Whole-Home Plantation Shutters in The Retreat, Hobe Sound, FL
Client Requirements
A homeowner in The Retreat, a residential community in Hobe Sound, asked AP Shutters to replace the existing blinds with plantation shutters throughout the house. The order covered a wide bedroom window, the living room, a dining room window set between a hutch and the kitchen cabinets, the window over the kitchen sink and the glass panel of a back door. Our crew took down the old blinds and installed the shutters in August 2023.
Every opening in this house was a little different. Some windows have a full decorative casing with corner rosettes, the kitchen window sits deep inside a cabinet recess, and the door needed a shutter that moves with the door. The goal was one consistent look in every room.
- Remove the existing blinds and replace them with plantation shutters
- Keep the existing window casings, rosettes and sills visible
- Fit a shutter to the glass panel of a back door without blocking the knob or deadbolt
- Shutter the window above the kitchen sink inside its cabinet recess
- Use one white finish and one louver style across all rooms
Project at a glance: 6 openings and 117.17 square feet of custom real-wood shutters, installed in August 2023 in The Retreat, Hobe Sound.
What We Did?
One shutter style, built opening by opening
We measured each window and the door separately and built every shutter in our Palm City shop to that opening. The wide bedroom window received a four-panel layout, so the panels can fold back in pairs and the window is not one heavy span. In the living room and dining room, two-panel shutters with a divider rail let the owner tilt the top and bottom louvers separately: the top can stay open for daylight while the bottom stays closed for privacy.
The existing casings stay in view. On the living room window the shutter frame sits inside the trim, so the rosettes and sill still frame the window the way they did before.
The door shutter: moving with the door
The back door has a tall glass panel. A curtain or blind on a door swings and bangs every time the door is used. We built a single shutter panel mounted to the door itself, sized to the glass. The panel clears the knob and the deadbolt, so the door locks and opens exactly as before.
The kitchen window over the sink
The kitchen window sits in a recess between upper cabinets, with pendant lights hanging in front of it. A blind there means reaching over the sink for a cord. A two-panel shutter with a tilt rod lets the owner adjust the louvers with one hand, and the shutter fits inside the recess, so the cabinets and lights did not need to move.
Planning notes for replacing blinds with shutters
- Removing the old blinds is part of the installation. Tell us at the measure if you want any brackets or hardware left in place.
- Check the casing first. If the trim is in good shape, the shutter can usually sit inside it and the trim stays visible.
- On doors, measure the glass and the hardware. The shutter needs to clear the knob, the deadbolt and any door stop.
- A divider rail on mid-height windows gives separate control of the top and bottom louvers.
Questions Hobe Sound homeowners ask
Can a shutter go on a door with a glass panel? Yes. A door-mounted shutter is sized to the glass and attached to the door, so it moves with the door instead of swinging loose like a blind.
Do you remove the old blinds? Yes. On this job our crew took the old blinds down as part of the installation.
Can kitchen windows over a sink have wood shutters? A kitchen window that stays dry is a normal location for painted wood. A window that gets direct water spray is different, and for wet locations AP Shutters also offers poly/PVC shutters.
Explore related Hobe Sound installations
See more of our work: plantation shutters in Hobe Sound, FL, plantation shutters in Martin County, sliding door and bedroom shutters in Heritage Ridge, Hobe Sound and arched bay window shutters in Hobe Sound.
AP Shutters, the Treasure Coast’s oldest plantation shutter manufacturer (since 1991), measures, builds, finishes and installs custom real-wood shutters from Palm City. Typical lead time is 2–3 weeks. Our limited lifetime warranty covers the shutter and the painted finish.
Discuss your plantation shutter project or call 772-286-2699. Visit our shop and showroom at 3475 SW Palm City School Ave., Palm City, FL.
