Plantation shutters and Window sills

 

Can plantation shutters and window sills exist together?

You want plantation shutters for your home, but your windows have a protruding window sill. Will you still be able to install interior shutters? How will it look? How can you design your windows if you’re in the building process to best accommodate shutters?

The short answer is, yes! We can install shutters on windows with protruding sills. Plantation shutters offer a wide variety of different frame options. Depending on your sill, the shutter frame can be exposed or covered with a decorative sill cover. 

Knowing this, there are a couple of things to keep in mind if you’re in the building process that could save you both time and money.

In this post, we’re gonna focus on the bottom part of the frame, not its overall design. Read more about our frame options here.

 

Shutters on a window with no protruding sill cap

A window with no protruding sill or trim around the window offers the best-case scenario for window treatment installers. In this case, the frame of the interior shutter can act as a trim around the window on all four sides- left, right, top, and bottom.

 

As seen in the picture, all sides of the frame look identical, creating a beautiful framed window.

 

Pro Tip: If you’re still in the building process and have an opportunity to speak with your builder, this can save you some extra time and money. Ask the builder to leave a flush sill at the bottom of the window. Don’t ask the builder to add trim to the window, instead choose a frame on your plantation shutters that will match the style of your home with no added cost. An additional tip: ask your builder to leave the inside of your window frames white, no matter what your wall color is gonna be. This creates the best look for an installed white shutter.

 

 

Shutters on window with protruding sill

Like almost everything else, the world isn’t made up of only perfect scenarios. So how do you install plantation shutters on the windows that have a protruding window sill? At SunCoast Blinds we use three different options for this situation. Depending on what the window allows and what we want to achieve. Let’s dive into it.

 

3 sided frame

A three-sided frame refers in the case to a frame that wraps around the left, top, and right side of the window, leaving the bottom open (see picture below). This is most commonly used at a window that has a marble sill, or in a room where you’re not sitting right at the window (an example of the opposite would be a window by a dining table). This leaves the window sill exactly like it was, allowing the marble sill to show at the bottom. It also allows for really easy cleaning once the shutter panel is opened.

 

 

4-sided frame with bottom sill frame

At SunCoast Blinds we use a 4 sided Frame with bottom sill in windows with wood window sills. The four-sided frame refers to the fact that it goes around all four sides of the window: left, top, right, and bottom. In this case, it’s a bottom sill. This means that the bottom part looks different from the other four sides. As the other sides are decorative according to your style, the bottom is a  3/4″ trim piece that runs along your existing window sill (see picture below).

What’s the benefit of a bottom sill?

The bottom sill is especially useful to avoid any scratches while operating your interior shutters if you have existing wood window sills.  It’s also the option we use in case a client prefers panel locks over a drilled magnet to hold the interior shutter in the closed position.

 

 

 

3-sided frame with sill cap

At SunCoast Blinds we offer a premium product to cover up your window sill called a sill cap or sill cover (see pictures below). This product allows us to cover your existing protruding window sill with a sill cap to match up with the frame of the plantation shutters. This option is available if your sill extends less than 1.5″. At an additional cost, you can finish off the entire look with a beautiful design element on your window.

The sill caps sit directly on your existing window sill.

When to use sill caps: If you love the look, you can’t go wrong with a beautiful sill cover. But, we especially recommend it on windows close to dining room tables or any window that you spend extended time around, especially while sitting down.

 

 

Are you ready to schedule your in-home consultation, or do you have more questions about window treatments?
Contact us here.