Step 1 - Design your shutters
Choosing the right shutter design for your windows is important. This is why we created a series of video guides to help you make the right decision, guiding you through the design, measuring and fitting process step by step to give you the confidence to do it yourself, save money and transform your home the right way. To access our free, simple, video guides, enter your name and e-mail address and we’ll send the first video straight away.
A full height design means that the shutters will cover the whole window from top to bottom. This is the most popular design and suits most window layouts.
With a full height design, you can line up the rail on the shutters with the rail on the window. This splits the louvres in half and allows you to open the top separately from the bottom providing extra privacy.
Middle rails are required as standard on heights over 1570mm and they vary in width, depending on the louvre size you choose. You can find these sizes in the technical PDF.
DESIGN TIP: Choose full height for most window designs
Sign up to watch our video guide on designing your shutters; it will help you choose the best design.
A tier on tier design splits the shutters in half with a horizontal Tpost, allowing the top shutters to be opened separately from the bottom shutters. This design works well for tall, narrow windows.
With a tier on tier design, bi-folding shutters look good as they can be folded back neatly. Wider shutters will protrude into the room unless you install the shutters at the front of the recess so the shutters could then be wrapped back around the wall.
DESIGN TIP: Choose tier on tier if your window is taller than it is wide, like a portrait style window. Tier on tier designs work best if there is a halfway rail on your window to match the tier height with.
Sign up to watch our video guide on designing your shutters to learn more about tier on tier.
A Tpost is a vertical post fitted within the frame. It divides a full height shutter into sections, ensuring each shutter matches the layout of the window. They can be lined up with any vertical uprights on your window. If the end windows open, with a Tpost design you can easily open just one shutter at a time, rather than bi-folding two shutters back.
You can order middle rails with a Tpost design but not tier on tier. Find the minimum and maximum distances between Tposts in the technical PDF.
DESIGN TIP: Choose Tposts with wide windows that have 3 or 4 sections.
Sign up to watch our video guide on designing your shutters to see Tposts in use.
Adjustable louvre blades fit within the shutter panels. They can be tilted up or down to adjust the amount of light or privacy in your room. There are 2 louvre sizes – 64mm and 89mm; and both sizes can be used in all 3 designs.
DESIGN TIP: Choose 89mm louvres for a clean modern look and wide large windows. Choose 64mm louvres for smaller windows and a more traditional look or Tier on Tier designs.
Sign up to watch our video guide on designing your shutters. You can see these sizes on different shutter styles and windows to help you choose.
Louvre blades are connected together with a control rod. There are two types: a central control rod visible at the front of the shutter, or a smaller hidden control rod fitted at the back of the shutter. The louvres are tilted by moving the central rod or moving an actual louvre blade.
DESIGN TIP: The central control rod suits both louvres sizes. It’s more robust and makes adjusting the louvres quick and easy. The hidden rod provides a modern, clean look and offers extra privacy options as you can split the rod across all the shutters or just one shutter. They are good in bathrooms as they make cleaning easy, and they look great with 89mm louvres.
Sign up to watch our video guide on designing your shutters. Here you can see both these options in action.
Depending on the window width, you can choose how many shutters you have across your window and how you open them. When choosing, it’s important to match the number of shutters to the window sections – in our video guides we demonstrate this.
DESIGN TIP: Most people keep the shutters closed and only adjust the louvres for light and privacy, so don’t worry too much about how or where the shutters open. You will find they remain closed apart from when cleaning or accessing the window. This is why it’s important they match the layout of the window, so let the window design do the choosing for you.
Sign up to watch our video guide on designing your shutters to see this demonstrated.
White is the standard colour hinge, but when your shutters are being fitting in a bathroom or kitchen you can upgrade to Stainless Steel hinges.
There is a surcharge for Stainless Steel hinges based on the number of shutter panels within your frame.
DESIGN TIP: Choose Stainless for steamy bathrooms.
Frame extensions are provided to increase the depth of a standard shutter frame. They provide extra clearance between the back of the frame and back of the louvre blades. This is important to note if you’re fixing back to the window frame because you don’t want the louvres hitting the window or any handles.
Remember, if your window handle is positioned behind the stile of a shutter or a rail, you might be able to reduce the number of extensions because the louvres blades will not be directly in front of them.
Extensions can be slid off if you find you don’t need them. They are not provided on the back of Tposts and they are a free of charge option.
DESIGN TIP: Choose extensions for extra clearance when fitting back to the window frame or fitting sideways into the wall, as they provide more space to hide any fitting packers.
Find out more about extensions in our design video – sign up to watch the full series. Download the technical PDF to view the sizes and to work out how many you need.
