I am interested in your responses. We bought a house in Florida that we are currently renting. I, too am thinking of plantation shutters.
If you don't mind me asking, what wood floors do you have? Our house has the usual ceramic tile and I want to replace it with wood, but I am sure there are tings to know when doing it in Florida. Our house northwest.
Although our reno is years away, I am "collecting" info on GW as I see things. (Paint colors etc.)

>I am sure there are tings to know when doing it in Florida

Not especially. Just to be sure you don't have any areas that collect water (like at the edges of sliding glass doors, which mostly do let some water into their tracks in very heavy driven rain. But when I was a kid in Miami everyone had either tile, terrazzo, or wood floors and wood is very popular again now.

My parents had plantation shutters put in their bedroom back in the late 60s or early 70s. I don't care for them personally, but they never warped in all the years we lived in that house. I have neighbors who have them now on a NW facing window (the worst aspect for heavy sun) and they have no problems, either.

I live in California and have both plantation shutters and solar shades. I haven't had any problems with either one.

I use solar shades in the rooms where I want to be able to roll them up to get an almost completely unobstructed view. I wouldn't use anything on those windows, but they face west and my fabrics were getting eaten by the sun, so I needed to filter out the UV rays during late afternoon.

I use plantation shutters to add privacy to bedrooms and bathrooms because I didn't want draperies in this house. My only complaint is that I have casement windows, so I had to have an outside mount for the shutters to allow for the crank. I should also add that we don't steam up a bathroom as we have open windows and fans. If you do create a lot of steam in your bathroom, you might not want to use wooden shutters.

We have plantation shutters on most of our windows, including in all 4 bathrooms and inside 2 showers. Our house is on the waterfront in Florida. We chose a warm white vinyl. They are easy to clean, look great and we have had absolutely no problems with them.

Oh, forgot to say my parents had them in their small, badly ventilated shower-only master bath, too. No problems there, either.

ellendi - I have engineered wood in a species called Acacia wood. It is very highly grained and I quite like it. I have engineered cause we are on a concrete slab. As writersblock said, there isnt any real science to wood in Florida. I had read a lot about moisture blocking but didnt do anything special to mine and it is fine. Probably a lot depends on where you live and what your subfloor is.

Those that are saying that you are having no issues with your shutters - are they REAL wood shutters like you can get in a stain or are they the ones that are faux wood? The latter are very pretty, but I am also interested in the stained which I can only get with real wood. I am very attracted to the natural graining of the stained product.

I have a view, and so seeing outside is one thing that concerns me about the shutters. I was in a building that had them, however, and with the large louvers it was a pretty nice look that didnt really block badly. And the look of shutters is so rich which appeals to me. If you have shutters you can open them pretty easily to see outside, right? I mean fold them open completely. Is it practical?

One of the reasons I had considered roller shades is the view thing. The new ones seem to be available in an array of textures that are akin to the natural woven shades but dont have the wieght and are easy easy easy to raise and lower. Plus they give a totally unobstructed view when up. That is a mixed thing to me since it is also nice to be able to adjust light in the house - something I could do with shutters or wood blinds but not with roller shades or romans. Regarding Romans, I have been told they are sort of a pain to raise and lower on the wider windows. Thoughts?

My shutters are wood, but they are painted, not stained. Do you feel that you have to choose only one treatment? If so, you might consider a Duette-type product that would allow you maxiumum flexibility. You can roll them completely up or you can leave them down with the vanes open, partially open or closed.

>are they REAL wood shutters like you can get in a stain

My parents had real wood, stained. That was the only option back then.

Thank you writersblock - good to know. Fun2BHere - the windows are all in one room and within site of each other, so yes, I want them all the same - at least in this room. I had looked at a product that is like you are saying. It was not called Duette. I cannot recall the name right now. I liked it, but was not for sure on the color and since it was being shown to me through a home visit vendor, getting a sample to 'live with' didnt happen. Perhaps I could ask them if they could get one for me. I want to be sure of the color as they were not cheap.

Also 'on the plate' in my mind are the faux wood shutters. Most folks I know that have them speak highly of them. I found a very reasonable vendor for a good product (Alba Shutters) which are offered in three shades of white. The 'darkest' shade they call 'beige' and while I would not call it that, it is sort of a yellowish white that works best of the three with the elements that exist already in my home. I would be able to get them in the 'tier on tier' design that allows opening of the top seperate from the bottom so I could block the morning glare that comes through the top portion of my windows and still open the bottom. I tend to want to be able to completely open the bottom rather than just do the louvers since I have butterflies and hummingbirds that visit my garden just outside the window, but the vendor tells me I will likely end up just using the louvers as I get used to them. They are 3.5 inches and offer a good 'view' - or so he says. The thing that holds me back a little is that the color would sort of seem pale to me compared to the rich colors of my kitchen - scabos travertines, slates, and red toned birch cabinetry. I suppose I could 'cross polinate' color through the use of art and other elements but I am not sure. This is where my lack of experience messes me up. I am influenced by what is in front of my face and struggle with visualizing the finished picture. Right now I dont have anything on the walls where they windows are and it 'feels' like I need something rich in color to balance the opposing side of the room where the kitchen is with all its earthy colors. I think that is why I lean toward stained or perhaps another treatment that offers texture or color rather than being content with the cream colored shutters. I do like the archetectural interest and 'clean' look of shutters which is what attracts me to them. I dont know about the practical aspect, however - the opening and closing or impedement of view, etc. And, of course, that 'cross polination' of color thing gets me going.

I am new at this home remodel / redecorating thing and can tell you that the choices are daunting for me. As an artistic person I see possibilities in every direction I look and sometimes become confused. I suppose I also must realize that no choice is 'perfect' and let go of that pursuit lest I evermore be doing this and not enjoying my home!

All input is appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks seegaye

What did you chose to do?
We are considering white vinyl shutters made by Eclipse for our master bedroom and front living area
3.5 in louvers with an inside mount and a divider rail that will allow the top portion of the louvers to be open for light and bottom closed for privacy

We got quote from two local window covering companies
One for Norman Woodlore faux wood in white and then the Eclipse--
that "cotton" white worked best with our trim color...

One room we considered using a faux wood in wood tone finish because there is fireplace wall where windows are and white just would not work
Now my husband is agreeing to either paint the brick or plaster/recover the wall with sheetrock and paint it...
so holding off on those two shutters...

Funny that you should post asking what I did, since I JUST made up my mind and ordered something! Takes me a while on this stuff lol!

As much as I love shutters, I ended up ordering blinds. I got real wood since the natural stone and high graining of the wood floors in my house just did not mesh - in my mind anyhow - with white shutters or blinds and the faux woods I looked at did not hold a candle to the real wood ones I found. They are very unique - Levelor 2 1/2 inch slats in a collection they call the "Estate Collection". I got the color they call "Estate Oak". They are the right tone of stain but what they bring to the mix that is unusual is that they look distressed - flecks of black and lots of variation in the stain so it looks like old wood. LOVE them. Now I cannot say how well they will hold up regarding warpage and such, but have come to the conclusion that NOTHING is a perfect choice in spite of my deep desire for that to be.

I got them through StevesBlindsandWallpaper.com. First I ordered the smallest blind for this room with the idea that if I didnt care for it, I could use it on window of the same size in the back room. I did like them, however, so ordered the rest and they will be here in about a week. Steves was really good to deal with. There were some slats that had a tiny amount of sway to them - not at all noticable when the blind was closed but slightlly noticable when it was open - probably only to someone like me. Anyhow, I told them about it - not really complaining but just sort of asking if that was to be expected as I knew I had to order four more blinds that were much larger. They contacted Levelor and Levelor is sending me an entire new blind and not even requiring that I send this one back! I will move this one to the back room, and order one more like it for the other window back there! Excellent experience with them!

The other online source that had a good price was Blindsexpress.com. I ordered from Steves instead as they seemed able to get the order to me sooner. After the experience with customer service at Steves, I am glad I did, altho I cannot say that BlindsExpress would have done less. They very well may have been just as helpful, and to be fair, they had the best price up front. Steves just matched them when I brought that to their attention.

If you are open to doing a DIY installation of Shutters, I found great prices on shutters online at a store called Theshutterstore.com. They offer all sorts of shutters - stained, painted, real wood and faux. Before I finally ordered my blinds I was leaning very hard toward doing stained shutters in here and the price was not that much more than the blinds. I did blinds mostly because I already had white trim, crown molding and such in here and could not 'see' the stained shutters knitting easily with that. If I could have come up with a design solution, I might have done the shutters as that was the main thing I was struggling with. Given that I found blinds with such character, I think I will be happy. Plus, with blinds, I can pull them all the way up to see my very pretty view. The wall space around my windows would have been tight if I had wanted to open the shutters.

I am considering doing the shutters in my bedroom, however, since a white of some shade will go well in there. Plus, TheShutterStore.com offeres a privacy slat that would really block out light. I do question the idea of having shutters only in that room, however. Is it odd to have blinds in the other rooms and shutters in that one? Anyone have an opinion on that to share?

I hope you are able to make a choice that brings you peace. I really like the blinds I chose, but as I said, cannot be sure that they wont sway or warp eventually. I got the 'no holes' option - meaning that the slats just are lying in there and not with strings running through them. I figure if a slat gets a sway in it, I will flip it over and let it 'sway' back the other way lol!

I think I made the right choice for me.

Thanks for the info--
I can see for your windows wood slat blinds are probably better than shutters...
Our front windows are tall (76+ inches) and narrow (35) and there is no framing around the fixed glass...minimal trim in the room...
We could have used blinds--we have them in our Dallas home but my husband kind of surprised me with his desire to upgrade to the shutters...

Since this is vacation house for us the shutters give us a little more security/privacy because they totally frame out the view into those rooms...but since we aren't doing shutters on all windows that is a moot benefit...Right now we have nothing on the sliders onto the lanai in the two living areas..so that is open to anyone looking in the back..

One positive outcome is that my DH has agreed to paint the brick fireplace wall white--so think we will do white shutters in there after all...
Will save your message though for future reference...

Our daughter in FL is hoping to replace all windows in their house soon and they might be looking for new blinds...

PS
I went to Steve's and priced the 7 shutter sizes we are ordering in a poly shutter--not wood--not sure if color would be accurate match but problem is that 3 of our windows are over 30 inches wide...one is 36 and the others are shade under that
So there is only one of the brands on Steve's site that works for us--and I am not sure who actually mfgs that shutter...or if the color would work...hard to tell from Internet...Using same dimensions/options for our 7, the price difference is about 500 less than the local co price-- which covered 5 white poly and two in Thomasville Woodtone faux shutter.

If we go with all white for the shutters vs 5 white and 2 wood tone, I think the overall price will drop...there is $60 price difference on one bid between white and wood tone of the same dimension..so 120 less maybe for all white...
That is the best price I found when I was checking the local bids vs what was online--of course then I was searching for specific pricing for Eclipse shutters so I would know I was comparing apples to apples...
there wasn't lot of difference in sites I found then...

My husband would pay the difference not to have to install himself and have local company to deal with any problems that might come from shipping or otherwise...

That being said--in two bedrooms where we have the wider vs longer typical 70s windows...we installed cut to measure vinyl blinds from Lowe's...because they were the cheapest local option that fit inside the window frame
We kept one set of very nice vertical blinds that the sellers had in the house--a gray one in bedroom my husband is using for his office...we repainted that room a light blue-gray w/white trim...

the other verticals were excellent quality (don't particularly like that style) but just wrong colors for us or we likely would have had them rehung after we had the house repainted...