Which plantation shutters are the best? Investing in new window treatments is one of the easiest, most budget-friendly ways to renovate your home. Finding a high-quality product for your interior and exterior windows can refresh your entire property’s curb appeal while providing several other unique benefits you might not even know you could get from a window cover.
Every year, interest in standard window treatments like blinds is replaced with a more stylish option like plantation shutters, which come in several unique styles. But when shopping for shutters for your home, it’s easy to get lost in all the options and ask yourself, “which plantation shutters are best for my home?”
We’ll walk you through the most popular types of plantation shutters, their benefits, and which will work best for your property.
Types of Plantation Shutters in Australia
What are plantation shutters made from? Essentially any material you want!
Though traditional plantation shutters started as solid wood shutters, the window coverings have become so popular that they’re now available in several materials, styles, and sizes. Here, we’ll look at a few popular plantation shutter examples and the unique benefits they provide.
Wood Shutters
Wooden shutters are the oldest kinds of plantation shutters, but they’re still among the most popular. There are several reasons why people opt for a wood shutter over modern options, but the most common one is simple; it’s impossible to beat the sophistication and natural beauty of real wood.
Natural wood and natural-looking faux wood have a unique appearance that fits any interior or exterior design. Additionally, wooden shutters are easy to customize, and you can order yours painted or stained in any colour you want.
Beyond aesthetics, wood is a relatively strong material that will resist scratches and maintain a clean painted finish for years.
PVC Shutters
For as beautiful as timber shutters are, they are one of the most expensive window treatments. And while they can boost your home’s resale value, they won’t fit into every budget. So, if you’re looking for a cost-effective option that livens up your home without breaking the bank, PVC plantation shutters are the way to go.
PVC shutters provide similar strength and scratch resistance as timber shutters and are nearly as customizable for a fraction of the cost. But people who choose PVC shutters aren’t just opting for an objectively inferior window treatment. Instead, this is an excellent material for keeping high humidity and moist weather out of your home, two perks traditional timber shutters can’t offer.
Aluminium Shutters
Aluminium is the best material to use for an outdoor plantation shutter. It’s more durable than most materials, more weather resistant than most materials, and many aluminium custom shutters come with locks so you can secure your home.
Though aluminium doesn’t have the same aesthetic appeal as hardwood, aluminium plantation shutters are a robust and low-maintenance option that fit seamlessly outside. Your aluminium shutters will hold up whether you live in cold, wet areas or a region with intense heat.
Plastic Shutters
Plastic shutters are far heavier than most options on the market today. And while that means they have limited shutter panel size options and aren’t great fits for larger windows, plastic makes for quality plantation shutters for small interior and exterior windows.
Homeowners love plastic shutters for their durability, and they won’t warp or fade with exposure to rain or moisture like wood shutters.
Insulite Shutters
Insulite is a non-toxic material that many designers use to build plantation shutters. And because of their ability to mimic wood at a fraction of the cost and with increased fire resistance and insulation, they are some of the highest-quality shutters you can put on your windows.
Benefits of Plantation Shutters
Now that we’ve examined the benefits the different types of plantation shutters have over each other, we can look at the advantages they possess over different window treatments.
Popular coverings like drapes and blinds serve the essential purpose of blocking out sunlight. Still, they can’t come close to the versatility, energy efficiency, and customizability of a high-quality plantation shutter.
Good Inside and Outside of the Home
Unlike blinds or similar cloth window coverings, plantation shutters come in several durable, high-quality materials that resist inclement weather elements like extremely hot and cold temperatures, moisture, and humidity.
While many shutters work well indoors and out, most are at their best in one location.
Which plantation shutters are best inside?
● Timber
● Insulite
● Plastic
Which plantation shutters are best outside?
● Aluminium
● PVC
Easy to Maintain
Even the low-budget plantation shutters are easy to clean. And while your exact cleaning approach and timeline will vary depending on the material and louver size, you can quickly clean most shutters with nothing more than a damp cloth.
You will need to remain careful washing wooden shutters with a wet rag, as any excess moisture can wear down the paint and warp the material.
Energy Efficient
Plantation shutters offer better light control than blinds and shades. Because you can tilt the individual slats on each shutter, you can allow slightly more or less sunlight in rather than bringing in all or nothing like you would with blinds.
Additionally, many plantation shutters provide additional structure to your windows that insulate your house and minimize the need to run your heating and cooling. Both the light and insulation benefits can save you money on utility bills.
Highly Customizable
Plantation shutters made from flexible timber like basswood are easy to paint, stain, and customize. And while blinds and other common window coverings also offer a quality selection colour selection, no treatments can give a uniquely painted surface like shutters.
What Plantation Shutters Are Best for Each Room?
So, which plantation shutters are best? It comes down to location more than material. Each type of shutter has different benefits and applications, and because of this, will fit better in various areas of your home than others.
● Hardwood plantation shutters: Since wooden plantation shutters have a classically beautiful appearance and come in several styles, they can boost your home’s curb appeal better than most window treatments. With that in mind, they’re great fits for any part of your house visible from the street.
● PVC plantation shutters: PVC shutters are excellent candidates to put throughout your home since they’re cheap and easy to paint. However, we recommend using them in your bathroom because of their heat and moisture resistance.
● Aluminium plantation shutters: Aluminium is a high-quality material for home shutters, mainly for durability. It’s fire-resistant and rain-resistant, and because of this, it works great for outdoor windows. However, aluminium shutters don’t have a universally beloved style as a hardwood plantation shutter does, so they might not work in spots where curb appeal is a factor.
● Plastic plantation shutters: Plastic is the best material for small windows that don’t have large slats or dividing rails because of its weight. And because plastic is so cheap relative to other shutter options, you can use it for every small window in your home without breaking the bank.
Our experienced team of window professionals has the best plantation shutters in Australia and knows how to install them quickly. In just one appointment, we’ll leave your home with top-shelf window treatments that look professionally perfect.
We take pride in every happy customer we get to help, so our team will work hard to ensure your new window treatments look precisely how you want them to. Call Hamptons Shutters today at 0419 592 057 to schedule a free consultation or learn more about which plantation shutters are the best for your home.