Plantation shutters are available in traditional and contemporary styles.

Whether your Colorado home is more traditional or leans toward a modern contemporary style, you can choose a shutter design to match your home.

Front louver controls in a traditional-style living room

Traditional style homes have a warm, cozy, and inviting feeling, often with warmer tones, and have extra trim work such as crown moldings and window moldings. This style presents a distinctive look that invites you in to stay awhile.

A traditional home radiates sophistication and polish, and a timeless elegance that you will want the shutters to complement.

What does a traditional-style plantation shutter look like?

Traditional-style plantation shutters reflect the historic look of shutters, where function determined form.

First and foremost they have a front louver control rod

The louvers or ‘slats’ positions determine the amount of light that enters the room.

Instead of having to adjust each louver one at a time, the louver control rod connects all of the louvers together, so that when you adjust one, they all adjust at the same time.

Originally this control rod first appeared in the front of the louvers so this look compliments a traditional style home.

Kitchen with front control rods on the panels

Dividers also contribute to a traditional look and style

Most windows were originally a double-hung style.

They have an upper and lower glass panel, where you can raise the lower panel to open the window. In the middle, they overlap and there is a lock.

A divider is a solid horizontal component that ‘divides’ the shutter panel, it was typically placed to cover this middle section of the double-hung window where the locks were.

Dividers also create a separation of the panel allowing the top or bottom louvers to be operated independently.

This is a nice feature for privacy in windows facing a street or for a bathroom, allowing the lower louvers to be closed a bit for privacy while the upper section is more open allowing in more light.

Two Closing Options

Are you an ‘uppy’ or a ‘downy’?

Typically manufacturers only allow you to close your louvers in the upward position, our shutters are designed so you can close the louvers upwards or downwards, the choice of how to close your louvers is always up to you.

Woodwork like decorative frames

All plantation shutters today are going to have frames and these frames come in different styles.

The most popular style for more traditional homes is going to be a wider frame with some architectural detail to it such as a fluted style frame.

These frames improve the look of plain drywall-wrapped windows, giving you a more finished, custom-trimmed window at no additional cost.

Wider frames with more details in a traditional style living room

Plantation shutters with front louver controls, dividers and wider architectural frames

Bi-fold designs

When all shutters were made out of wood, they were very heavy, and breaking up the panels into smaller panels was a more common feature than it is today with more modern materials that are lighter.

The bi-fold look definitely contributes to a more traditional style, but we also use it today to solve problems, like being able to open panels in a kitchen sink area to work around the faucet.

If you want to preserve a view the bi-fold design works against this, as there are more verticle components in the way and the louvers will be smaller in width, but if you want to be able to fold back your panels or avoid a faucet when opening them, then bi-fold is a good option.

Bi-fold style plantation shutters have a traditional look and feel

Contrasting Hinges

Long ago all hinges were brass and they contrasted with a white shutter design.

Today we have more choices than just brass. While the majority of shutters are ordered with white hinges today, if you want to maximize that retro look, using a non-white hinge is the way to do it.

Kitchen shutter design with non-white hinges

Cafe Style

Cafe shutter panels don’t cover the entire window, they cover the lower portion, typically halfway. These are a very popular option in homes that want a vintage look.

Composite or wood?

No matter the style of the panels you are looking at, the material is still a choice.

You can do a traditional-style plantation shutter in either wood or composite and mix and match all of the features we have listed so far.

Read more about :

The difference between wood and composite plantation shutters

Living room with arched window over the fireplace

No matter the style, installation is the final step

Read more about :

10 things to know, and ask about the installation of your plantation shutters 

Final thoughts…

You can choose all of the different options listed here such as front louver controls, dividers, wide frame moldings, bi-fold design, or mix and match them depending on your preferences and objectives.

All of these elements will complement a traditional-style home.

A Better-Built Plantation Shutter

If you like this guide you can also read :

12 reasons why our plantation shutters are the best in Denver

Made In The USA

And last but not least, our shutters are made in the USA, in Texas to be exact, not China. This is why the build quality is so good and why we can get them so quickly.