If you are interested in buying standard interior plantation shutters, you should check out the selection that is available at Lowes. They have a very good selection of reasonably priced, interior plantation shutters that seem to be sized to fit most commonly sized windows.
Small sized shutters, 24″ x 25″ are available for as little as $50 per shutter. This is a vinyl shutter, which is actually great to use in damp areas as it is guaranteed not to warp.
Their range of vinyl shutters are some of the cheapest you can find, yet they are extremely durable and long-lasting, and as long as you take care of them they look good for years.
The largest size of regular shutters they have measure 71″ x 41″, and they are available in a wood grain color or white, again made from hard wearing vinyl.
If you end up buying your shutters from Lowes they also offer to come and do the installation for you, for a price. It is great to see that Lowes still offers standard sized plantation shutters as unfortunately Home Depot plantation shutters are no longer available, unless you order custom sizes–which of course ends up being quite a bit more expensive than the regular sized shutters are.
If you are interested in wood shutters or even faux wood shutters, you may have to shop somewhere other than Lowes for these. It seems that for now at least the only line that Lowes was selling, at least when referenced online, are the vinyl shutters. Mind you, many people are quite happy with vinyl shutters but if you are going for a more authentic wood look in your home, or living areas, you may want to check out places online that specialize in blinds and shutters only. They seem to have a much better selection of shutters, at pretty affordable prices too.
Of course, any shutters that are ordered online will need to be installed by either yourself or the handyman in your family. If you really cannot find anyone related to you that can help you put them up, then you may need to hire someone to do it for you. They are not that difficult to install and providing you have measured your windows correctly they should pop into place fairly easily.
If you order online, not from Lowes or Home Depot, then try to wrangle free shipping from the company. They should be willing to offer this, especially if you are buying a number of shutters from them. In fact, as the whole window treatment industry is so competitive at the moment especially amongst online retailers, most shops that are selling online automatically offer free shipping at least within the State, or whichever country the online store is located in.
The reason that many online stores are able to see shutters at cheaper prices than even Lowes or Home Depot, is that with many stores they have very little overhead thus they are able to really slash their prices. Of course, some online stores also have a factory presence, but even so, if they do not have an actual brick and mortar shop somewhere you will find that their prices are usually very good.
2 Comments
First off I want to say that I have been in the shutter industry for more than 10 years. I I I While reading this article I have noticed many incorrect facts. The first one is that when you buy a shutter, you do not want to buy one in a pre-manufactured size. All windows are different; yes there are standard size windows but once the drywall and mud is put on the wall, each window will vary in size. Lowes pricing for shutters comes off of a grid. What this means is that if your window size is 30 wide or 36 wide, you get charged the same price. Now the shutter will be custom made to the exact size of the window. So yes Lowes does sell custom made shutters; your just getting robbed on the price. Your actually paying much more if your window is 30″ wide than what you should be. Home Depot prices their shutters by the square foot and every window is custom made to the exact size of the window. That’s why they call it custom plantation shutters. So now you are paying for the exact size that the shutter will be manufactured to. Paying by the square foot as opposed to grid pricing is much less expensive. Another thing; a vinyl shutter is a faux wood shutter. People just have different names for it. Please check your local dealers before buying from Lowes or Home Depot. They take much more pride in their work and provide great customer service.
Thank you for the clarifications you made, it was very helpful to read and did help to explain some of the differences when measuring for Plantation shutters. From my understanding regarding vinyl shutters, some do not actually resemble wood grain but they are made from white vinyl for example. I would not necessarily refer to those personally as faux wood, mainly because they do not imply a wood grain finish. However, I do concur that even wood shutters can be painted white, therefore I can see the logic in your statement. Still, I think the average person setting out to buy shutters would probably think of faux wood as having a wood stain like finish. Glad for the heads up on the better pricing from Home Depot as well, I hope others read your comment.