Monday, June 15, 2020

Shuttered

Sometimes the shutters are more interesting than the window. These shutters are called persiennes (louvered shutters). The name is a reference to Persia, where louvered shutters might have originated. We had this shutter style, in brown, on most of the windows in our house. We replaced the kitchen shutter back in 2008 with a roll-down style and replaced the three shutters on the back of the house with the same style in white in 2018. Here's the post with photos of the old and the new from then.

Persiennes somewhere in the Dordogne.

The persiennes with their narrow folding panels were old and difficult to open and close, especially with the sliding windows we had installed in 2004. Some of the tabs that held the shutters open broke, and the mechanisms that allowed us to open them awning style while closed wore out completely. They were made of metal which got very hot in the summer sun. We still have the old persiennes on the living room's north-facing window. We almost never close those since that window doesn't get direct sun or the brunt of the weather, nor does it face any public paths or other houses.

9 comments:

  1. Here, Persianas, resemble more Venetian blinds. And people often use the term generically for a variety of blinds and shutters. In the States, they were called Persian blinds, weren’t they.

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    1. Mitchell, we call them Venetian blinds in the U.S., don't we? Or are we thinking of different types of blinds?

      Walt, shall we assume that they finally did fix or replace the one new blind that wasn't quite working correctly?

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    2. Am I thinking of Persian shades? Those fabric shades that rolled up and down... I have no idea anymore.

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  2. I don’t care what it’s called. If it’s on a building in France, I like it! :)

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  3. My family always called the horizontal blinds with tape (ribbon-like) venetian blinds. I don't recall ever hearing "Persian shades".

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  4. I went back to your original shutters post. You have a lovely house.

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  5. mitch, I don't think I've heard the term Persian blinds in the states.

    judy, yes, they fixed it pretty quickly.

    bettyann, lol!

    mary, for me, Venetian blinds were always made of aluminum.

    michael, thanks!

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  6. A Venetian blind is always horizontal slats. Can be made of many fabrics, materials, but the point is they are always horizontal slats.

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  7. The blinds, themselves were either wood or some lightweight material, the tape or ribbon was just holding them together.I'm probably talking about the late 50's early 60's. Aluminum blinds came much later, I believe.

    Mary

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