Measuring for window treatments can be a difficult task, especially if you don’t have experience with the window treatment in question. There are variations on techniques and some window treatments require more measurement details than others. Wooden shutters are one such window treatment, but here’s a useful guide to take you through how to do it.
First, you need to identify your window type. If your window is a sash window (see pic 2), meaning it slides up, if your window opens outwards or doesn’t open at all, then you need to measure within the recess.
If your window opens inwards (pic 3) it’s highly recommended to place your shutters on the wall outside of your recess enclosing the whole window as this will allow you to still open your window without obstruction.
Speaking of obstruction, that’s the next step. The position of your shutters is dependent on if you have obstructions or not. If your windows have handles then make sure to place the shutters with enough distance to them. The red dotted lines in the pictures above give you an idea of how to go about this. This measurement is referred to as the depth of the shutters.
There are three positions to choose from within the recess area of your windows:
Deep position – the shutters are flush against the window frame (as shown in pic 1)
Mid Position
Front Position (as shown in pic 2)
Deep and mid position shutters open at a 90-degree angle, while front position shutters open at 180 degrees. The front position has the largest depth and is suitable if you have obstructions as mentioned in step 2. It’s recommended to use a ‘Z’ frame for front position shutters, as this frame gives a nice tapered edge on the recess.
If you’ve chosen to place your shutters inside a recess, then you’ll need three measurements as shown in Figures 1 and 2 to make sure the measurements are consistent and then you select the smallest one.
Figure 1 displays how to measure for the width of your shutters, while figure 2 shows the height.
If you want to fit the shutters outside a recess, then measure the front of the recess, but be sure to take the largest measurement of the three as opposed to the smallest. After this the width of the shutter frame needs to be added. Shutters are usually 3.8 cm wide. Here’s an example of how you would get your total width with an outside recess measurement:
Recess width (largest measurement) = 100cm
Left side of the frame = 3.8cm
Right side of the frame = 3.8 cm
Total width = 107.6cm
The width of the shutter frame also needs to be added to the total height measurement and is done in the same way.
If your window doesn’t have a recess, you measure from the outer edge of the window frame from left to right as shown in figure 3. The largest measurement with the added width of the frame gives you your total width. Then you measure from top to bottom of the outer edge of the frame (figure 4), select the largest measurement and add the width of the frame to give you the total of the shutters’ height.
And that’s all you need to measure your window for wooden shutters. If you’ve chosen a café shutter or tier-on-tier, then these measurements need to be amended slightly. To find out more about measuring and fitting shutters visit the Shutters Direct website: www.shutters-direct.co.uk
This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of Shutters Direct, providers of quality wooden shutters and useful measurement and fitting guides. Sarah is a DIY enthusiast, who is learning the skill one project at a time.