Shutters - do you open the doors up every day or just the slats?

[mollycoddle77]

I am buying shutters for a friend's bedroom (they are paying me to sort it out). They have a lovely view out their windows and will want to open all the shutter doors up every day to see as much as possible. This means they need double folding panels on both left and right, as they want the doors to sit flush with the wall when open. This also then means that there will be more wooden frames going across the window blocking out both light and view when the doors are shut. Which I think is a shame.

I wonder if those of you with shutters could tell me whether this is how it you use them - do you open them all up every day? Or do you just tilt the slats open but keep the doors closed?

I am just thinking that maybe they will find that more often than not they will be just opening the slats, and that with all the double folding panels this will be a pain and blocking out more light and view than necessary.

I just want the best solution for them, and as neither of us have had them before, I would love some input from others!

I have them in my living room and just tilt the slats, I can’t remember the last time I had them fully open!

@heyyellowyellow

I have them in my living room and just tilt the slats, I can’t remember the last time I had them fully open!

Thank you. Do you feel like you can still see outside and you are getting lots of light in?

If they are using them to shield from passers-by looking in, or to keep the room cooler than it currently is, then they will only want to open the slats.

If they want the full view and maximum light all day then they will want to open them fully. If there is no space/ the doors will get in the way once opened, then I would rethink the idea of shutters altogether.

Thank you Claudia. They are not overlooked so privacy not a concern. The shutters can open fully, but only if we go with the double panel doors.

Would you friend consider Venetians with tape instead of string instead? Similar look to shutters, but maximise the view when lifted up

We just open the slats but we don’t have a view

@linerforlife

Would you friend consider Venetians with tape instead of string instead? Similar look to shutters, but maximise the view when lifted up

I think they prefer the sleeker look of the shutters and are willing to invest in them. But thank you, I did have a quick wonder whether it might in fact be better, I want to make sure we have considered everything before buying!

I can see outside but thinking about it, I probably tilt for privacy otherwise the world and their granny would see right into my living room. If I had a view/more privacy, perhaps I would open them up.

I have them for privacy and I open the slats only, though I don't close them in the bedrooms they are just tilted so I get light but people in the street can't see in. So I chose best position of slats and leave them.
I think it's a pain to open them daily and would chose something else if not a privacy issue.

Thank you again. Yes I'm worried they will end up not bothering with opening them every day and then regret not getting wider doors letting more light in. But I am perhaps overthinking it, the double panelled doors also look nice closed with slats open.

I think in this case I'd rather go with a sleek and modern blind and if I really had the cash to splash, consider a remote opening system so I could open the blinds and enjoy the (whole) view without leaving the comfort of my bed.

In this situation I wouldn’t go for shutters. They really work best when closed all the time and then tilted for light. I wouldn’t have been bothered to open mine every day and I actually suspect that most wouldn’t be designed to do that- I suspect the hinges would start to drop. I’d go for Roman blinds- you can get some which come up from the bottom if you want that effect.

We have a nice view and aren't overlooked. I open the slats everyday, and the doors quite often, at least once a week. We have one double door and one single and it doesn't feel like the frames are too big at all - happy to upload a photo if you'd like.

Thank you so much everyone, it has been most useful hearing how everyone uses theirs. I think they'll end up only opening the shutter on two of the windows, and only some of the time, but will go with the folding doors anyway. Thanks again!

@sarahb083

We have a nice view and aren't overlooked. I open the slats everyday, and the doors quite often, at least once a week. We have one double door and one single and it doesn't feel like the frames are too big at all - happy to upload a photo if you'd like.

Thank you, this has made me pretty sure of the way forward!

We do. Don't have a view but our shutters are always fully closed or fully open- they double. Back against the wall so. The smaller (landing) windows are single door. I hate them being closed but slats open but totally understand if you need that for privacy.

I have shutters in most of my bedrooms. In my main bedroom I only open the slats as there is a chest blocking them. In the children's bedrooms I open them fully.

I find it great having the option of both. All the windows face south and only opening the slats is good on hot days as it really stops the rooms from overheating.

No matter if I only usually opened the slats, I would want the option of opening shutters fully. Being unable to do so would piss me off massively. Effectively, you'd be saying that the windows were now smaller, and always had slats across them. I'd rather not have shutters at all.

Tier-on-tier shutters are an option.
I keep the bottom half closed with the louvres open for light
The top tier is folded back against the wall for extra light in the room