The house we just bought has plantation shutters on all the windows. I am amazed at how much light they block! Even if the slats are fully open  they block a tone of light. And, trying to open them is such a pain because they hit something  a light, the computer, the back of a chair, the coffee pot, etc. I know they are expensive and quite popular, but I want to take them all out.

I like your café style idea.

I like the half-way, cafe style, but at least up to the top sash. If you were to add moulding, I would add around the entire window. I like the look of the cafe style with the curtains with the cream couch in the sample pic you posted.

My vote is cafe.

In the office we have 2 sets of shutters on each window. They're traditional which means the slats are only 1 1/4". I have to fold the top shutters back to get good light in the room. Just having the slats open isn't good enough.

In the living room we have traditional cafe shutters.

jeri - THANK YOU!!!!! This is what I wanted to know. I know we wouldn't open them, so it's only how much light would come through the slats.

Do you know what size your slats are? I think the norm is 2.5". We are looking at the 3.5" but not sure how much difference it really makes. They do say the bigger the slat the more light you get which makes sense.

Thanks again!

Groovia and natal - thanks to you too.
This is what we thought too, but I got confused by all the shutter sales people telling me how bad they think cafe style looks. I want them to work AND look good! : )

I just got confused if we were on the right track or not.

Check out this site to get an idea of how much light different slat sizes provide.

Here is a link that might be useful: click on rotate louvers

Hoboken - Your LR is beautiful! You have a wonderful sense of color, style and restraint!

Count me in with others here - we have full-length 2 1/2" slat plantations in our master bedroom. And they always look elegant, no matter how the rest of the room looks. However, they will darken the room, even with the slats open. And when I swing out the whole shutter, it's just too bulky. Because they cover horrid old aluminum sliders, we're replacing the windows with couble-paned green ones with integrated blinds, so the shutters will go.

I agree that cafes are ideal for your room. Your shutter people are talking against them because they'll make more money on full-length ones! What would you do with the top part of the window?

A vote for cafe-style if they cover the entire bottom sash.

Not really sure what we would do with the upper half of the window. I guess we would just run that thin molding around the top part of the window, and that's that.

I originally wanted drapes, but just don't think that there is room for either the drapes or the pole as we have a projector above the windows and I don't think there would be space.

Any other ideas? I wonder if it would look cluttered if we put something in additon to the shutter?

Hi HoboKenKitchen. I happen to be home right now and measured. I have 2.5 in the kitchen and 3.5 everywhere else. Sorry to say that the 3.5 block a ton of light compared to having them fully open. Really  I was so surprised by this! The slats look huge, so you would think they would let in a lot of light  but they do not  not enough for me at least. I will eventually replace these with something that is easy to open fully during the day.

It would be great if you could see some for yourself. Perhaps we are different. There is no such thing as too much light for me. In fact, we plan on replacing all the windows in the house with larger ones so we can get as much light as possible. I live in S. Cali and I worship the sun. :-)

Well, I am going against most of the advice given and I say full length especially since you are on street level. I think it will give a more finished look and I would want the privacy at night! They also make a 4.5 " slat for maximum light.

I would definately look into the film, even for a temporary fix. Seems fairly inexpensive. There also seems to be a 3M window film as mentioned above where you can see out but they can't see in, don't know the price. Love your style.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Depot window films

Jeri - I am the same way - I want as much light as possible!! The full length shutters are definitely out then based on the light restriction. If we get no light I won't keep them.

Not really sure how covering the top of the window would be necessary for privacy apart from passer by being able to see if we have lights on or not. You would have to be 10 feet tall to see over the top of cafe shutters! : )

Don't think the film is quite what we are looking for as we really want the window area to look more 'finished'. Hopefully the cafe shutters will help with that aspect as well as the privacy.

We do have black out shades up too for when we use the home cinema.

IMHO, cafe shutters are great and the moulding should go all the way around the window-I don't know how you would do it (the trim) any other way. That is what we have done and it lets in lots of light which we wouldn't get if the shutters went top to bottom. I can't imagine what it would look like with moulding on only half the window! I think you may need a new "shutter guy"-LOL.

Love your room. Great rug, too. Would you share your source?

My vote is for the first picture in your last post which has two parts to the shutters.

I like the cafe style, but since you don't have the trim like Natal does, I don't think it would look very good. The shutter people do install a trim though, at least they did with mine since I only had windowsills and no trim. Their trim surrounds the whole window which is pretty. They have to add trim in order to anchor the shutters onto the wall.

We have the smaller slats, 2.5? The larger slats look off to me for some reason. lol. The smaller slats are more traditional and doesn't draw attention to them.

As far as lighting goes, well, it all depends on what's outside. The one's I have in the utility room on a south wall gets great sunlight (in the summer the sun is higher so it doesn't give direct sunlight), but the shutters on the south wall in the living room gives off very low light because of a big tree.

With two-part shutters you can have your cake and eat it too! But I'd get the smaller slats.

I just did the bottom 1/2 less then 2 months ago. Before I had cafe panels (couldn't find any without ruffles, so I made flat panels and used push rods.) The cats could move the curtains to look out and sun did poke through. I kept them closed even during the day. I'm in the city and close to the sidewalk so it's all about privacy. The shutters are so much cleaner. I love these at night, impossible to see through. They told me I wouldn't loose sunlight but you do. There's a lot of frame work around the non slat part. To get sun, I open before work. The problem is when I come home in the dark, you can see everything in the livingroom. So I've learned to tilt a bit. They're very well amde and installation took about an hour.

Hi hoboken kitchen. I used to live in an apartment in an old walk up building on Washington street in Hoboken. I miss living there...loved it! Is Ali Baba Restaurant still there?

My two tall living room windows each had separate upper and lower wooden shutters (they were original) which folded back into the wall casings on either side of the windows. So shutters are a natural for your hoboken house :) Your LR is beautiful. I saw your kitchen on the kitchen forum--also beautiful.
For privacy we would close both uppers and lowers, but I often closed the bottom and left the top open for light. We had lots of light but the shutters were not folded on the wall the way yours will be. For the tall thin windows you have, I vote for shutters on the bottom half only.

I second the suggestion for the Silhouettes! And now that I see they offer the top down option, I think that would be ideal for your situation. I have Silhouettes in my LR and DR and love the look.

I have silhouette and love them. I did not know they made the top down/bottom up option now. That was one of the deciding points when I was shopping but had to compromise went with the silhouette anyway. With that option available now I say 'go for it'. They make the silhouettes in colors and pattern too, not just plain white.

It's funny because the silhouettes are what we have now and I am not a fan of them - hence looking for an alternative!

Thanks for the suggestion though! : )

We have another shutter guy coming on Monday so we'll see what he says!

Thanks for all the comments - they were really helpful!

Hey marciag, Ali Baba was still there when we moved out of Hoboken - now we're in a Philadelphia in the Rittenhouse area.

We loved Hoboken too - our last place was at 5th & Bloomfield. Such a great town! : )

I'm totally voting for the cafe shutters, half way up. Beautiful.

hobokenkitchen your room is absolutely beautiful. That RUG!! Gorgeous! I'm with you on light. The half way shutters will give you the privacy you need and maximize light. Go with the shutters, they're way richer looking than any shade.

Ivette

Thanks for the compliments on the rug! It's actually fron Pottery Barn and we got it on sale. I think it's current stock so I'm sure they still have it! : )

Thanks! BTW, used to live outside Philadelphia-love the Rittenhouse Square area. Spent a fair amount of time there growing up. No wonder your place is so wonderful!!

I had cafe style in a Victorian house and was very pleased with them. As you said, you'd have to climb a ladder to see in the uncovered top half of window. During the day, if I wanted full sun, I opened the entire shutter, not just the vanes. I only closed the shutters at night when I felt 'on display'.

I was also going to suggest Silhouette or similar. You're the first person I've heard say they do not like them -- I'd be curious to know why.

Your room is just gorgeous, by the way! Love the colors, the artwork, the rug, etc.

gwbr54, not sure why I don't like them? I don't feel like they do much for a room in the way that some blinds/ drapes/ shutters do.

They also get dirty and are really hard to clean.... at least I haven't worked out how to do it effectively.

We will leave them in the rest of the house because I don't want to have to pay for a whole house full of new blinds, but the living room really needs the privacy aspect of shutters and I wouldn't pay money to put in the silhouettes.

Thinking about it, it's the dirty aspect which bothers me most. Stuff gets in between the little openings (no idea how) and it's so hard to get out. I think they just look old and dirty and I'm a bit of a clean freak! : )

I think routine cleaning is dusting, or using blow dryer (on cool setting). If more that that, ultrasonic cleaning is recommended, but you would need to hire a blinds cleaning company for that. Might be worth it since you'll be keeping the Silhouette in rest of house.

Good luck!

Love your home. You have great taste.
I would vote for cafe. I didn't know shutters block the light so that would be an issue for me. I also have silhouettes in my bedroom and my husband hates them. He says he feels like he is opening a garage door! However, if I had the option of top/down btm/up that would be a plus. I have no problem with dirt and I am also a clean freak. Naybe it's because I am one block from the beach and not inside the city.

I have also been looking for some kind of double-tier shutter to block neighbors/unpleasant views. I love the look of double-tiers, but I don't understand where to get them. Do you buy two sets of cafe shutters, and then install them one on top of the other? Or do some companies sell double-tiers?

I think cafe shutters look unfinished somehow, and I don't like having half the window "naked" at night. I like to be able to cover the whole window when it's dark outside.

You might want to look at top up/bottom down shades. Smith and Noble has a million options, but they are so pricey. Blinds Galore also has a lot and they are much cheaper. Maybe Roman shades, or natural wood shades?

Also, these are sort of interesting:

Here is a link that might be useful: faux glass block shutters

Hobokenkitchen, Weird coincidence--we live outside Philadelphia now (on the Jersey side, though). We lived at 12th & Washington in a 5th floor walkup condo. A lovely place to live. Sorry to distract from the topic :)

Go for the half shutters. It will be beautiful.

We do have black out shades that can be used for when we need total dark for movies and stuff. Other than that I have no problem with the top part of the window being uncovered. The building opposite us is an art gallery so no worries about privacy from them. I guess people could get some binoculars and stare at an angle from across the street, but really our living room isn't that exciting, and if they want to go to that extreme then they're welcome to see whatever they can! : )

Not a big fan of the glass block to be honest although I guess it could work in some applications. Just screams 80s to me.

A hair dryer could work well to clean out the insides - thanks for the idea! I think the main problem we have with the downstairs Silhouettes above the upstairs, is that we renovated the kitchen, so they probably got an abnormal amount of dust. They're also 5+ years old anyway, so just need freshening up.

marciag - that is a coincidence! Do you like the Philly area? We're not quite ready to leave the city yet... but maybe one day! : )

Since I am still searching for my perfect window coverings, too, I keep running into things that might interest you. Have you seen these? They are traditional shutters but insted of wood louvers they are made from fabric. You can select a transluscent fabric to allow more light while still giving you privacy. They are not reminiscent of the old fabric lined shutters, thank goodness.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fabric shutters

One more thought I had was if you'd considered shoji screen shutters. You can get very plain or custom made designs that would complement your decor without moving into too much of an Asian direction. (altho your coffee table and a couple other elements in your room may complement a very simple Asian shoji. The paper or other material they use lets in a lot of light.{{!gwi}}

This other room isn't your style, but the window treatment is pretty versatile.

Here is a link that might be useful: another shoji window treatment

Your space is lovely. I think the cafe shutters would look perfect. I wouldn't get too wide of slats though as that can skew a little more modern. I would order the hidden tilt though; so the shape of the shutters exactly mimics your beautiful windows. Top pic is with tilt bar, bottom pic is with hidden tilt.

Karen; wow, wow, wow!!! Thank you so much - you are clever!!

We went ahead and ordered the shutters yesterday. Thanks so much to everyone for helping us decide what to go with!!

We're going with the cafe style/ trim around the whole window.
We are doing just one panel with a tilt bar in the middle. We were going to go with the hidden mechanism, but with doing the one panel I think it's kind of nice to have the tilt bar in the middle.
2.5" slats.

Glad to hear you decided to go with the cafe style shutters. Please post pics after they're installed.

Great choice! The single panels will let in more light and the tilt bar will still "mimic" the original window. The only "con" I can see is you will need to pull your couch out quite a bit to open the shutters when you need to open/clean the windows (I'm guessing the shutters won't quite clear the top of your sofa); however, you would also have to move the couch for the two panels ...just not quite as far. Here's a "quickie pic". Good luck!

Hoboken, your room is lovely. I have had huge windows covered with full length plantation shutters. They do block a lot of light/views. In my case they were a mistake because they blocked our views and we did not need them for privacy. I think they would look great in your room and I'd do full length. Be sure to do the widest slats that you can get.

My current mbr has an enormous window that is covered with plantation shutters. There really was no alternative considering the way the window is set in the wall. It's an odd configuration. It is a pain to move the furniture to clean, but in your case I don't see that being a big deal.

Another option would be lined natural roman shades (like Conrans...I call them 'weed' shades) with side panel drapes that work...pet peeve is drapes that are only there for looks. With that option you would gain a lot of texture and pizazz. However, it might not look that great from the street and you don't have the option to have them sort of open as you do w/the plantation shutters.You could have them 1/2 way up, but the plantation shutters would give you the architectural component along with the option of having privacy and light. Just remember to get large slats. JMO

karen, I think they will clear the sofa.... just. I can't imagine we'll open them too often though, just for cleaning when we would need to move the sofa anyway.

Thanks so much for the pics - I really hope this works out the way I think it's going to! : )

Your home is beautiful and love your choice of shutters.
Your thread gave me a great idea about my wooden blinds.
I got them for all my windows but would have prefered
the plantation shutters. The more I looked at this thread, the idea came to me to open the blinds all the way, at the top half of my window they are open and below the trim in the middle I manually pushed them to the closed position. They mimic the look of shutters but at
a fraction of the cost. I still get light during the day but have the needed privacy. I did this to all my windows on the front of the house.

Hoboken, we've been down here for 10 years; we moved progressively south from Hoboken to Monmouth County, Ocean County and now Philadelphia suburbs (Camden County). We do like it. It took a while to get over our 'Manhattan-centric' behavior( ...still walk very fast & want to order coffee "regular" -- no one understands). However, Philadelphia has its own unique brand of "friendliness"...You know what I mean.

The shutters are a good choice in your gorgeous LR. Post some pictures when they are installed.

Hoboken, I admired your lovely home when I first saw this thread posted. I'm going to give it a "Bump" because my DD is considering cafe shutters for a space similar to yours.

UPDATE!

We got our shutters installed a couple of days ago. They are just perfect. They look great and still give enough light, while a simple flip gives us privacy at night. Thanks so much folks for the advice, comments and pics, and especially karen for her photo shop expertise!

We went with the smaller 'standard' 2.5' slats in the end.

Just wanted to say that you have a beautiful home. It looks very warm and inviting.

They look fantastic!

I would consider cafe' shutters and a roman shade. The roman shade can connect the modern and the traditional and only needs to be lowered when you want total privacy.

Hoboken, I see that you have solved your problem in a lovely manner with the cafe height plantation shutters with 2.5 slats. This is what I have in my home, and I love them because we can still get the light, yet have full privacy when needed. Yours look great, BTW. I was going to suggest that if you were still wanting something more to “soften” the look of the windows, you could add a fixed fabric covered valance above the windows. You could place the top up at the ceiling height, and have the valance end right at the top of the window trim, thus not sacrificing any light coming in. What you’ve done thus far is just lovely.

Rather odd that a six year old thread was resurrected by a total newbie, who then did not appear to try to sell us anything! LOL!