A cafe-style shutter will only cover the lower half of your window, so rather than full height, it’s simply a half-height design.
Like tier on tier, it was popular years ago, everyone still had curtains, so the cafe style shutters were used to get privacy from the street, but the curtains were still kept in place because shutters were still new, and covering the whole window would reduce light further because louvres and shutters were so much smaller.
Curtains
If you’re keeping curtains and just using the shutters for privacy then on the right window, like a sash window, a half-height design can work as the curtains will cover the frame depth that protrudes.
Without curtains, you will see the thickness of the shutter frame, this will make it look like the shutters are just stuck on your window frame. When you cover the whole window, you don’t see this depth, so the shutters look more fitted.
If you choose a half-height shutters, most customers will still need privacy from the top half, so they end up putting roller blind or roman blind up, this hangs down restricting the light and you can end up having less light than a simple full height design.
Generally, shutters look best on their own, and mixing two window dressings can look busy.
Top frame
The shutters come fitted within a four-sided frame, so if you stop the shutters halfway up your window, you will see this frame running across the window from both inside and outside.
It is possible to order the shutters without a top frame. However, if you do this it means there are no magnetic catches at the tops of the shutters to keep them closed or aligned. So if your window is old or twisted, it can be hard to keep the shutters looking straight.
If you do choose half-height, avoid going for larger louvres, a shorter panel looks better with a smaller louvre, and smaller louvres generally have smaller top and bottom rails providing a neater look.
Recommended
For the best shutters, we recommend a simple full height design, with medium or large louvres and pure white in colour, you get a lot more light than you think, it will finish the window, save you money on window dressings that don’t match and add value to your home.
