Tips for a stress free school year and the benefits of interior plantation shutters As a mother of four (now grown-up) children, I know the feeling only too well; the end of a long summer, filled with friends, excitement and holidays - energy levels begin to drop! I remember needing to delve deep into the energy reserves just to get them ready for the new term, new shoes, clothes, pens and pencils the list is endless. Finally the day arrives, the children go back and a mix of emotions well up - relief and the empty missing feeling, I was lucky in that I always had my fifth child; The Shutter Shop, to keep me going! As owner of The Shutter Shop, an interior shutter company which I set up when my eldest was only five, almost thirty years ago, I knew that the juggling of work and holidays puts even the most energetic and organised of mothers to the test! Going back to work to focus on selling interior shutters and wooden venetian blinds into the London shutter market, gave me a different set of questions to think about but this time from interior designers and retail customers. I was replacing times tables with CAD drawings, spelling and grammar with panel configurations and geography questions with colour charts. Even though the kids may have gone back to school they are still at the forefront of every parent’s mind so I thought I would share my experience of some of the most common questions I get when discussing shutters, blinds and children. SHUTTERS, A DARKER ROOM AND A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP If your children are anything like mine, the moment the sun is up, they are up! While there were cost benefits over other window solutions, all my children had shutters in their rooms growing up. Shutters block out about 97% of the light coming through the window on their own, but what I wouldn’t have given for our integrated blackout blinds to have been invented twenty something years ago! GAME PROOF SHUTTERS I have been extremely fortunate that my son Ben (now 30) joined The Shutter Shop 18 months ago. He is now fully in control and running and growing our business with energy, but as the keen sportsman in his youth, he really put the robustness of our product to the test. Over the years any ball you can name has hit our shutters at some point during their life span. While I would love to say that our louvres can stand up to a rugby ball being hurtled at them, alas that is not the case and we have had to replace louvres in our shutters as we have for many customers. Fear not though it is possible and is much easier than you might think! However, they do take a fair bit of rough and rumble and I often have customers coming into replace shutters after fifteen years of use and while the guarantee is three years, the quality of the product means they will last! CHILD SAFETY FIRST The safety of children is of paramount importance to us and great care is taken to ensure that no toxic materials are used in the production of our shutters and that all our products adhere to strict government guidelines but we now have the ability to add key locks to shutters to give added security and as all our blinds come with child safety mechanisms they should give some peace of mind! CONTROLLING THE LIGHT FOR STUDY Today, children of all ages use computers on a daily basis from playing games to home work and revising for exams. Extensive viewing of the computer screen can lead to eye discomfort, fatigue, blurred vision and other symptoms of eyestrain. These symptoms may be caused by poor lighting, glare, an improper work station set-up. Ideally, the computer screen should be positioned in a way so that windows are not in front or behind it, but on its side. Also the adjustment of the interior light can make a big difference. Interior window shutters are our best allies, because they control the natural light in the room easing the strain on the eyes with just a small amount of effort like adjusting the louvres. Just a simple precaution can help to reinforce the appropriate viewing habits and assure that there is less strain on the eyes. I hope these little pointers helps those who, like me, are constantly thinking about their children, but don’t worry unduly and when the children go back to school make sure you enjoy the space and do something that YOU want to do! Your energy levels will need topping up before you know it they will be back again! Working and having children can be very tough, especially during the long holidays, but the rewards and confidence that it gives any person as an individual is enormous. I would like to think that I have always had a great relationship with all my children and they are now all my best friends and we have fun together.

Hi Isidora Markovic Thank you for the images. I see what you mean - shutters could work. My concern about no door dressing is being seen when we're in the rooms at night with the lights on. Also for security reasons when away on holiday. We are in the countryside so the only night time lighting is from motion sensored security lighting fixed to the outside of my neighbours detached houses either side - sited some 10m and 20m respectively. One opening is south facing and the other south west, so I need to factor in being able to reduce sunlight. I think I'll research shutters. I have had them before in a previous house but they were chunky to suit the age of the house. Maybe there are slim line versions on the market now.

Hi there, As you mention the recess is an issue, you could either fit outside the recess or choose an option called PerfectFit. These blinds are available as Roller, Pleated and Venetian styles and clip into the uPVC window frames and become an integral part of the window. Alternatively, you could have Roman blinds like Daisy suggests, but fit them higher than the windows outside the recess. You'd also get more light when they are pulled up too as they'd stack outside of the window itself. A few options there - PerfectFit blinds really are clever so I'd urge you to have a look. Here's a close up of how they look (please note, this is a Top-Down, Bottom-Up option where the tabs can be pulled from both the top and the bottom of the window). Good luck with your search, Zoe

Dear all, Thanks for all your comments! Reading through them has helped me work out a bit more about what we actually want. Though we want to be as practical as possible and as useful as possible (ie temperature and glare are big considerations) we also want the wow factor to counteract the main house being a 1950s semi ex council style with low ceilings. It will be off the dining area, not off the kitchen area, and we already have full planning permission approval. I think it will be worth a fully glazed roof to give that wow factor, IF we can come up with a blind or other system to make it useable year round. It's good to hear the majority think curtains shouldn't be a problem, and downlights too. We're happy to have a little bit of structure so we can have curtains etc. The external awnings aren't cheap as you say. Think I'm probably leaning most towards something like a "SHY zip blind" motorised system or the lanternlite DIY electric roof lantern (they tell me it can fit onto a pitched roof and ballpark £1600 cost). These are internal motorised ones. Anyone got any experience with these motorised internal blinds for a larger area? do they work ok? Next question - is it possible to get self clean AND low-e/tinted/reduced glare glass? Or is it either /or? Thanks all!