This is one of the questions we get asked most often, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a sales pitch. If you need total, complete darkness — the kind that means you can't tell whether it's midday or midnight — standard plantation shutters will not deliver that. If you need good light reduction with full flexibility, they're excellent.
Understanding the distinction will save you from a mismatched expectation.
What Standard Shutters Actually Do
When the louvres of a plantation shutter are fully closed and the panel is pulled shut against the frame, they reduce incoming light by somewhere between 85% and 95% depending on the window orientation, the time of day, and how well the shutter fits the reveal.
For most rooms and most people, this level of light reduction is perfectly adequate. A bedroom with shutters fully closed at noon will feel dark and restful. The room won't be pitch black, but it will be comfortably dim — more than sufficient for daytime sleep, afternoon naps, or simply keeping a room cool and private.
Where the Light Gets In
The light that does enter with shutters closed typically bleeds around the edges of the frame — the gap between the shutter frame and the window reveal — rather than through the closed louvres themselves. How visible this is depends on how bright the outside light is, how deep the window reveal is, and how tightly the shutter is fitted.
A well-fitted shutter in a deep reveal will have very little edge bleed. A shutter fitted in a shallow reveal against a bright white external wall on a sunny afternoon will have more. We assess this during every survey and can tell you in advance what to expect for your specific windows.
When You Actually Need Blackout
For rooms where true darkness is essential — a nursery for a baby who won't sleep unless it's completely dark, a bedroom for a shift worker who sleeps through the day, a home cinema room — standard shutters aren't the right specification on their own.
Our blackout shutter option addresses this directly. A specially constructed frame houses an integrated honeycomb blackout blind inside the shutter itself, sitting behind the louvres. During the day the shutters function exactly as standard — you see the louvred panel, the blind is invisible and retracted. When you need blackout, the blind pulls down behind the louvres and eliminates the edge bleed that a shutter alone can't prevent. It's one unit that does both jobs.
Solid panel shutters are the other option. Instead of louvres, the panel is a solid painted board. They block light very effectively but obviously have no louvre adjustment — you choose between solid panel closed and panel open. They suit period properties well and provide excellent insulation, but flexibility is limited.
Our Recommendation
For most bedrooms, standard shutters are sufficient. For nurseries, shift workers, or cinema rooms — consider the blackout option from the start. It costs more than standard, but it's the right product for those specific use cases, and getting it right first time is always cheaper than retrofitting.
We discuss light requirements as a standard part of every home survey. Tell us what you need the room to do and we'll recommend accordingly.