Hi,
I'm an accomplished woodworker and I'm making my own plantation shutters except for the louvers. My louver source stocks 2.5 and 3.5 wide louvers. Most of my windows are fairly narrow, about 2' wide total width and 6' high. My house is modern but I have done extensive trim, flooring etc. upgrades to give it a more refined, traditional look. The room where I have done the most work has 19' high ceilings with 2 levels of windows (upper and lower). Of course I'm only putting blinds in the lower windows.
I read up on plantation shutters quite a bit and anything 2.5 and under or so is considered traditional while anything over that is modern. As I said, I'm trying to achieve a somewhat more traditional look but perhaps the scale of the room would dictate the 3.5 louvers?
Appreciate any comments.
Alex, from my experience, here is the way I've seen shutter design used.
The smallest louvers of 1 - 1.25 are most commonly used with a colonial/traditional type decor.
The largest louvers of 3.5 - 4.5 are typically used in plantation style decor.
I have seen the 2.5 louver used in ALL styles of decor, and I think it works great each time. We sell the 2.5 more than any other size, because it is so adaptable.
When it comes to your window size, I would consider this:
the windows are somewhat narrow already, and when you factor in the view area taken up by the mounting frame and the panel stiles/rails, the louver width will be even smaller. In my opinion, I think a 3.5 louver looks a little too chunky/stubby when they are very narrow. Personally, I think I would lean towards the 2.5 size.
I know you mention the large room scale, but I've always based my window treatment product suggestions on the actual window size scale.
Oh BTW- while most shutters are done with the tilt-bar running vertically down the front center of the louvers, have you seen them done with the tilt-bar hidden on the back of the louvers and offset to the side? It leaves a cleaner look to the shutter that might work well in your modern, but somewhat more traditional looking place.
Check it out, and it is very impressive to me that you will be making your own shutters.
You're right about the 2.5 being more traditional and 3.5 and larger being more contemporary, but in the installations I've seen, either look great.
Take a look at the following 3-D renderings to get an idea of the differences between each louver size: noads.com
Tags: plantation, shutter, louver, width, more traditional, being more, done with, done with tilt-bar, have done, have seen, plantation shutters, somewhat more
