So everyone on here knows how much I dislike plantation shutters so I wiil just vent again. They are heavy looking, they are expensive they block views and light and I have no idea what the facination is in these shutters. Ireally have no idea why anyone choses these.

I usually agree with Patricia but just not on this topic. We have a home full of plantation shutters...even in the garage. They're lovely and make most spaces more open and airy IMO. I would recommend you go light in the color...not dark. Ours are all white...soft white. They were here when we bought the house, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the previous owners' choice.

Based on your photos, I don't think you'd be unhappy with white shutters throughout the house. They'd look so nice with your trim. From the exterior of our house, I like the continuity the shutters provide on all the windows. I definitely would not want a mix of dark and light.

As you likely know, unlike other window treatments, shutters can increase the value of your home. They're also EASY to keep clean...unlike most window treatments with fabric. Most of all, they look great!

Poor Patricia. I like shutters. The widest blade you can fit, and there is ONE color for them and it is WHITE. ( shade of ) With white ( shade of) TRIM Otherwise? NO.....................your mom and I will both FREAK OUT.

Yes P hates them. She hates a lot of other traditional things too . But. They are versatile for light and privacy, they look very finished with nothing added. They will cut your light by 40 % even when the blades are open........ but they beat the daylights out of a lot of crappy/ ill made curtains, cheapo shades and homemade looking HOOHAS at the windows. : )

I will add one thing: As manufacturing has been exported? There is virtually nothing on these to break. No cords, rings, eeny weeny mechanisms . batteries to fail, remotes to die, etc. Have at it in white . Miss P will live lol

I'm from the Midwest and didn't "get" plantation shutters. Then I moved to El Paso, TX and now Phoenix AZ. Where shingled roofing and fabric window treatments are insane choices because of the heat and the fine particulate desert dust. When we first moved, every time I cleaned my plantation shutters (which was often) I thought about how all that dirt would otherwise be wedged in the fibers of fabric window treatments and how they would just be columns of filth in my house.

Like 'em or not, plantation shutters are functional in terms of being sturdy enough to last through years of closing out brutal beams of sunlight and ease of cleaning.

The window treatments on the exterior of your house absolutely must be the same. I don't recommend it, but at the very least if they aren't all the same style they must be the same color. The front doesn't have to match the back, but IMO there's a lot to say for consistency. Mismatched window treatments was one of my Mom's biggest pet peeves. :-D I wrote about it in this blog post, Window Treatments are #2 on the list. Seven Ways to Spruce Up Exterior Curb Appeal No One Ever Thinks About.

Plantation shutters should match your trim and door color. Again, you can do it differently but that's my "rule" when specifying color for plantation shutters.

hahahah Three to one thus far...........

Another vote for white shutters to match the trim. If you still want dark ones,be forewarned that they will show every speck of dust.

I don't always agree with Patricia, but will join her with a NO vote for plantation shutters! I just find them very claustrophobic. I also don't like looking through bars/slats that block part of the view.

G likes them for her house and that is all that matters, but please listen to your Mother and choose white!

Had them when we lived in LA - yes, they WERE needed with all that southern CA sunshine! Don't like them elsewhere. But if that's what you want, go with the color of your trim and use the same throughout your house. You want them to more or less blend in/disappear.

I love my white plantation shutters. They are easy to clean and I like the look. Dark shutters will show dust immediately. Go for white.

Another yes for white shutters. Love them and will be getting them in my new home.

We don’t all agree about the shutters but white for sure if you must.BTW I do not dislike traditional when done well but a brown leather sofa does not traditional make and yes I dislike them too.

Yes........ brown sofas can indeed be a horrific plague. Unless appropriately suited to scale and their environment!!!

This.........

is definitely not..........this......: (

I personally love plantation shutters. I hope to put them in our new house (plan to build on a farm). My son/wife have them throughout their home and that's what won me over. I do agree with others; definitely choose white or a shade thereof and keep them consistent.

Take it from someone who tried to be fancy with her trim and plantation shutter color and deeply regretted it. Please paint them white, match the trim color and keep in mind that they can also be seen from outside. So if you are picky like me, you'll want your outside trim to match as well.

Dark shutters will show dust immediately and make your house look like a cave.

Another vote for white and matching. And if you live in an HOA check their rules. Mine requires window coverings to be certain colors from the street side.

Thought I'd add a photo showing the shutters fully open.

@dhygarden...well said!

Just wanted to add those Swiffer Dusters are handy for cleaning shutters. Also, I think the widest louvers are a good choice. Ours are all 3 1/2"...very nice but I might have gone wider if we had them installed vs the previous owners. We have the tilt rods on all of ours which I prefer. You can get them without the rods which is more of a contemporary look...IMO.

Sectioned is f!@#ing brilliant.

Another yes to plantation shutters! Painted to match your trim and all the same! You would hate the dark!! You know how dust shows on dark sooo much more than light!!!!

My shutters are sectioned so each quadrant can be operated separately. The tilt rod is in the back and on the side so it is hidden.

I adore mine. Definitely match your trim!! I think it would look bizarre to have white trim with black shutters. I can vaguely imagine black shutters with black trim...but my lord, how DARK that would be! I totally agree with whoever said above about them being the only privacy option that doesn't look unfinished on its own.

The other thing you need to consider is how the black/dark shutters look from outside your home. You'll have a big black/dark mass with a 3/1 window configuration with WHITE muntins, and the center stile of the shutters will center the top center lite on your windows. Before you go with the dark option, go outside your home and think how the darker shutter option will look from the outside.

As a reseller of shutters, I would recommend the white coloration. It is more transitional, reflects more light, and you can select a color to match the trim work. The 2 best manufacturers I would recommend Norman Woodlore Shutters and Hunter Douglas Newstyle Shutters. They make an awesome product and both are priced about the same. Norman Shutters has a hidden tilt bar engineered inside the panel, so you never see it.

Another vote for white. Dark will make your room look darker ( unless that’s the look you’re going for ). I love plantation shutters , mine are wide blade with no center control wand. Easy to clean ( I hate drapes & curtains ), don’t fade which is important where I live ( sunshine almost every day year around ) & they absolutely do NOT block the light & view ( which is very important for me since I have a spectacular ocean view).

To bad you lose 1/2 of the view with the shutters , a nice solar shade keeps the heat out, the UV rays too and allows all the view, Sorry just had to get that in there.

You can make a case for just about ANY treatment depending budget, views, need for versatility, light or privacy control Some work best in more contemporary /modern settings, others best in more traditional settings. Whether shutters, or Vignettes. or Silhouttes, or panels. or natural woven wood shades, or .......whatever. Some people live behind closed up windows and never crack one open (with no view.)...others never yank a darn thing closed. ...and can live exposed to the world and could not care less. Whatever you get, it has to work for YOU......and your $$$

Agree... I don’t know where “ you lose half the view” comes from??? I have Roman shades in two rooms & plantations in the other rooms... my views are not impacted by the plantations, I don’t angle them, it’s funny, the first thing guests comment on when entering my house is “wow! What a view!” Seen through the shutters, whitewater ocean views & Catalina Island, trust me, I wouldn’t have window treatments that impede that :). But everyone has their own opinion, whatever works for them...

Exactly, K Laurence! :-)

I get the blocking the view thing. The shutters are chunky slats of wood running from one side of the window to the other, top to bottom. It takes some gettin' used to especially when you're used to whipping open the blinds or curtains every morning to nothing but glass and the unobstructed great outdoors on the other side.

The "blocking the view" argument is so strange. I had wood blinds on my windows for years and years. When fully pulled up and stacked they still blocked the top 10" of my window. With my plantation shutters I can open them wide and not one inch of my window is obstructed.....

I don't think the blocking the view argument is strange at all. I don't have the clearance around many of my windows to open my shutters wide and away. There is furniture in the way or the windows are too close and the shutters overlap.

So in my house, even if the slats are wide open, the rails and stiles will cover part of my window and allow less light in my rooms. I still love my shutters but to assume that they are going to allow the same amount of light as a bare window in every circumstance doesn't make sense.

The “rails & stiles” ( I assume the framing of the shutters , idk ) on my shutters all line up exactly with my window frames... guess I got lucky with the shutter company I chose. No overlap whatsoever.

I still love my shutters but to assume that they are going to allow the same amount of light as a bare window in every circumstance doesn't make sense.

Exactly. To swing a shutter all the way open requires a fair amount of clearance in front of the the window. Some rooms I have had the space to open the shutter doors (or whatever they're called) and some rooms furniture is in the way and the shutter door stays closed all the time and you can only pivot the slats up and down, open or closed.

Love shutters and don’t find them room darkening or heavy. Vote for white to match trim and all the same.

k laurence, I would love to see a pic. Do you have the older style shutters with the thinner rails and styles (frame)? Or are the mounted outside your window? I don't think I have ever seen a shutter frame that doesn't cover at least part of the window.

These are the common style around here. The shutter fits in the window frame and there is often an extra rail that runs through the middle.

I’m in the desert now ( Palm Desert ) for a week or so , can’t send pics. They’re fairly new , probably two years old, yes, they are mounted outside the windows. Also, I opted to delete the center control wand (?). Very unobtrusive, my house is transitional / modern, therefore I wanted a simple look, but since I live at Beach it still looks appropriate for a coastal home.

I guess mine are a little more traditional. My shutters need about a 10" clearance on each side:

I love plantation shutters (softened with curtains, not standing alone, please!) and intend to install them in our new house -- we don't have the right windows for them in our current house.

Yes to white shutters and white trim. These things aren't cheap, and white will see you through any changes in color scheme you may make later. Also, most people go with wooden floors -- your room can only take so much wood tone. Break it up with white.

I'm confused about details though:

- Wood, vinyl, or composite -- which will last and be the best value?

- Is a plantation shutter in the bathroom (obviously not in the stream of the water) doomed to water damage?

- I'm assuming it's cheaper to install the shutters AFTER the build is over -- not the builder himself?

For a kitchen could you put white plantain shutters with a morel cherry cabinet and look good and if so if u want a white wall should the trim and wall match the shutter ?