5 Reasons to DIY budget-friendly window shutters

_{Collaborative feature}

If you’ve popped by my blog recently you may already know that the latest home renovation project I’m working on is the kitchen. Well, after a lot of planning, it looks like things might be finally coming together and hopefully some door samples will be arriving this weekend.

So, now I can turn my attention to the other details in the room. You may have already spotted my natural flooring blog post (we’ve gone for a herringbone parquet style, by the way) so the next important thing to consider is the window coverings. As always, I’ve done my research and here’s what I’ve discovered about kitchen window treatments…

All shutter images – California Shutters

1 STYLE

The style that I love the most for kitchen windows is wooden shutters and, in particular, cafe-style half-height shutters. This allows the light to flow into the room from above the shutter, while also providing privacy at the bottom of the window. I like to be able to adjust the amount of light in my kitchen so twisting the wide slats up or down to angle the light gives me full control.

Whether they’re full height or café-style, shutters have become really popular in recent years – probably because they’re a timeless design that really last. Plus, they can be completely folded back out of the way when you want to clean the windows or when you want to let the morning sun shine into the room.

2 MATERIAL

Shutters or wooden blinds are much more practical than curtains or a fabric roller blind in a kitchen space for a number of reasons:

• Firstly, they’re easy to clean, so you can wipe off any spills if your bubbling soup splashes up onto the blind!
• Secondly, they won’t absorb the aromas that are inevitably produced when you’re cooking something delicious – sure, the meal might have been lovely, but no-one wants to get a whiff of old garlic when they waft past your curtains.
• Thirdly, they don’t absorb moisture so won’t become damp like roman blinds or curtains would when you’re boiling up something steamy in the kitchen.

3 LONGEVITY

What I look for when choosing fixtures for my home is the longevity of the product as this reduces the cost-per-use overall. In the past, I’ve used roman blinds, roller blinds, plastic venetian blinds and curtains at my windows but found that none of them lasted beyond a couple of years before becoming discoloured, the mechanism breaking or the slats snapping.

This meant that I needed to replace the blinds or curtains much sooner than I have done when I’ve chosen wooden blinds and shutters. In fact, the wooden blinds in my home are still looking as good as new and working well over 4 years after installation – so that’s saved me money in the long-run, as I haven’t had to replace them. Which is precisely why I think that wooden shutters in the kitchen will be a good investment.

4 COST BENEFIT

But it’s not just the cost-per-use that’s important – the fact that I can do a DIY installation of wooden shutters means that I don’t have to pay any extra for full-service installation. Looking on California Shutters during my research, I could access plenty of step-by-step videos that guide homeowners through measuring, ordering and installing shutters themselves. I feel confident that I won’t need any extra help, so this minimises the installation costs as well as saves time.

5 VERSATILITY

Because they’re made of real wood, you can actually re-decorate your shutters if you want to change the colour in the future. The wood comes in a variety of stains, lime-washes or painted finishes but, if you revamp your space in a few years time and the shutters no longer match, you could always sand them back and refinish with a new colour of wood paint for a totally different look, or stain them a darker shade that still allows the wood grain to shine through. This means you won’t have to splash out for a whole new window treatment just because you’re decorating your home.

So, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be going for some wooden blinds in my own kitchen when we renovate it in the next couple of months. At the moment, I’ve got metal venetian blinds at the kitchen window but, surprise surprise, they’ve gone rusty where they’ve been splashed from the sink. So I’m pleased to have found a suitable replacement window treatment and please do let me know your experience of wooden shutters in the comments below, I’d love to hear your tips if you’ve installed some yourself!

PIN IT FOR LATER

This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂