We love our shutters! We live on a busy street and the shutters give us the privacy we need, and also smarter up our windows. We have wanted shutters for ages, and received a few quotes which were all so different, but too expensive for us. A couple of months ago we came across a company www.shuttershack.co.uk they are the sister company of a already established company. Anyway we ordered ours as DIY shutters which saved us literally ££'s. We have fitted ourselves. But they do offer a fitting service, which still seems a lot cheaper than other companies. Happy days.

5 months far too long. Get them back, send photos, shoddy service for sure. Which company did you use ?

Hi Minerva, I think your house has lots of potential. I really like the large entrance area but I also think moving the WC there would be a better use of space. I would take out the existing wc and replace that area with glazed double doors that will give you sight lines from the front door all the way to the back garden. I imagine your current dining room and kitchen are very dark and I notice you have the lights on during the day. The remedy for this would be to remove the load bearing wall between the two areas to create a spacious open plan area. I would move the kitchen to the back and add an island with bar stool seating. I would also have the living area at the back with direct access to the garden and remove much of the rear wall and replace with glazed bi fold doors. I would expand the under stairs storage to create a utility room and consider keeping the fireplace with a fire (gas or electric) as a feature of the dining space. I would also replace what is currently the kitchen door with a window seat and replace a section of the fence facing it with a vertical garden. I think this design would give you a four great open plan spaces dining, kitchen, living and window seat/reading nook. Overall giving you a spacious, light filled house with great sight lines throughout. Window seat inspiration:

Thanks everyone it seems everyone has agreed it should be 3 pane shutters with 3 pane windows!