily.

5 years on still really like ours and added bonus is they are insulating when shut in the evening, we have single glazing.

Absolutely love them. Would recommend going with 'appeal' they come and do a very thorough measure up and quote for free and go through your options. So reasonable for the quality!

Love my Thomas Sanderson shutters - an easy process to buy too with some good discounts. Much better quality than others I'd looked at and a good range of options. Transformed our rooms.

I used Riverside shutters who are based in Twickenham I think. Very happy with them. To be honest I got a few quotes but the prices were all very similar when I compared like for like. Didn't get any big names to quote though, just independents.

A vote from me too. We just got our shutters and they have transformed the space. The room looks so much bigger. Keep getting compliments from visitors. Wondering how I put up with my cheap falling down curtains for so long. We got mdf slightly off white. £1,300 but they feel like a bargain. So beautiful

Here's a pic of my shutters, which I've had for a few years now. They didn't cost much more than I'd have had to pay for made-to-measure curtains. I got tier-on-tier shutters, because it's quite a tall bay window. As well as the look of them, I really appreciate the flexibility, which is much better than with curtains. I live on a fairly narrow road, and often find that I get glare from the sun reflecting in the windows of the houses opposite, but I can close the upper shutters in the middle of the bay and angle the slats just enough. If I still had curtains, I'd have had to drag them far enough across.

We got ours from the shutter store arrived flat pack and we installed them. Had a problem with measurements where the width of the window wasn't the same as the width of the opening so had to get some trimmed off... Bit of a faff, but look great!

Hi OP we had seven large sash Windows, fitted with half shutters was I think about three & half thousand pounds, from the Shutter Studio they have a showroom in Beckenham high street, family run & they come out & measure etc also Shutters Up another local firm who are very reasonable.
Very happy with mine, look lovely & help with draughts, easy to keep clean.

We had ours taken out as they were so badly fitted.

We're put in by a company called loveshutters.co.uk.

They changed their name slightly to avoid us taking them to court for completely wrecking all of our windows.

So steer clear of any company with the word love in their name.

We now have white opaque roller blinds which we prefer. Don't take up as much space, loads cheaper and don't make the room so dark.

We have shutters in the 'living space' rooms & curtains in the bedrooms, love the shutters.

Are they fiddly to clean like Venetian blinds?

Not as fiddly as venetion blinds because they don't move around. You can hoover round the edges and then a damp cloth for the slats. It does take more than curtains but better than taking curtains off hooks and lugging them to dry cleaners.

I think I got the name of my supplier wrong - I think they are Shutterly Fabulous based in Brighton. However, they are all made in China and take about three months to arrive.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. Wanda your room looks beautiful! I am near the traditional shutter company in streatham and am going to go and check them out and get prices.

shutterstore - I have sent you a PM.

We got the JL ones. Eyewateringly expensive and a long lead time but we are really pleased with them. Similar style to the pic above.

We had the blackout blinds fitted behind them in the bedroom at DH's insistence. Total waste of money imo and it makes the shutter "box" much bulkier.

Hi there,
Some confusion between loveshutters.co.uk and shutters.co.uk there, because the poster left a space while typing. We have amended it now.

I love love love shutters - they make period terraced housing look a million times more classy than grubby net curtians, whilst retaining privacy.