A Guide to Interior Design

Adding plantation shutters to your home's windows helps block unwanted heat and light while increasing your privacy. But which type of shutters are best for your dwelling?

Like other home construction or improvement products, plantation shutters come in many sizes, designs, colours and materials to match the needs, requirements and budgets of different users. But generally speaking, all shutters fall into two main categories—interior and exterior shutters.

As the names imply, interior shutters are mounted inside windows while exterior ones go outside. Each shutter type is designed and built differently depending on its intended placement.

Before you decide which of the two types of shutters is right for your residential project, look at the following points.

Interior Shutters 

Like it or not, these shutters will affect the overall look and feel of your house interiors, so go for them only if you want to improve your home's interior design. They are operable units, meaning they have adjustable or movable louvres to give you privacy while letting in just the right amount of natural light.

Louvres are angled slats that run horizontally on a track operated using a cord. These narrow strips of material sometimes run vertically across the window frame (for example, in vertical window blinds). 

Although indoor plantation shutters sit inside the window frame, they can protrude beyond the trim. These shutters may be perfect squares or rectangles, but your window frames often are not. 

While interior shutters are functional, they require professional installation to look good.

Exterior Shutters

While internal shutters sit inside the window, their external cousins are fitted directly to the wall around the window. As windows are part of your residential building's fenestration, outside shutters will impact its kerb appeal (the outdoor appearance and beauty of the building).

Manufacturers of exterior shutters understand that direct exposure to the outside elements can significantly reduce the lifespan of their products. That is why outdoor shutters offer superior resistance to the elements compared to their interior counterparts and have higher upfront costs.

Outside shutters generally do not open and close, as their primary job is to protect your home and windows from harsh outdoor elements.

Interior and exterior plantation shutters lend themselves to different purposes, so there's no outright winner between the two. Feel free to talk to the pros at a window shutter installation company if you need advice and guidance to determine which one is best for your needs.