Plantation shutter question.

[kalathedog]

How do the masses view these plantation shutters?
I have seen a few homes with them fitted and just wondered what people thought about them.

 

[ladylola]

The house I live in had them when I brought it-













they've long since gone up the chimney.

 

[kalathedog]

Any particular reason why?

 

[ladylola]

They look naff on pretty much any building in this country , fine I suppose on a "plantation" in the deep south over looking cotton fields. Also what bugs me is that they are very rarely fitted properly.Shutters like this are meant to be operable, that is to say they should be hinged to open and close to cover the window, but 99 times out of a hundred they are just screwed in the open position which if they are of the loovered type means the loovers are the wrong way. Also of course the actual windows need to be inward opening for shutters to be used.
Just my thoughts on the subject, if you like them then it's your choice

 

[JohnD]

lola

sounds like you are talking about hinged shutters.

 

[ladylola]

John , yes now I see what was meant maybe I should have checked first http://www.purelyshutters.co.uk/?gclid=CLHAsPPdn64CFQ8gfAodShjM4Q

I'll stand by what I wrote about the shutters that are commonly seen on the outside of peoples houses.
These plantation shutters do remind me of the old box shutters found commonly on older sash windows predominately. I've worked on those type of things more times than I care to remember.
To be fair they do look quite classy looking at the link I found and when brand new should be fine. Ok so most of the shutters I've worked on have been older than me by several decades at least but from experience I've found that wooden shutters nearly always warp over time and there is a bit of a balancing act trying to get the things to work both open and closed.
Pros and cons?
I think they are or at least give an impression of security, last longer than curtains and are easier to clean as they hold less dust.I suppose with them opening inwards it does discourage clutter from building up, which may be pro or con .
On the downside they aren't as draught free as curtains and once warped can often involve a bit of banging about to get the things to close back properly.