🏠Featured in The New Stour & Avon Magazine — Issue 110, Page 22!

We’re excited to share that The ShutterShack was featured in Issue 110 of The New Stour & Avon Magazine — on page 22 of their Home and Gardens Renovation edition!

Why This Edition Was Special

This issue included a dedicated “Home & Gardens” section, highlighting local companies across Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire who specialise in home improvements. It was the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our bespoke plantation shutters alongside other trusted businesses in the area.

For many readers exploring ways to improve their homes, this feature served as a go-to guide — and we were delighted to be part of it.

Why We Chose Stour & Avon

With 20,000 copies printed every fortnight and an estimated readership of 50,000 local readers, the magazine has a strong community presence (Stour & Avon Magazine). Combined with their online reach of 95,000+ page views, it’s a fantastic platform for connecting with homeowners who value quality and craftsmanship.

The New Stour & Avon Magazine is a much-loved local publication that not only features home and lifestyle businesses but also shares community news, local events, and stories from across Dorset, Wiltshire, and Somerset. Distributed in print and available online, the magazine is delivered free of charge to thousands of households. This ensures it reaches a wide audience — including those who may not regularly access online information — making it an invaluable resource for staying connected to the local area.

By being part of the Home & Gardens section, we were able to introduce The Shutter Shack to people actively thinking about updating and investing in their homes.

What It Means for You

Our feature is more than just an advert — it’s about being visible in the heart of our community. If you’re considering shutters, this is a reminder that there’s a trusted, local team right here, ready to help bring your vision to life with made-to-measure shutters, expert fitting, and personal service.

Want to see the feature?

Check out The New Stour & Avon Magazine if you have a copy, or browse the latest edition online — you’ll find us in Issue 110, page 22, as part of the Home & Gardens showcase.

More from our blog

• What to Expect on Shutter Installation Day

• How to Clean and Maintain Your Shutters — The ShutterShack Guide

Keep Cool This Summer: The Benefits of Plantation Shutters for Your Home

When the sun is shining, we all want our homes to feel bright, fresh, and comfortable. But managing heat, light, and privacy in the summer months isn’t always easy. That’s where plantation shutters come in — a stylish, practical solution that works beautifully in any home.

At The ShutterShack, we know shutters aren’t just for winter insulation. They’re one of the best summer window treatments you can choose, helping you stay cool, protect your interiors, and add timeless style.

A Short History of Plantation Shutters

Plantation shutters have a fascinating history. Their origins can be traced back to Ancient Greece, where marble shutters were used to provide shade while still allowing airflow. In later centuries, timber versions became popular in the southern United States, particularly on plantations, where the louvres helped keep homes cool in hot, humid climates.

Today, plantation shutters UK homeowners love have become a sought-after feature in both modern and period properties, admired for their heritage charm and year-round practicality.

Why Shutters Are Perfect for Summer

1. Keep your home cool naturally
If you’re looking to keep your home cool with shutters, you’ll be glad to know they act as a natural insulator. By closing the louvres during the hottest part of the day, you block out direct sunlight while still letting fresh air flow through. This helps reduce indoor temperatures and can even cut down your reliance on fans or air conditioning.

2. Control the light, your way
Long summer evenings are lovely, but not always ideal for sleeping or relaxing. Shutters give you precision control over the light — tilt the louvres to let in a soft glow, or close them fully for complete shade. Compared to blinds or curtains, shutters provide a much more flexible option.

3. Protect your furniture and flooring
Sunlight is a leading cause of fading in fabrics, wood, and carpets. With shutters, you can filter harsh rays without losing natural daylight altogether. This makes shutters a smart investment for protecting your interiors as well as enhancing them.

4. Privacy with ventilation
In summer, we naturally want to open our windows — but this can make privacy tricky. Shutters allow you to enjoy fresh air while blocking outside views. Tilt them upwards to keep nosy passers-by out of sight, without compromising on airflow.

5. Style that lasts
Unlike curtains or blinds that may date or wear, made-to-measure shutters offer a timeless, elegant look. They add instant kerb appeal to your home, complementing everything from period townhouses to modern new builds.

Shutters: A Year-Round Investment

While shutters are one of the best choices for summer, their benefits last all year round. In winter, they keep warmth inside. All year, they reduce external noise, add an extra layer of security, and can even increase your home’s value.

When comparing shutters vs blinds or curtains, shutters consistently come out on top for durability, versatility, and style.

Thinking about shutters this summer?

At The ShutterShack, we specialise in designing, supplying, and installing made-to-measure shutters homeowners trust. If you’re ready to explore options for your home, contact our friendly team today — and let’s make your home cooler, smarter, and more stylish this summer.

Why we are not just about Shutters

We know it has been some time since our last blog, we have been busy not only fitting shutters but also doing what we can around the community.

Charles, the main man behind The ShutterShack, constantly pushes for more community work, more charity donations and more ways to make our business more sustainable.

This year, we have supported the charity Cool Earth via donations, a non-profit organisation that works alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change. We mainly use Paulownia Hardwood Shutters, one of the most sustainable hardwoods around, as a lightweight strong fast growing wood. It is plantation grown and can be traced back to source, thereby stopping illegal deforestation. It is also a premium beautiful quality hardwood.

For the last few years, we have been supporting our local schools, Verwood First and more recently Emmanuel Middle School by donating great raffle prizes for the school fayres.

We also support our local kids Football Team Verwood Town FC (a non-profit organisation working for the community) and sponsor their training kit. Look at these top footballers!

We are an ethical business, we try to avoid filling landfills unnecessarily and actively look for ways to recycle as much as we can. We recycle all our cardboard and always look for means to reuse our other packaging. We work with another local business, the amazing Glass Relief (www.glassrelief.co.uk) who uses our wrapping to pack their glass art.

We are only a small company, but we believe every litttle thing can make a difference and as we steadily grow, we will be able to increase our support to our Community and develop ways to reduce waste, recycle more efficiently and positively impact on the environment.

Research demonstrates that Shutters are the Most Energy Efficient Window Covering

GET PLANTATION SHUTTERS TO KEEP YOU WARM THIS WINTER.

As well as giving a stunning elegant look to your room, interior shutters add an effective layer of insulation to your home. In fact, this is their primary purpose in life!

Plantation shutters first appeared in ancient Greece to protect properties from weather hazards and regulate the temperature inside the home. They since spread all over Europe and comprehensive research has evidenced the excellent capabilities of shutters as temperature regulators. They keep homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer. 

As such, shutters can noticeably reduce your energy bills by reducing heat loss, controlling heat gain and making your home more energy efficient. A project funded by the Climate Challenge Fund evidenced this by concluding that shutters could ‘dramatically reduce energy bills’. The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust (EWHT) used thermal imaging cameras to show the most effective ways to avoid heat loss and save energy. They established that windows with the shutters closed showed up in the images in a deep blue colour, demonstrating little heat loss.

Figure 1 Source: EDINBURGH WORLD HERITAGE Energy Efficiency Guide

The United Nations RENFORUS (Renewable Energy Futures for UNESCO sites) also endorsed the results of the EWHT project; wooden shutters, amongst other things, can greatly improve the energy efficiency of traditional and historic homes, ‘enabling them to contribute to local and national carbon reduction targets.’

Research by the Glasgow Caledonian University was conducted to identify the effectiveness of the various heat loss reduction options. They tested a series of measures on a single glazed box sash window (which had been draught proofed).

It concluded that ‘secondary glazing was the most effective overall option, as it reduced heat loss through the window by 63%. Timber shutters are the most effective option of the traditional methods, reducing heat loss by 51%; Insulating the panels of the shutters further reduced heat loss by 60%;  Curtains reduced heat loss by 14%; a Victorian roller blind reduced heat loss by 28%; a modern roller blind reduced heat loss by 22%.’

Research further demonstrated that fitting shutters improved the U-Value from 4.3 W/m²K to 2.2 W/m²K.

The combination of secondary glazing and shutters reduced heat loss by 75% and reduced the U-Value to 1.1 W/m²K.

With such compelling results, it is a no brainer. Whether you already have double glazing or not, shutters are definitely the way forward to make your home more energy efficient and save on your bills. As an added bonus, shutters will give your rooms a stunning makeover, add value to your house, increase privacy and security, reduce noise, save space and offer great versatility with ventilation and light control.

Figure 2 Source: Thermal Performance of Traditional Windows, by Paul Baker, Glasgow Caledonian University, for Historic Scotland.

 Figure 3 Source: Thermal Performance of Traditional Windows, by Paul Baker, Glasgow Caledonian University, for Historic Scotland.

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References

BS EN ISO 8990:1996, Thermal insulation. Determination of steady-state thermal transmission properties. Calibrated and guarded hot box, BSI, ISBN 0 580 26826 8 [6] BS EN ISO 12567-1:2000,

Thermal performance of windows and doors. Determination of thermal transmittance by hot box method. Complete windows and doors, BSI, ISBN 0 580 36028 8

http://www.ewht.org.uk/news/109/102/Thermal-imaging-survey-reveals-close-your-shutters

http://www.ewht.org.uk/uploads/downloads/Energy%20Efficiency%20Guidebook%20Final.pdf

http://www.renforus.net/

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/gcu-technical-_thermal-efficiency-traditional-windows.pdf

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/your-home/saving-energy