Interiors // Fitting Shutters in our Bedroom with the California Shutter Company {and a discount code}

October 01, 2018


I've always been a big lover of plantation shutters. The look that they give to a property, both inside and out, the privacy, the options to have just some of them open or to close out the world completely. Plus, that old Snow Patrol song 'crack the shutters open wide' is one that my husband & I always reference {it was a favourite of ours years back!} and so most mornings, whoever is the first one awake will shout 'crack the shutters open wide' before we even had shutters in our bedroom haha. One of those silly private jokes from years back that's become part of our daily life. We fitted shutters in our old house, a Victorian terrace which seemed made for them. But in this new house, other than our bathroom at the back of the house with a small, square window, we weren't sure if the shutters would work with the windows. The bedroom windows are such a big feature of the house that let in crazy amounts of light, would we be covering them up too much by fitting shutters? We decided that blinds were fine until we moved into this new bedroom this summer. In our old bedroom, I could get dressed without anybody seeing in, yet in our new bedroom, the floor level is that bit higher so you can't really get dressed {unless you had the blinds shut} without worrying that somebody from the street could see in...  Which is why I was thrilled when California Shutters got in touch to see if we'd like to work with them to fit shutters. YES PLEASE! 

The room before; 

You can see the full makeover for this bedroom here. We were unsure of how to finish the windows so to start with, fitted cheap blackout blinds from Ikea which were discreet and hidden in the day. But it quickly turned out that I couldn't reach them to draw them at night and as it was such a hot summer, we needed to sleep with the windows open a lot, meaning that the blinds just bashed against the windows keeping us awake at the slightest breeze. So we needed another solution.



Measuring Up // 

The idea behind California Shutters is that they offer a DIY service, meaning that the price is kept down. In the past, shutters have always seemed very expensive, needing somebody to come and measure then specialist fit them. Whereas with California Shutters, you measure your windows and fit them yourself, all with very helpful online guides to help. I was a little worried at first, especially with our old house where nothing seems to be very straight! Luckily, the online guides and ordering system make it super straightforward. To start with, you're advised to send photos of your windows to the technical team who will come back with ideas for which type of shutters would work best. We found this really helpful, as we weren't entirely sure on the number of panels to go for {the team will help decide what looks best for your style of window and glazing bars etc} as well as working out which way they should configure to be able to fold back. 

My husband then used a laser measure to take all of the measurements of our windows, and before our order was confirmed, the technical team called us to talk us through all of the measurements to confirm everything and then triple checked it once more. 



There are so many options on the website, everything from the number of panels as mentioned to whether you want a mid rail to be able to open the top tier independently from the bottom {this would be good if you had them in a living room where you might want more light in at certain times}, whether you just want them cafe style {as in just the bottom half of the window}, or even what width of louvres you want {smaller I think look better and less like slatted blinds, but bigger will let more light in}, to your choice of material that they're made from to colours. SO many options! The online guide mocks this up so you can easily see how they'll look. And you can play around with where you want the mid lines for the frames, if you want tilt rods etc. 


This is what we went for;
Smooth hardwood finish, full height, 64mm slat size, central tilt rods, silk white SW, hinges in white, inside mount frame on the two tall front windows.

And for the deep side window we went for the same but with a hidden tilt rod as its a four panel and would look a bit too busy.



Around 10 weeks later, the shutters arrived. They're flat packed to start with, so you do need a little DIY background to put them together. There are videos and guides online to assist though. I left my husband to this part... he said they were really easy with the plastic corner fixings making it straightforward to get the frame together. In fact, he wondered why the fitters took so long in the past. He managed to install these three within about two hours. Then you screw them into your window frames. Ours are all wooden framed but there are plenty of options on the website for UPVC options too.



We've positioned these shutters on the side window so that we can open them and have them to the side in the daytime to let more natural light in. They just concertina out. I was conscious that I didn't want to lose the deep windowsill with this window, it's a real feature. 


And luckily the plants still fit here without having to move them each morning.




As for the front windows, it makes this room so cosy now and so much more private. For the most part, so far we've left them open like this in the day but I do want to be able to open them fully back on those warm, sunny days to fill the room with light. At the moment, we're working on getting a solution to be able to do this because of our limitations on the room/space around them to sit back against a wall. I think we should be able to work out a hook or magnet system?




It's actually really hard with the light right now to take photos of them during the day!



Hooray for being able to get dressed without flashing anyone or being in the dark!


And now in the evenings, it's super cosy in here. And such perfect timing for these dark evenings to be able to shut the world out. Somebody messaged to ask me if they are fully black out, and it's kind of hard to tell right now as it's mostly dark when we go to sleep and wake up. They came with some strips to fit around the edges which we may install later down the line to properly seal out any gaps. I've actually been sleeping with them closed like this below, so that it lets in light for the morning as I find it really hard to wake up if it's properly dark. They also act as an extra layer of glazing, to keep it warmer.




California Shutters have created a discount code to offer you 25% off with the code RVKLOVES25. This is valid until the end of April 2019. If you order before the 8th October, in time for Christmas, you'll also be entered into a draw to win a £500 White Company voucher {perfect for a white christmas!}. This is valid on all orders except from express orders.

You can find more on their website here.

R <3 xx

{This not a sponsored post, but these shutters were gifted to me. I was under no obligation to share a blog post but wanted to answer lots of questions I was getting on Instagram}

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2 comments

  1. The shutters look gorgeous, a real finishing touch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loving these shutters, they look so cosy in this room.

    ReplyDelete

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