When buying or redecorating a home most homeowners will ultimately have to make a decision on the type of window treatment he or she wants. After looking around many individuals come to a fork in the road between the choice of wood blinds or shutters. Both have their own unique benefits and disadvantages so the following article was written to assist you in making that choice.

Wood Blinds Are Less Expensive

Shutters are going to be more cost prohibitive to home homeowners with tight budgets. If you do a cost comparison between the two it will not even be even close.

You can expect to pay more than double the price for shutters than you would for any type of wood blinds. The difference in price becomes even more pronounced when you take into account the extra shipping and installation costs.

Shutters Are Going To Be More Permanent

Faux and wood blinds are viewed as an expendable product. Many homeowners actually take their blinds with them when they sell their house so that they can have them installed in their new one.

On the other hand shutters are a permanent fixture within the house. Once installed they usually stay there for several decades, sometimes more. It’s not uncommon to see shutters in older homes still maintaining their appearance and functionality despite being put up when Gerald Ford was still in office.

Wood blinds do not last nearly as long as shutters. We have seen quality ones lasting 15 years under the very best care and circumstances but not much than that. It’s fifteen year lifespan is also assuming your home has low humidity, your home is adequately shaded to prevent excessive sunlight from damaging them and you properly clean your wood blinds with a mild soap and water once every two weeks.

Shutters can be known to significantly raise the value of a home because, much like a backyard pool, it is viewed as a permanent fixture attached to the home. This will allow you to eventually recoup a portion of the extra money spent.

The Ambiance

The type of ambiance you enjoy will be one of the biggest determining factors in making this decision. Wood blinds tend to have a modern and more homely look to them. As long as you choose a neutral color that matches the overall scheme of the house then they will not be a fixture that will draw a lot of attention. Most well-chosen wood blinds will seamlessly blend in with everything else in the room.

On the other shutters will stand out more. They tend to dominate a room. Any visitor that walks inside an area with shutters will be drawn to them. They also tend to give a room a more stately and traditional look versus wood blinds.

Insulation, Privacy and Light Control

The winner goes to shutters in this particular category. Shutters are an excellent insulator from extreme heat and cold, they provide the maximum privacy out of any kind of other window treatment and they provide you with fantastic light control.

You Might Not Like Shutters on a Perfect Sunny Day

One of the drawbacks of shutters, however, is that you cannot raise them up. On clear sunny days most homeowners like to open up all the windows in their home so that natural sunlight can beam in. You will never be able to do this with shutters; at the most half of the available sunlight will be able to come in.

If you live in an area with warm climate year round then you will not really care about this. However, if you live in an area with harsh winters then you want your home to be able to soak in all the sunlight it can get in the middle of January.

Children

At one point shutters were viewed to be safer for a family that had small children. They have no cords or tassels so there is nothing for a child to put into his mouth.

All blinds can have the option of being child safe now. If you chose this option the blinds will be installed with break-away tassels and strings that come apart should a child start playing with it.

What’s The End Result?

Like many things in life there is no right or wrong answer. It depends on your budget, tastes, the ambiance you are looking for, the climate you live in and how long you plan to stay in your house. If you plan on living in your current home for 5-7 years then purchasing shutters can be a waste of your money. If you like high elegance and are in love with the classic style of the Victorian and Edwardian area then shutters might be your best bet despite the fact you will be paying 2-3X the cost.

About the author, Brian Wright:

This article was written by Brian Wright, the owners of Horizon Shutters and Shutterland Shutters. He has been in the window covering industry for years and we asked him a couple days to write an article for this frequent question we get from prospective customers.