Highlight the Eyes of Your Home With Exterior Wood Shutters

There is an often watched television show that works with people to help them prepare their homes for sale. The catch phrase they use in this production is "curb appeal." Why wait until you are going to sell your home to develop curb appeal? You drive home every day and see your home from the street. Your neighbors also see it from their homes every day. Why not keep your curb appeal 365 days a year?

There are many ways to accomplish this. You can keep a fresh coat of paint on the house. You can attend to your landscaping and keep it fresh. One easy way to do it is to enhance your window dressings. Decorative blinds on the inside and exterior wood shutters on the outside will add a lot to the eyes of your home.

Exterior wood shutters do not have to be expensive. Measure the height of your windows and go to your local Lowe's or Home Depot. They have them in various stock sizes for a variety of windows; these will have to be finished before they are installed on your windows. New exterior wood shutters would quickly absorb the moisture in the air if not sealed and finished. Many times a good wood stain will provide the necessary protection and create a beautiful wooden contrast to your homes siding. If the natural wood look is not to your liking, paint your exterior wood shutters to match the trim on your home. Bear in mind that using too many colors will cause a visual clash and distract from your curb appeal.

Take some of the money you saved on the shutters and purchase quality hardware to hang them. You can really enhance their appearance with quality hinges and hangers. Nothing will detract more from your curb appeal than cheap hardware that shows the effect of the weather and starts to let your shutters hang askew.

With your finished exterior wood shutters in place drive by your home and notice the difference. When you get back make a note to check them annually. Even the best paints or stains will show the weather after awhile. Remember, the weathering is easier to correct when caught early.

Why It May Be Time To Lose The Wood Shutters

You know those wooden shutters on your home; the ones that you never close that hang off the sides of your windows? Well, they are out. Traditional shutters are something that has been around since the birth of the United States and require a great deal of maintenance including the oiling of the unused hinges and the painting and staining of the wood. The truth is that it is time for them to go.

You don't have to get rid of the look completely, just get rid of the old wooden version. There are modern choices that make much more sense in terms of practicality as well as appearance. For instance, aluminum shutters do not close (no hinges to oil or clean) and are resistant to a variety of weather conditions. This means that you can use them no matter where you make your home and that you will not have to oil parts you aren't using. Any time exterior maintenance time can be cut, your life gets easier.

There are a number of other shutter types around that you may want to consider over wood as well.

For one, vinyl offers a number of attractive pros. It is inexpensive to buy shutters of vinyl and they can last as long as 40 years. In other words, through the life of your mortgage, you can go without replacing shutters. It is certainly something worth thinking about. They can be bought in most any style, and they can be painted easily.

Another alternative to your wooden shutters are composite shutters. Made of MDF or particle board, they are made to resist both weather and rot. If you want to be able to shut your shutters, then this may be the way to go as some are available that may be opened and closed. However, don't forget your hinge maintenance if you go this route.

As with just about anything nowadays, there is always fiberglass. Fiberglass is great if you live in an area with severe weather as shutters made of it can be used for window protection in hurricanes and storms. However, it is expensive and does not last as long as the vinyl shutters do.

Then there is, of course, the aforementioned choice of aluminum shutters. These alternatives to the traditional wood offer protection and strength while not being quite as expensive as their fiberglass cousins. They look great and are strong, but there is a drawback to the purchase of aluminum shutters; most companies offer little more than three or four years of warranty protection. This is because they are prone to denting and chipping.

The next time you decide to do a little home improvement, consider replacing those old shutters. The admiring looks you get from your neighbors will be your reward.

Do You Need Plantation Shutters

Plantation shutters are interior blinds. They go on the inside of windows, i.e. inside the actual house. You have probably seen them, whether you know it or not. They are typically made of wood slats. When the controlling rod is turned, they close or open.

They are used for both style and to keep the sun out. A very common style is for the plantation shutters to only cover the lower half of the inside of a window. This allows for some light to still freely pass through the upper window, while giving control to the owner to both block the lower light and get some much needed privacy.

People will commonly have plantation shutters installed on windows in their bathroom. I don't think I need to tell you why privacy might be a good thing to have in your own bathroom! And as stated before, they are a very stylish way to perform this function.

The actual history of these interior blinds goes way back to the Middle Ages, believe it or not. They were originally designed for glassless windows. So, in effect, the shutters acted as the protection between the weather (rain) outside and the inner dwellings of the old home. Later these shutters were adopted on American plantations in the South. They were well-suited to the hotter climates existing there.

Since then, it has become fairly standard to attach plantation shutters onto hinges so that they can be swung out of the way, and the window can actually be opened up from the bottom. They add a real touch of style to any home they are installed in, I must say. They are not quite fancy, but more than homely.

While it is fairly typical to see half-window sizes, it is also quite common to find ones that take up the entire window. It all depends on what looks good and how much control you want to have over the light coming in and the amount of privacy in any given room.

All in all, I would say that plantation shutters add a lot to any room that they are placed in. I like them because I like to be able to moderate the amount of light shining into any given room at any given time. I can even be a little neurotic about it. Someone who is more interior design oriented will probably take as much of an interest in how they change the look of the room.