Room Darkening
Shutter & Shade
Shutters darken a room beautifully, but they stop just short of true darkness. Shutter & Shade closes that gap. It pairs your interior shutters with a slim cellular blind fitted behind the panels, so you keep the look you love and gain a genuinely dark room when you want it.
Shutters and a dim-out blind, working together
Even with the louvres fully closed, a shutter will always let a few slivers of light slip between the blades. For most rooms that is exactly right. In a bedroom, or a room you want to use during daylight hours, it can be enough to keep you awake.
Shutter & Shade solves this by fitting a lightweight cellular blind directly behind the shutter panels. Lower the blind, close the louvres, and the small shafts of light that would otherwise creep through simply disappear. The shutter frame overlaps the blind to create an exceptionally tight seal around the edges, so you get a very dark room indeed.
It is one integrated system, measured and made to suit your window, not a shutter with a separate blind bolted on afterwards. From the room it still reads as a set of shutters. The blind sits quietly behind, ready when you need it.
Three ways to darken a room
There is more than one way to achieve a dark room with shutters. Which is right for you depends on how dark you need it and the look you want to keep. We will talk you through all three at your appointment.
Solid panel shutters
Solid panel shutters have no louvres, just a smooth, unbroken panel. On their own they give the most darkness of any shutter, because there are no blade gaps for light to pass through. A clean, classic choice for a bedroom where darkness matters most.
Solid panels with a cellular blind behind
Add a cellular blind behind solid panel shutters and you take darkness a step further again. The blind seals the edges the panel cannot reach, for the darkest result we offer. The blind is manually operated, so it is simple to raise and lower whenever you need it.
Louvred shutters with a cellular blind behind
If you prefer the classic louvred look, keep your louvred shutters and add the cellular blind behind them. You hold on to the tilt control and the character of louvres for everyday use, and gain a strong level of room darkening when the blind comes down. This is the most popular Shutter & Shade combination.
About the blind
The blind is a lightweight cellular, or honeycomb, fabric, manually operated so there is no wiring or charging to think about. It sits neatly behind the panels and all but disappears when raised.
It is available in twenty colours, so you can match or contrast with your shutters as you please. If you choose a bolder colour, there is no need to worry about the view from the street. The outward face of the blind is a discreet, neutral shade, so your home looks consistent from outside whatever you pick inside.
The cellular structure brings a welcome bonus. The pockets of trapped air add a layer of insulation, helping to keep the room warmer in winter and cooler in summer alongside the insulating effect of the shutters themselves.
Where Shutter & Shade earns its keep
Anywhere a bright room gets in the way of rest or comfort. Shutter & Shade is a firm favourite for shift workers who sleep through the day, and a real boon in children's bedrooms where an early sunrise means an early start for everyone.
East-facing bedrooms benefit enormously. As spring turns to summer, these rooms grow light very early and stay bright late into the evening. A Sunday lie-in becomes a good deal easier with the blind down and the louvres closed.
We have also fitted Shutter & Shade in home cinemas, where cutting out stray daylight makes the picture richer and the experience more like the real thing, and for clients troubled by the glare of a streetlight that would otherwise keep them awake.
Room darkening, done properly
Shutter & Shade is a room darkening system, and a very effective one. With the blind down and the louvres closed, the overlapping frame seals the edges tightly and the room becomes genuinely dark, far darker than shutters alone.
It is the best of both worlds: a stylish shutter interior by day, and the practicality of a room darkening blind whenever you want the room to settle down. Everything is measured, designed and fitted by our own team to suit your windows exactly.
See it working at our design studio
The easiest way to understand Shutter & Shade is to see it in action. You can view it at our Edinburgh design studio at 67 Ratcliffe Terrace, where you can lower the blind, close the louvres and see just how dark the combination gets.
Our design studios are open by scheduled appointment only, so you have the complete and undivided attention of one of our shading experts for the whole of your visit. Book an appointment and we will show you the options in person.
What Our Customers Say
"I don't often give out five stars, but this 5-star review is completely justified. Quick response, expert advice, great communication throughout, and a superb installation."
David Corbett
"The shutters and blinds are simply amazing and really dress each window so well, producing an outstanding finish to each room. The products are of such high quality and were installed with such care, attention and professionalism."
Julie Sangster, Portlethen
Start with our brochure
52 pages of ideas, product details, and real installations from homes across Scotland. Request your copy and take the first step.