What is a tilt/control rod?
From the very beginning of plantation shutters, long before they came to the Denver area, people wanted to open all the louvers at once instead of one at a time. So one of the first innovations was a piece of wood that was attached to the face of all the louvers, when one louver was moved they all followed.

For a long time, this innovation was the new standard of plantation shutter design, everyone wanted it, after all, who would want to adjust each louver one at a time to let in the light or see the view when the fancy tilt rod invention made life so much easier, this was modern, this was cool.

Hidden Tilt Rod
As you can imagine, mankind loves to innovate and invent so it wasn’t long before an even fancier innovation came along – the hidden tilt rod.

Hidden tilt uses a very thin and hardly visible steel rod placed on the back of the shutters on the street side, with each louver attached to the rod so when one is moved they all move. Voila, no more tilt rod in the front running down the middle of the shutters’ faces!

Why choose front tilt or hidden tilt?
You would think that hidden tilt would now be the new standard design and look for plantation shutters, but as logical as that thinking is, the reality is different. 

Keep in mind that style and decor of your Denver area home should always have a role in choosing plantation shutter styles. We now think of front tilt rod plantation shutters as having a traditional look – it’s a “when you think of plantation shutters how do you picture them?” sort of thing. We create a picture in our mind and that tilt rod is going to be there.

Therefore, the newer hidden tilt rod look we consider to be a more contemporary look, it’s sleeker, it’s new, look how stylish and modern those window coverings look without that old fashioned tilt rod!

Is there a wrong or right?
The answer is easy, there is no wrong or right choice, only the idea of thinking about your plantation shutters as a decorative feature in your home and deciding how you want their look to function with your home’s style. Traditional looks work well with traditional styled products and contemporary goes with contemporary, but there is also the style of bridging – where you bridge or mix styles. It’s all very personal. 

Some homes have a dominant style throughout, other times the individual rooms themselves have a decorative style of their own.

What’s your thoughts on plantation shutter style?