shutters

On our first trip to Italy we experienced the wonderful shutters that Italians use for their windows. These are actual functioning shutters, not the fake plastic ones bolted to the side of so many homes in suburban America. These shutters serve a multitude of practical functions.

First of all they can be locked from the inside thus providing security to the home. Second they provide ventilation when closed as well as keeping out rain. Third they help to darken the room and last but not least they provide a beautiful accent to the window, open or closed. These can be opened fully and have clasps on the outside walls to hold them open when windy.



In additional to the outside shutters many windows have solid panels on the inside that can be close and in combination with the outside shutters can make a room completely dark in the middle of the day. We experienced this on our first trip when the agritourismo we were at had shutters which we closed on our first night in Italy and due to jet-lag slept until noon thinking it was still night. It wasn’t until we opened the door to the room that we were greeted by the bright full day sun.

Room darkening shades are no comparison to this Italian invention.