Even the Romans used Shutters

For generations, people have selected wood shutters for their windows because of the durability, classic style and easy maintenance that shutters provide. They are frequently thought of as a standard fixture on historical buildings – from Italy to New England. Although shutters are in use almost universally, it is difficult to determine the exact historical origins of the use of shutters.

It is commonly believed that shutters were first used in ancient Greece in order to provide light control, ventilation and protection in that tropical environment. Those first shutters were likely constructed with fixed louvers made out of marble. Eventually, the concept of shutters spread throughout the Mediterranean, and the form began to change. Wood started to replace marble as a more suitable material for production, and designers started developing movable louver shutters to allow varying amounts of light and air into a room.

Window Shutters Gaining PopularityShutters generally performed two functions; admitting light and ventilation. Louvered shutters could be closed to minimize heat from the sun and simultaneously allow for ventilation and privacy when needed. With the louvers pointed in the downward direction, the shutters also shed rainwater. Solid shutters provided more insulation and were able to prevent insects from entering the home.

In medieval Europe, houses had rectangular windows with solid shutters that sometimes closed with a large iron bar for security and protection. By Tudor and Elizabethan times, glass windows started to be used, but they were very expensive, therefore reserved for the upper half of window openings. Solid shutters below the sash, windows remained closed with solid shutters. Hinged glazed sashes started replacing the solid shutters in the 15th century. After that point, interior shutters were increasingly used as decoration in homes rather than strictly functional purposes. Woodwork like window shutters and moldings became the main decorative elements in smaller houses in early 18th century England.

As wood construction started to be used for houses in the Victorian period, people started using shutters outdoors. The stone and brick houses built previously had deeply recessed windows that prohibited the use of exterior shutters because they would be unreachable from the inside. However, the thinner wooden walls allowed indoor access to exterior shutters.
To the New World

As the Spanish started colonizing in the Americas, they brought shutters to the New World. Decadent mansions in the South used shutters, and the term “plantation shutters” is derived from this area. Plantation shutters on cotton plantations usually had wider louvers than shutters used earlier, and they were almost always painted white.

Traditional shutters often found in the New England states trace their roots to England, where the narrower louver was used. Often café type shutters mimic the original use of shutters on the bottom portion of windows before glass was affordable.

Shutter LegendsA more incendiary – but decidedly less factual – tale about the invention of shutters takes place in 17th century France. After Louis XIV moved the Court from the Louvre in Paris to Versailles, he enjoyed a festive life in the country. One of his favorite pastimes was to admire the beautiful women of his court bathe in the many ponds within his gardens. However, he noticed that the bathing women also distracted guards on duty to protect the palace. Rumor holds that Louis XIV had movable louvered shutters installed around the garden walls so that he could open them and peep but the guards would not be able to see.

Originally, the term louver referred to boards that would allow ventilation through a turret built into the roof of a medieval building. However, some hold that the name louver hails from the days of Louis XIV. Since some legends place the advent of shutters after he left the Louvre, they propose the working mechanisms of shutters at Versailles were named after Louis’ previous dwelling.

The introduction of the term “Peeping Tom” involves shutters in a unique way. According to legend, Lady Godiva rode naked through the town of Coventry on a white horse in order to make her husband remit a heavy tax on the people. Most people stayed inside, but Peeping Tom looked through closed shutters to catch a glimpse at Lady Godiva.
Interior plantation shutters are usually built with a 4- 8cm movable louver. Sometimes, plantation shutters are available with a smaller 3-4cm louver or a larger 8cm louver. Plantation shutter louvers are available in two profiles. The first is elliptical in shape, where the louver is thicker in the middle and tapers to the front and back. An elliptical louver is stronger than the alternative flat louver. Most manufactures today use an elliptical louver, but can provide a flat louver on request. Plantation panels are generally 4cm thick, and should not be narrower.
Plantation shutters are considered more contemporary than traditional shutters. While there is a growing demand for traditional shutters, modern homes are being built with large rooms using open windows. Plantation shutters are the perfect window covering to complement this type of architecture.

Plantation shutters are semi-opaque when the louvers are closed. This allows the home owner complete privacy, and an almost dark room. A minimal amount of direct sunlight will penetrate the narrow gaps along the edges of the shutter unit and between the louvers. The louvers can be rotated partially open to block direct sunlight, but allow enough light to brighten the room. This is a great way to protect furniture and carpet from fading over time. Fully open, plantation louvers provide great visibility and maximum light.

Plantation shutters are extremely versatile and can be used in a variety of environments. Dining rooms, living rooms, family rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms benefit from the use of plantation shutters.

Individual plantation shutter panels can usually span between 8 and 36 inches. Interior shutter panels are connected to make units to fit the window. The number of panels used depends on the width of the window. As a rule of thumb, we suggest dividing the shutter unit the same way your window is divided. So, if your opening is divided into three equal vertical sections, to use three shutters across. Or, if your window is not divided into sections to use as few panels as allowable.

Do not confuse indoor plantation shutters with plantation blinds. Plantation blinds use cords to connect and rotate individual slats.
Interior plantation shutters will make a wonderful addition to your home. We strongly urge you to compare shutter samples from several different companies. Consider all of the information listed on "How to Buy Shutters" and "Shutter Purchase Tips".
Shutters Direct sells quality wood interior plantation shutters nationwide on the Internet. View shutter styles, finishes, measuring instructions, delivery information, prices, and order on their web site.

Interior shutters enhance the decor of most any window in your house. Shutters are the best alternative to interior curtains or window shuter blinds. They are easy to maintain and are designed to last the lifetime of your home, unlike any other interior window treatment. Interior shutters can and will change the appearance and decor of any room.
Interior shutters can fit to the inside of your window opening or mount directly to the outside of the window. Generally, if there is enough window depth, it is best to install interior shutters directly to the window jam. Plantation interior shutters require the most depth, while traditional shutters require only about 4cm total depth. An interior mount allows the shutters to best look like a part of the window.

If the interior window is too shallow to allow for an inside mount, the next option is to attach the shutters directly to the outside of the window opening. An "outside mount" uses a frame or hang strips to attach the shutters to the wall or existing trim around the window. See measuring for and installing interior shutters.
Interior shutters are sold in two different styles. Plantation interior shutters are usually about 3- 4cm thick using wide movable louvers. This style has become increasingly popular over the last 15 years. The second available shutter style is the 4 - 5cm louver traditional interior shutter. The traditional style is 3cm thick and is popular in smaller colonial style homes. Interior shutters occasionally use raised panels, fixed louvers, or vertical louvers.
Interior shutters are a wonderful investment to any home. We encourage you to research the company from which you will purchase shutters. Many companies sell poorly made shutters and offer little support. Other companies offer support at every turn and manufacture a strong, durable interior shutter that will last a lifetime in your home.

The desire to bring light and air into our homes has resulted in a progression from the small casement windows of the First Period, to the more elaborate multi-light window sash of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and now to the large uninterrupted glass panes installed in many new homes. As windows have grown larger, exterior and interior shutters and blinds have been used in homes throughout New England to provide privacy and security, prevent light damage to interior furnishings and finishes, and regulate interior temperature and glare. The history of shutters and blinds illustrates their utility, versatility, and appeal.
The terms "shutter" and "blind" both refer to hinged window coverings. Strictly speaking, a shutter is a hinged board or panel construction, while a blind has fixed or moveable louvers for ventilation. In general parlance, though, the distinction has blurred, and today the word "shutter" encompasses both types of covering.

Exterior shutters and blinds have been used in New England from the seventeenth century to the present. Heavy single-board and board-and-batten shutter styles, which could be bolted and barred, were typical until the mid-eighteenth century, when lighter, paneled shutters and louvered blinds became common. While shutters were usually hung in pairs on either side of the window, occasionally one shutter spanning the entire opening would be hung to one side.
Shutter subtypes proliferated through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including bi-fold versions and "Dutch" shutters split horizontally, so that the top half could be opened for light and air while the bottom was closed for security. More common in hot climates, awning blinds were hinged at the top of the window for maximum shade and air circulation. In New England, exterior shutters were traditionally painted either black or dark green until the mid-nineteenth century. The latter part of the nineteenth century saw a transition to bolder colors and more elaborate custom designs, such as the pointed shutters made to shield Gothic revival windows.
Exterior shutters were attached with a variety of hardware, including strap hinges on pintles, locking mortise hinges, and even wide-swinging H- or HL-shaped hinges. An assortment of latches were used to close exterior shutters, but the most common device to hold them open were shutter dogs, the dart- or S-shaped metal fasteners that turned on a lag screw or drive nail attached to the window sill or sidewall.

The functional use of exterior shutters declined in late-nineteenth century New England, as the combination of interior window coverings and exterior storm windows proved more convenient and effective. Although no longer central to the working life of New England houses, shutters remain popular decorative elements, framing window openings and providing depth and texture. Nowadays, exterior shutters are nearly always left open.
Interior shutters, a convenient alternative to exterior shutters, were extremely popular from the seventeenth through the early twentieth century. In their earliest form, they were used to keep out wind and rain in lieu of expensive glass windows. The most common early type consisted of a single panel that slid on a track running across the bottom of the window and the surface of the wall. This model was gradually refined, with single or paired shutters that could be slid out of sight into pockets in the wall. The most elaborate featured a second track halfway up the window, so that a total of four panels could be adjusted as needed. While pocket shutters came to be called "Indian" shutters in nineteenth-century New England, their widespread use actually began well after settlers' conflicts with native populations subsided.

During the eighteenth century, fashions changed and interior walls were brought further into rooms to cover timber framing members, creating deep recesses around window openings. The thick walls of masonry houses also had this kind of recess. Paneled interior shutters were made to occupy this space, called the embrasure, as both functional and beautiful elements of the interior woodwork. These "boxed" shutters folded seamlessly into shallow pockets in the wall, creating a paneled surround at each window.

From the late eighteenth century through the end of the nineteenth century, louvered interior blinds were fashionable window treatments. Those with narrower slats were available in the same configurations as paneled shutters, such as the "Dutch" and bi-fold styles. One creative type had multiple panels that slid vertically, held in place by pegs or clips to cover the window or concealed behind window seats when open.

Historically, the term "Venetian blind" was applied to any number of interior and exterior treatments, but it now connotes any louvered interior blind with moveable, wide wooden slats, either set in a frame or suspended on cloth tapes. Venetian blinds were prized because they could fan out to fill the semi-circular shapes of fanlights or Palladian windows. Early versions often had clear finishes to expose the wood graining, but they soon began to be painted dark green or black like their exterior counterparts. Wooden interior shutters and blinds fell out of favor through the twentieth century, as cheaper metal mini-blinds and other treatments became available.

While all of these exterior and interior window coverings are fundamentally simple in concept, for centuries, they were essential to maintaining a comfortable household. Today, they evoke a time when striking the balance between shelter and nature was a manual, circadian ritual. Though their role in our lives has changed, they retain their significance, both as examples of changing tastes and technologies and as beautiful architectural details.
People have selected Plantation shutters for their windows for centuries mainly because of the added security and storm protection they provide. The louvre or plantation shutter was a development to allow greater flexibility and light control compared to solid shutters. Wooden shutters are seen all over the world in almost every type of property.
Plantation Shutters are durable, have a timeless classic style, and are virtually maintenance free.

The exact historical origins of wooden window shutters is difficult to determine but it's believed that they originated from ancient Greece. These first shutters were more than likely made with fixed louvre's made from marble. Shutter use spread throughout the Mediterranean and wood started to replace the marble. The moveable louvre's came later to provide varying amounts of light and air.
Shutters generally perform four functions; admitting light and ventilation with added privacy and security. Louvre shutters can be closed to minimize heat from the sun and simultaneously allow for ventilation and privacy when needed.

By Tudor and Elizabethan times, glass windows started to be used, but they were very expensive, therefore reserved for the upper half of window openings. Solid shutters below the sash, windows remained closed with solid shutters. Hinged glazed sashes started replacing the solid shutters in the 15th century. After that point, interior shutters were increasingly used as decoration in homes rather than strictly functional purposes. Woodwork like window shutters and moldings became the main decorative elements in smaller houses in early 18th century England.

As the Spanish started colonising in the Americas, they brought shutters to the New World. Decadent mansions in the South used shutters, and the term "plantation shutters" is derived from this area. Plantation shutters on cotton and sugar plantations usually had wider louvers than shutters used earlier, and they were almost always painted white .
Traditional shutters often found in the New England shutters states trace their roots to England, where the narrower louvre's was used. Often café type shutters mimic the original use of shutters on the bottom portion of windows before glass was affordable.

As wood construction started to be used for houses in the Victorian period, people started using shutters outdoors. The stone and brick houses built previously had deeply recessed windows that prohibited the use of exterior shutters because they would be unreachable from the inside. However, the thinner wooden walls allowed indoor access to exterior shutters.
You no longer need to be a sugar or cotton baron to have your own plantation shutters today