Plantation shutters are built into the window, not hung in front of it, which is why they read as architecture and why they convey with the home. They come in two builds: real hardwood, and an engineered composite for the rooms that get wet.
Every shutter is custom-built to your opening and professionally installed. The one decision that changes with the room is what it is made of.
The anatomy of a shutter.
Dozens of paints and stains
Matched to your trim in the room, with the samples in hand.
Louvers in 2½″, 3½″ and 4½″
A purely aesthetic call: wider louvers, a bigger view out.
Standard or hidden tilt
A visible tilt rod down the panel, or none at all for a cleaner face.
Divider bar
Splits the panel into two sections that tilt independently: privacy below, light above.
Wood is the heirloom build: hardwood, and the only one that takes a stain. Composite is the wet-room build, engineered so humidity never gets a vote. Everything else about them is identical.
The heirloom buildKiln-dried hardwood, painted or stained
Furniture-grade hardwood, joined mortise-and-tenon and hung to swing like fine cabinetry. It is the build that takes a stain, so it is the one to choose when the grain is meant to show, or when the shutter has to answer a wood floor, a beam, or a stained door.
The wet-room buildEngineered core, hard sealed paint
An engineered core under a hard, sealed paint finish. Steam, splash and lake humidity leave it alone (it will not warp, crack, or yellow), which is why it belongs in the bathroom, over the kitchen sink, and anywhere damp air gets in.
Feature
Wood
Composite
Wood
Kiln-dried hardwood, mortise-and-tenon panels
Composite
Engineered composite core, sealed finish
Wood
Dozens of paints AND stains
Composite
Dozens of paints
Wood
Better kept to dry rooms
Composite
Steam, splash and humidity leave it untouched
Wood
Lighter panels with a cabinetry swing
Composite
Denser panels that close solid and quiet
Wood
Can be repainted or refinished years later
Composite
Wipe clean; the finish will not yellow
Wood
2½″, 3½″, 4½″
Composite
2½″, 3½″, 4½″
Wood
Living rooms, bedrooms, offices, stained trim
Composite
Bathrooms, kitchens, laundries, lakefront exposures
Blue marks the stronger spec. Everything else is a difference, not a winner. Both are custom-built to your opening and professionally installed.
Moisture decides it. Everything else (the louver, the tilt, the color) is the same conversation in either build.
Bathroom & powder room
A hot shower twice a day is what warps a wooden panel.
Kitchen, over the sink
Steam, splashes and cooking grease wipe straight off the sealed finish.
Living room & dining room
The room people see first, and the one where a stain earns its money.
Bedrooms & offices
Dry rooms take either build. Decide on finish and budget, not moisture.
Lakefront & humid rooms
Lake humidity gets into everything, season after season, whether the window is open or not.
Wood and composite together, because the difference between them is what they are made of, not what they look like. The build is named under each photo.
Shutters on some windows, fabric on the rest? See the shade collection.
Call or send the form and we’ll get your free in-home consultation scheduled right away.
Prefer to talk? 800-425-4637Mon-Sat 8am-7pm
