Types and Styles of Shutters

Decorating the exterior of your home with shutters is easy. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing, but they also protect your indoors from the weather.

Windows usually go unnoticed from a decorative point of view. However, there are plenty of ideas to give prominence to this part of the house. One of them, for example, are shutters.

But… what are shutters exactly? They’re made of small doors and are placed outside the windows. They’re quite an interesting resource. Not only do they allow you to control the lighting and the temperature of the rooms in your home, but they’re also a decorative element with a lot of personality.

Benefits of shutters

So what benefits and contributions do shutters bring to our home?

• Shutters are very common in places where hot weather predominates. They’re usually made of wood and function as a thermal insulator by protecting the interior of the house from solar radiation. In this way, they provide shade to the home even on the sunniest days.
• In addition, they not only protect the house from heat but are an acoustic protector. This feature turns them into the perfect complement for noisy areas.
• Finally, let’s not forget their aesthetic function. They bring charm and personality to the exterior facade without the need for any type of work.

Mallorcan shutters

This type of shutters is very common in hot coastal areas. In fact, its name comes from the famous island of Mallorca, where there’s a need to protect houses from the Mediterranean heat while trying to take advantage of the sea breeze.

The main feature of these shutters is that their doors are formed by a succession of horizontal slats. It’s possible to find them either fixed or moveable. Nonetheless, all have something in common: they isolate the house from heat and, on top of that, their slats allow the passage of air, letting the house cool off a bit.

Originally, people painted them in colors associated with the sea – either green or blue. They provide great contrast when the facade of the house is white. However, due to how popular this has become, now it’s possible to find them in all kinds of colors.

Rustic

Shutters are ideal accessories to protect the house from heat, but that’s not all there is to them. They’re actually great to protect the house from low temperatures! As a matter of fact, they’re very common in many country houses. Typically, shutters in rural settings are usually made in one piece or are blinds.

Unlike Mallorcan shutters, rustic ones are used to preventing cold and outside humidity from penetrating the interior of the home. Therefore, these are made with a thick wooden strip that prevents the cold from going into the house.

Rustic style shutters not only can protect your home from winter but also have the ability to convey comfort, personality, and tradition to any facade.

Usually, this type of shutter has a raw finish. In other words, they enhance their natural style with nothing but a single layer of varnish.

Contemporary design shutters

Continuing with other models of shutters, it’s inevitable to think of classic designs. Although these are more typical of old houses than of contemporary spaces, we can find a broad world of designs.

Openwork aluminum

We can find a great example of avant-garde and modernity in original openwork aluminum shutters. They’re designed to sift light in an artistic and decorative way. Through different draft patterns, this creates theatrical lighting.

Protective panels

For more minimalist spaces, shutters as a flat panel are the way to go. They have two purposes: acting as a protective wall for the entire facade and providing shade in areas where solar radiation is too strong.

Weather shutters

Finally, it’s imperative that we talk about shutters as a geometric lattice. They’re definitely more common in modern houses located in warm climates, where the aim is to take advantage of solar energy to heat the house while, at the same time, avoiding overheating.

What makes these shutters different from the rest is its series of slats which allow the solar radiation to warm the house just enough. Although the designs of these panels are modern, they’re inspired by nature by using materials such as wood or bamboo.