Now the evenings are starting to draw in, we find ourselves closing the shutters in our living room earlier and earlier, a reminder that even though the days are still fairly warm, it’s already completely dark by 8 o’clock and another autumn/winter season is almost upon us. This will be the third winter in our home having moved in in spring 2014 and the second winter since we invested a lot of time and money in improving the warmth of our living room last year by replacing windows and adding plantation shutters.
I receive so many lovely comments about the shutters, both from people online when I post pictures on Instagram and our neighbours and passers by when I’ve been outside doing some painting or weeding but the general feedback is always “I’d love some for my home but they’re so expensive”. Which, if I’m being honest, they are. We’ve only done the front of the house so far, fitting shutters across the bay windows in our living room, second bedroom and the office and I don’t yet know what we’ll do across the back of the house, whether we might in fact go for something different. It’s definitely been worth every penny though, they’ve added a layer of warmth and noise insulation, look stylish from both inside and out and there is no other window covering which competes in terms of adjusting to let more or less light in. They’re so versatile.
All is not lost though on the cost front – whilst we save and save and save to budget for what we want (which is incidentally why this house is taking so long!) there are a few companies out there which offer DIY plantation shutters, helping customers to save massively on the price. What an amazing idea if you’re even remotely handy! It would definitely be too much stress for us to cope with but The Shutter Store offer DIY, made-to-measure plantation shutters which you then simply fit yourself.
Their website is incredibly comprehensive, providing helpful tutorials and videos on how to measure your shutters to ensure you get exactly the right fit, with separate guides on how to install them once they’re ready. There is also the same opportunity to select your materials, finish, height and colour than if you were ordering shutters to be fitted so there’s no certainly no compromise on the end product.
Image: The Shutter Store
Shutters, including DIY ones, can also be fitted to any size window of any age. We have a 1930’s house with a large living room bay window and a matching window to the bedroom above it. The fourth bedroom that we turned into an office is a smaller flat fronted window. They also suit box bays and because the measurements you provide are completely bespoke, you’ll receive the perfect fit for your windows. IF we had more confidence to tackle something like this ourselves and had I known it was an option last summer when we ordered ours, I would certainly have considered DIY versions. If there’s one thing I’ve learned since being a renovation project homeowner, every penny really does count.
I came across The Shutter Store whilst working on another interiors post and wanted to share it. I have not been compensated for this post. All words, images and opinions are my own unless otherwise stated.
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