Shutters Vs. Blinds: Tips To Help You Find The Right Option For Your Home
For many homeowners, window coverings tend to be the finishing touches when it comes to bringing your home’s interior decor together, and while they might not be an aspect that you’ve given much thought to, they can actually play a major role in both the overall function and beauty of a room. When it comes to finding the right window treatments for your home, you definitely have a wide range of options to choose from, but for most homeowners, the decision comes down to one of choosing between shutters or blinds. Here at Southern Views Home Products, our goal is to help you find the perfect window treatments for your home, and in an effort to help you determine whether shutters or blinds are going to be the better option for your home, our team of window treatment professionals have taken the time to put together this short list that will help to highlight some of the key differences between the two so you can better determine which option is going to be right for your home.
What’s The Difference?
Before you can make the decision on which is going to be a better fit for your home, it is important to understand the differences between them. On a basic level, window blinds are your window treatments that are going to consist of vertical or horizontal slats that are usually pulled open with a string or wand, and they come in a wide variety of different materials, like wood, faux wood, vinyl, and even aluminum. Window blinds can vary pretty dramatically in terms of price depending on the material and texture that you decide to go with. Shutters are a more permanent window treatment option and are frequently custom fitted to your window frame, giving you a more built-in look. Where blinds are generally designed to retract up to their housing at the top of your windows, shutters usually louver open and closed with a small wand, or open or close more like a door. Additionally, since shutters are a bit more heavy-duty in their construction, they are available in options that can be installed outside of your windows, where blinds are better suited for indoor use only.
Why Blinds?
One of the main attractions when it comes to window blinds is the difference in price between them and shutters. Blinds are generally cheaper across the board than shutters, and while this price can vary depending on which materials, sizes, and textures you are looking for, your money is generally going to go further with blinds. When it comes to home value, blinds are a fairly neutral design choice, making them go well with just about any home design scheme you can imagine, which can be a serious plus if you are looking at selling your home anytime in the near future. Blinds are also much easier to replace if you ever get tired of them, or they suffer any kind of damage down the line.
Why Shutters?
While blinds are a great neutral design choice, shutters are a design choice that brings you a bit more substance for your home’s design. Shutters are usually constructed from heavier materials, like natural wood, vinyl, and a number of other composite materials, and are generally designed to last you longer than the average set of blinds. Because of this, shutters tend to be more of a long-term investment in your home, and if done correctly, can add more value to your home than you could ever hope to achieve with blinds as well. While shutters are going to cost you more upfront than blinds, they will generally have a bigger payoff in the long run as long as you take care of them.
