It's a personal preference. I like the way curtains and shades can work together, but don't care for curtains with shutters.

On most of my windows, I do not use curtains/drapes but in my GR and BR where the windows are very wide, about 100 inches and 90+ tall, I thought the look of draperies at the side softened the look of so much wood so I addeda panels on either side (do not work, just pulled back to look like they might). I think I used 1-1/2 widths of fabric for each side (actually purchased at JCPenney) "cheapest thing money can buy" but quite lovely for inexpensive draperies, off-white color with pretty half rods on either side with great finials and "dresses" it up. Of course, I had to do the same in DR since it is open to great room and had to matchy-match here. The other windows in other BRs, bathroom, breakfast and laundry room do not have other fabric treatment.

I would, but that's just me. I like the softness fabric adds to the room.

Thanks so much everyone! Now, are you real wood or faux (and does it matter really....). And, did you do a smooth finish or the wood textured finish?

And, while I'm at it, do shutters look ok from the outside if your windows have those grills in them?

And....is there something about plantation shutters being tax deductable? I think I read that somewhere....

And finally...how do you decide between shutter style and blind style?

Sorry for all the rambling questions, but DH is no help here, and you all have great opinions for me to learn from before I go shopping in real life!

Thank you thank you thank you ()!

I can't imagine why the cost of Plantation Shutters would be tax deductable. Maybe you heard, 'Hurricane Shutters'?

I have Plantation Shutters on order for our living room. We have grids in our windows. I spent lots of hours driving around looking at the Plantation Shutters of others, those with grids, look just fine from the street.

I have never heard they are tax deductible but some forms of insulation and energy items to your home are and perhaps these are considered energy-conserving and if so, I can see why. We close ours when it is really hot to prevent the rooms from getting hot. Blinds don't do that. In fact, if they are not real wood blinds, the room will be hotter. Same way in winter, they keep out a lot of cold air that seeps in someway around windows.

patricia43....didn't think about the rooms being hot if not using real wood...

hmmm, more of a pickle! we had been told that faux wood is best when dealing with humidity...and here we are in the humid, and very often in summer, hot midwest!

aaarrrggg! :)

I had wooden blinds in most of my rooms but the faux wood in 2 rooms and I think the wood blinds held up just as well and really looked better. It is not obvious from a distance, but up close, you can really tell they are not real wood, which made me think later I wish I had gotten real wood throughout but then DH agreed to letting me get shutters, so I jumped on that.

No, they are not tax deductible. I have them in several rooms and since I'm in Florida I had to go with faux wood. I actually like the look of the faux, but maybe that's because it's the only kind you ever see in this state, thanks to the humidity.

Whether or not you use draperies with them is your choice and depends on the look you want. They don't have to be treated, and give a nice clean, finished look to windows on their own. But for a more formal room where you need something extra or a punch of color, you could do stationary panels on either side.

I live in south Louisiana where humidity is 24/7 May through September. I have real wood shutters and blinds. Never had a problem.

Here is a photo of the window treatments I did with Plantation shutters. The living room which is diagonally opposite this room had Silhouette blinds and the dining room had shutters. I really needed the fabric window treatment in the living room and didn't really know what to do wiht the dining room. I was very nervous about it, but I actually like it.

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It's a preference thing but I think you NEED something more than just a shade or the window looks cold.

I have roman shades in several rooms in the house to keep it warm at night and for privacy. I still have curtains because the shades are only down at night.

In the bathroom I have shutters and I was using tab tops pushed to either side. Now I just have a valance. :)

wearybuilder, I love drapes/shutters together...I like a layered look, and the way drapes soften the architectural nature of shutters (unless a clean/minimalist look is desired).

There is a wonderful example of the two together in the yellow/golds thread in the gallery. Look about halfway down the thread, to paulinep's post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellows and Golds thread

I have a family room off the kitchen with four large windows and a glass sliding door. I would like to put up white shutters on the 4 windows and I was thinking of pretty drapery on the glass sliding door.. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

I have plantation shutters in all rooms and love the clean uncluttered look. I even have the little adjuster sticks on the outside so they aren't visible when the shutters care closed. An added bonus is the ease of cleaning. i dust mine weekly and do a more thorough wipe down monthly. I think adding curtains would look a bit overdone.

I have wood plantation shutters on every window in my home. Best purchase ever, I just love them. And no added sheers or curtains.