"It can't be done"
When Dorothy got in touch with us, on the recommendation of a neighbour, she had already been turned down by other local companies. She and her partner Neil were nearing completion of a new build in a conservation area in Boddam, a coastal village in Aberdeenshire, with a clear view of the beach and the North Sea beyond.
The windows were the reason for the refusals. The house had a full-glass trapezoid gable, four tall portrait side windows, two patio doors needing French door cut-outs, a bedroom with two bay windows, and a collection of rectangular windows besides. A public footpath and road run directly in front of the house, so the brief demanded privacy without losing that sea view, and the exposed coastal position made insulation a genuine requirement rather than a nice-to-have.
None of that makes shutters impossible. It makes them demanding, which is a different thing entirely.
Three hundred measurements
Boddam is a five-hour round trip from our Dundee design studio, so our Technical Director, David D'Ambrosio, scheduled a home appointment. He took over three hundred measurements, working with operating shutter samples so Dorothy and Neil could see and feel exactly what they were choosing.
In more than twenty years of supplying shaped shutters we have never taken a paper template. Every shape is drawn accurately on our in-house CAD system, which is also how we guarantee something the industry too often ignores: every vertical and every horizontal line of every panel aligning, in every room, whether you are looking from inside or out.
A full specification and quotation went to Dorothy two days after the visit, along with a personalised video introducing the team. When she emailed questions on a Sunday, Judith called her from home to answer them. Dorothy placed her order, and chose to pay in full rather than the usual deposit.
Bespoke shutters travel to us by sea freight, which can take up to ten weeks. We sent a card thanking Dorothy for her order, and a postcard halfway through the wait to say her shutters were on the way. Small things, but our clients tell us they notice them.
The specification
- 89mm louvres in Fiji, a lightweight hardwood, with centre-tilt operation
- Slate grey (RAL 7015), colour matched exactly to the property's existing paintwork
- Bespoke shaped panels for the trapezoid gable, designed on CAD
- French door cut-outs for both patio doors
- Spare louvres supplied for every panel, so any future damage can be repaired easily
Installed in seven hours
On installation day we arrived early with a four-person fitting team in two vans, each fitter working on a specific room. Seven hours later the whole house was dressed. David D'Ambrosio walked Dorothy and Neil through the operation of every shutter before we left.
Dorothy, for her part, kept the team topped up with coffee and biscuits all day, and surprised everyone with lunch.
"I was very impressed that 7 hours later the whole house was fully dressed with the most beautiful quality timber shutters and blinds. The team was excellent throughout the fitting. All the shutters and blinds fitted perfectly. We are absolutely delighted with the quality of the shutters and the stunning finish it has given our windows."
Best in the UK
We entered the project for the British Blind & Shutter Association awards, and at a ceremony at the Belfry Hotel & Resort it won Best Window Shutter Installation in the UK. The BBSA awards are judged by our peers in the industry, which is exactly why this one matters to us: it is the trade's own verdict on the windows everyone else had called impossible.
