The brief

The owners had recently finished a renovation in Campbelltown and were living with bare windows across the whole front of the house. The living room faces the street, so privacy was the first thing they raised. The second was light. They did not want to solve one problem by creating the other.

They also have young kids. Whatever went in front of those windows was going to be touched, leaned on and occasionally used as a hiding spot. That ruled out a few products before we started.

How the measure went

We come to you with the full sample range rather than asking you to pick from a website. Every opening is measured on site and we talk through how each room is actually used. It takes about an hour and it costs nothing.

In the Greater Sydney area we supply and install blinds, shutters, curtains and outdoor awnings, so the conversation is never about pushing one product. In this house the answer was obvious within ten minutes of walking through it.

Why plantation shutters

Shutters are non porous. They do not soak up moisture, they do not swell through a humid Sydney February, and they wipe down with a damp cloth. The finish is mark resistant, which in a house with small children is the difference between a five year product and a fifteen year one.

They also give you genuine control. Blades tilted down keep the footpath out of view while the room stays bright. Level, and you have the full outlook. Folded back against the reveal, the window is completely clear. Most families use all three positions in a single day without thinking about it.

The third reason was light quality. Heavy fabric solves privacy by taking the light with it. Shutters preserve natural light and redirect it, so the room keeps its brightness even when it is closed to the street.

What we installed

Shutters across the living and dining windows, panels sized so nothing swings into a walkway, frames matched to the existing architraves. Done properly, shutters read as part of the building rather than something screwed to the front of it.

Everything was made to the measurements taken in the house. Nothing on this job came off a shelf.

The warranty

Every plantation shutter we install carries a 20 year manufacturer's warranty. That is worth stating plainly, because it is the number that makes a shutter cheaper over its life than a blind you replace twice. It is also why we were comfortable recommending them to a family with young children.

Thinking about the same thing

If your windows are still bare, book a free measure and quote. We bring the samples to you, measure every opening and give you a fixed price. If you already have a written quote from someone else, bring it in. We will beat it.