Restoring Your Victorian Home With a Contemporary Twist

During the reign of Queen Victoria I, there was mass production of houses and an increase in wealth. Properties were built with larger bay windows to let maximum natural light in and allow homeowners to see what is happening outside their front door.

Victorian homes are full of character and charm with their high ceilings and tiled paths, so it’s important to celebrate their original features.

Homeowners of Victorian homes are renovating their interiors to complement their properties traditional features while bringing them more into the current design era.

If you have a Victorian home and want to add your personal touch, here are some tips to ensure you create a home that modern while paying homage to the property’s history:

Celebrate Your Ceilings

Victorian homes have high ceilings that should be celebrated. Painting the cornicing a different colour to your walls, you immediately make the walls a stand out feature. Victorian picture rails have also now become an interior feature that split the wall in two beautifully. If you decide to opt for these, consider painting the bottom half darker and the top half lighter to draw the eye up.

Add Plantation Shutters

Known for their large windows, it’s important to update your Victorian home while keeping with the original design. A common dressing for bay windows is plantation shutters as they cover the window seamlessly allowing for maximum natural light to enter the room while maintaining privacy levels. What’s more, plantation shutters add value to your Victorian home.

Flooring and Fireplaces

Some other features that can be refurbished in your Victoria home are the wooden flooring and fireplaces. The original flooring in a Victorian property is timeless that can be restored with a few coats of varnish. If you’re lucky enough to be able to restore your Victorian home’s original flooring, pair the hard wood with a luscious rug to add softness to the room. Similarly, if you’re able to restore the fireplace to its former glory, it will become a new feature for your home.

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Every home should reflect the homeowner’s personal style. If you’re restoring your Victorian home and would like to dress your windows with plantation shutters, contact us on 0203 960 6963 to book your free no obligation in-house survey. All plantation shutters come with a 5-year guarantee.

Add Value to Your Home With Plantation Shutters

If you’re looking to add the finishing touch to your home, or something that can add value to your home to increase its price, then plantation shutters are the solution for you.

When selling your home, it’s important to maximise its potential, especially in a market that has more sellers than buyers. Your home needs to stand out and have the wow factor, and plantation shutters can help you achieve just that.

Why do shutters add value?

Plantation shutters don’t just look good from the inside, but the outside too, making your home stand out from the others. Potential buyers will immediately focus on how stylish your home is.

Shutters are considered part of the fixtures and fittings of a home, so when valuing your home, estate agents will add an amount onto the sale price. Your estate agent will be able to tell potential buyers the benefits of shutters and how they reduce utility bills by providing extra insulation, control lighting and improve privacy and security.

How much value do shutters add to a property?

A ‘no size fits all’ question as the value depends on the style chosen and the quality of the shutters. However, any plantation shutter type is considered beneficial for increasing value. But remember when choosing shutters for your home, your taste may not be right for someone else, so avoid bright colours and very dark stains and paints. And always opt for waterproof options for humid rooms such as bathrooms and kitchens.

Often property developers will opt for the cheapest shutters available. However, today’s buyers are knowledgeable and are looking for strong, quality shutters that stand the test of time. If your shutters are poor quality or badly fitted, the prospective buyer will immediately see this and ask for discount.

 

For more information on how plantation shutters can add value to your home or to request your free, no-obligation quotation, contact Totally Shutters on 0845 299 7757 today. All shutters from Totally Shutters come with a 5-year guarantee.

Keep Warm This Winter With Plantation Shutters

Autumn is in full swing and as beautiful crisp leaves tumble from the branches above and Christmas gifts begin to adorn the shelves of every supermarket, we start to turn our attention towards winter time. But what’s the best window covering for your home during these colder months?

There’s no better way to dress your windows for the colder seasons than plantation shutters. The stylish solution is the perfect way to spruce up your decor and bring some much-needed warmth and cosiness to your home. Here are three advantages and benefits for shutter blinds during the winter months:

Warmth

The main benefit of shutters during winter is to keep the heat in and reduce energy bills. Approximately 25-50% of all heat escapes out of the windows, so regardless of how long you keep your heating on, you can be wasting incredible amounts of warmth and money. Plantation shutters create a barrier which prevents the heat from escaping, proving a good investment in the long run.

Privacy

When night draws in, privacy can be invaded. Traditional blinds don’t provide a great deal of privacy and you may find passerby’s catching a peek of you watching television. Plantation shutters offer total privacy, providing a barrier that is 100% effective, so your family can cosy up together in the privacy of your own home.

Low Maintenance

Most people spend more time in the warmth of their home during the winter months, which can often result in more cleaning. Shutters require little maintenance and hardly any cleaning – just a quick wipe down now and again – so you can spend more time with your loved ones.

 

If you would like more information on plantation shutters, please contact Totally Shutters today on 0845 299 7757 for expert advice and guidance. All shutters from Totally Shutters come with a 5-year guarantee.

Plantation Shutters: DIY or Leave it to The Experts?

Do-it-yourself plantation shutters may seem like a great idea on paper – a stylish and contemporary window covering that you can fit in your spare time, saving money too. But is it really that straightforward, or could made-to-measure shutters fitted by a specialist be better in the long run?

DIY shutters explained

The pros of DIY shutters concern mainly price, as they’re less costly than made-to-measure plantation shutters from a professional company such as Totally Shutters. However, if your budget will only extend to DIY shutters, they’re a more fashionable and practical solution than roller blinds or curtains.

But while DIY shutters may seem like the better, cheaper option, there are many flaws to this approach that can go wrong. Unless you have considerable DIY skills, using a shutter specialist will make your shutters are worthwhile investment in the long run.

Measuring for your DIY shutter blinds can be harder than you think, with so much to consider including window hight, window width, recess depth, frame size, angles, handles and latches, measuring can be complicated and miss-measuring will lead to incorrect ordering, difficult fitting and amendments will be time consuming and are unlikely to be covered by product warranty.

And then assembling and mounting your DIY shutters to your window frames can be difficult, especially if the measurements are slightly out. That’s why it’s always a good idea to get quotations from specialist shutter suppliers such as Totally Shutters, to see how made-to-measure shutters can compare.

It may seem like there is a wide range of options available for DIY shutters, but you may, in fact, be restricted to kits or templates. At Totally Shutters, we offer a wide range of choices, including a custom colour service that matches the colour of your blinds to virtually any shade, so you can sit in the knowledge knowing your blinds will be made and fitted to a high standard.

 

At Totally Shutters, we offer a do-it-yourself discount for fitting your own shutters and it is possible to fit our shutters yourself. However, its only recommended for those with considerable DIY skills. We will check, measure and guide you through the process of installing your shutters yourself, or you can leave the whole installation process to us.

For a free in-house survey and appointment call Totally Shutters today on 0203 960 69 63, with no obligation to buy, you can explore the plantation shutters choices available for you in the comfort of your own home.