Cafe Style Shutters

Café style shutters also know as half shutters cover the lower portion of the window. This is usually halfway but can be customised to a height of your choosing.

Placed within a three-sided frame, they offer an excellent balance of light, privacy, and of course, style. They’re also available in both our premium hardwood and UK-made faux wood ranges.

Don’t worry if you can’t bear to get rid of your favourite curtains either, because these shutters can be paired with curtains, promising you even more privacy, and a look that screams elegance.

One of our favourite things about café style shutters is how they balance privacy with natural light. This, coupled with their obvious style points, makes half shutters perfect for street facing ground floor windows.

And because they only cover half of the space, you can still showcase the finer architectural details of your windows.

So, if you want to bring a touch of class to your bedroom windows or bathroom décor, or elsewhere, these are the DIY shutters for you.

Café style shutters are more than just a design choice, they are a functional solution for specific spatial challenges. Because they cover only the lower portion of your glass, they are the gold standard for rooms where you need to block the view of passers-by without losing your total view. 

The Street-Facing Living Room

If your living room looks directly onto a busy pavement or road, you’re likely used to choosing between "total darkness" or "living in a fishbowl." Café style shutters solve this by creating a permanent privacy screen at eye level. This allows natural light to flood the top half of the room, keeping your living space bright and airy while you remain completely hidden from the street.

The Busy Modern Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home, but it often suffers from "window clutter" like coins or cleaning supplies. Café style shutters provide a clean, architectural backdrop. They are particularly effective above kitchen sinks, where they offer privacy from neighbors while you’re washing up, without the risk of fabric blinds getting damp or stained.

The Elegant Bathroom

For bathrooms with clear glass windows, privacy is non-negotiable. Café style blinds offer a sophisticated alternative to frosted glass or sticky window film. By covering the lower half of the window, you ensure total seclusion where it's needed most, while the open top half allows steam to escape and light to enter, preventing that "closed-in" feeling typical of small bathrooms.

Selecting the right material for your café style shutters depends on two factors: the environment of the room and your desired aesthetic finish. While both styles look nearly identical from the street, their technical properties differ.

Premium Hardwood: The Interior Designer’s Choice

Our real wood café shutters are crafted from high-quality, sustainable Paulownia hardwood. This material is prized in the shutter industry for its incredible strength-to-weight ratio. Because hardwood is lightweight, it puts less stress on the window frame, making it the ideal choice for wider window spans.

Beyond the technicals, hardwood shutters offer a level of "crispness" in the finish that is hard to replicate. It is the best option for living rooms, dining areas, and bedrooms where you want a premium, furniture-grade feel.

Faux Wood: The Durable, Waterproof Powerhouse

If you are installing half shutters in a high-moisture environment like a bathroom or directly above a kitchen stove, Faux Wood (high-grade PVC) is the superior choice. Unlike natural timber, faux wood is 100% waterproof and will not warp, peel, or swell when exposed to steam or splashes.

While faux wood shutters feel slightly heavier than hardwood shutters, they're "wipe-clean" nature makes them the most practical choice for busy family homes where durability is the top priority.