The California Company is pre-empting the Chancellors recent announcment by giving 5% off ALL purchases made via www.thecaliforniacompany.com. This applies to their full range of plantation shutters, folding sliding doors, wood blinds AND temporary blinds.

The offer is only valid until midnight on Sunday 30th November. So why wait until Monday to get 2 1/2% off your wood shutters, folding doors and blinds when you can save 5% today!

Enter discount code VAT1108 at checkout to get your 5% off!

With budgets tight, we're all on the look out for a deal.

The California Company is the UK's leading plantation shutters supply only company selling high quality wooden plantation shutters. With plantation shutters priced at the UK's most competitive price for hard wood plantation shutter at 175 pounds per square metre including VAT and delivery, you can change the look of your home for a lot less than you'd think.

DIY Shutters installation offer the perfect opportunity for those with an eye for home interior design, but keen to save money. The California Shutters Company is the UK's leading self install DIY shutters retailer with a fantastic website which makes ordering your plantation shutters a piece of cake.

Temporary Blinds are a great solution when you are looking for a cost effective solution to give your windows covering while you await delivery of your wooden shutters, wooden blinds or curtains.

Temporary blinds started life in North America and have increased in popularity significantly over the past few years. The California Company was the UK's first window coverings specialist to start selling temporary blinds in Britain and have been the market leader in selling this stick on blind to UK consumers.

When Terry from Leeds contacted us looking for shutters, we could immediately see the problem he faced. His home in Leeds, Yorkshire had stunning views from some windows, but from the kitchen the view was a to less than appealing car park and he wanted to come up with a solution which would help 'loose' the less than attractive view.

Shutters are not only a fantastic window treatment, but are increasingly used by California Shutter Company customers as a solution to divide up internal space.

Brett from Wandsworth, London converted a flat and to create a larger living space made the kitchen a part of the main lounge. However Brett wanted to block off this cooking space from the rest of the room, so that if people were visiting for dinner, he could close the area off.

As we all start to feel the financial pinch it's more important than ever to shop around to find a good deal. The California Shutter & Blind Company has become an established market leader in selling high quality wooden plantation shutters and wood blinds for self installation and is now offering shutter customers and wood blind customers fantastic summer savings off their range of shutters and blinds.

It's a common misconception these days that cheap, affordable shutters have to me made from MDF. With more shutter companies appearing on the web, it can be hard to tell exactly what your plantation shutters are made of, what quality the shutters will be and exactly what shutters you will be getting for your money.

A question we are often asked at The California Shutter & Blind Company is

"can I have plantation shutters and curtains on the same window?"

At the risk of sitting on the fence we say

"It all depends on personal taste and your window"!

Shutters are by far most popular when chosen in a painted finish such as white or any of the shades of off white offered through the california company. There is no right or wrong to your decision about which colour to select for your plantation shutters.

While 64mm slats are by far the most popular choice with california shutter and blind company customers 47mm shutter slats are great if used in the right setting. Very often country cottages suit smaller slat 47mm shutters slats as they are more inkeeping with the style of property and size of windows within the house.

With so many different colour options available for your plantation shutters, it can be confusing deciding which would be right for your home.

As a general rule of thumb, I recommend as a first step looking around the room and assessing which colours are most dominant. If, for example, you have a wood stain floor and wooden furniture, consider if wood stain shutters would actually work in the room? It could well be that adding another wood stain makes the room dark and makes the overall look of the room too heavy.

• Which California Shutter Slat Size is best?

A key decisions when purchasing your shutters is deciding which slat size to go for. The shutter slats or louvres are the horizontal pieces of wood which tilt and adjust on the panel. The slats tilt pretty much through a full range of motion, almost to 360 degrees.

Shutter design need not be confusing! We at  The California Shutter & Blind Co are here to help!

Chrissie's Shutter Design Tips Part 1

• The Benefits of Small Panels.......

Think about how often you want to open back the panels. If you have a great view it's more likely that you'll want to open back the shutter panels more often. Therefore if you go for panels that are too wide these could end up sticking right out into the room or else take up lots of wall space either side of the window.