Shutters versus curtains

I have plantation shutters in all rooms in my sea facing bungalow, and they are wonderful. They provide an extra layer of insulation in winter and can keep the rooms cooler in summer (if closed) If morning light is a problem you can have a blackout blind incorporated into the shutter frames. Having them half open makes lovely patterns of sunlight around the room, they look sleek and tidy, are easy to clean and I love them. Mine don't have a central control rod but operate by moving a slat, then all slats move in unison. They are also split at the tops to match up with the little windows so I can close the bottom half but have the top bit and the little window open for ventilation if needed. The only downside is that they are quite expensive.

I have Venetian blinds downstairs which came with the house - they are brown & I so wish they were white but when I googled painting them it seemed a real faff - someone might know an easy way! For the main bedroom window I have gauze type pull up blinds & silk curtains with black out linings. This means I can open the curtains but have the blinds down until dressed etc but then pull them up for maximum light. There's no light gets in at night & this system works really well.

We have external roller blinds which you can get in either plastic or metal. The roller mechanism is fairly hefty and would I imagine be expensive. I've only had to replace the blinds which were reasonably priced. Actually ours fit between our primary and secondary glazing and when fully lowered completely block out the light. I prefer mine 'loosened' slightly to let in tiny pinpricks of light. If I move back to the UK this will be my first project.

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I got shutters in the kitchen to begin with, mainly so that I could have the window open and keep out the cat from next door, who adopted me for some reason. I liked them so much I went on to have them at every window. I love that I can have my bedroom window open at night without worrying about a burglar climbing in!

We have old fashioned solid oak shutters, unpainted. They block out 100% of light and the insulation is amazing. They are easiest of things to dust as no louvres so only need doing once in a blue moon. We 'inherited' one set of white plantation shutters upstairs which yellowed horribly and are now replaced. THey did not block out all the light either. We also have a parquet floor downstairs and the clarity and pure sound of music has to be heard to be believed. There is nothing to absorb and distort sound. However it's like anything else in life, all down to personal preference.

I'd definitely have blinds throughout the house if it were up to me it isn't .

Curtains are such a pain especially in a room with tall windows.

Interesting thread about plantation shutters. I am thinking about having them installed in my home and appreciate the comments about them people have made. We are thinking of going with this company: shuttermebeautifuluk.co.uk/ anyone heard of/used them before?

I ordered plantation shutters for my whole house, they will be arriving in the country early april and installed very soon after. I did decide to get wood, white teak stained white with white mdf in the bathroom. At the moment I have JL paper blinds up and they let in a lot of light, I have become used to that and am sleeping well so if there is light creep, it will not bother me. I am forward planning to old age, no curtains to take down any more, just a wipe over will suit me

not april, july