Jan Thomas from Melbourne Plantation Shutters has worked on numerous projects with interior designer Christopher Elliott from Christopher Elliott Design, who had been engaged by clients, the Etienne family in Templestowe, to make some changes to their home.

“Chris contacted us in the early stages to look at the areas and make suggestions,” Jan confirms. “The home is a delightful, sprawling Templestowe home with generous garden, tennis court, pool and outdoor entertaining area. It was built over 30 years ago, had been renovated during the nineties and needed to be updated.”

“Christopher is aware that to get the best results in terms of window coverings it is best to look at where and how they can be installed during the design stage and therefore make the appropriate provision to fit window furnishings before the building works are complete. We were first engaged on Stage One of the renovation around two years ago, which entailed the building of a new main bedroom and ensuite area, together with the redesign of an area that became a parents living retreat.”

“All these areas looked onto the existing swimming pool so the brief was to provide window coverings for privacy but also to allow the clients to have the outlook onto the pool. The large Clearview style 90 mm aerofoil blade shutters were used in the ensuite and parents’ retreat.”

“The large main bedroom window was dressed with blockout motorised roller blinds and with the wide selection of fabrics available a choice was made which has been able to be used throughout the home.”

“Following the successful completion of stage one, the whole house then became a work in progress with updates to the children’s bedrooms and then a total gutting to the rest of the home to create a new kitchen, casual living, dining and living/entertaining area and guest bedroom, ensuite and study areas.”

“We repeated the 90 mm Clearview shutters to many of the smaller existing windows and this gave a very stylish look due to the simple clean lines. The renovation proceeded within the existing floor space but the extent to which the home was opened up was amazing and a great credit to Christopher Elliott. In the casual living and entertaining area the windows were very wide, but due to the era of the home the ceilings were not very high. Deep pelmets were therefore designed above the window head to give the illusion of taller windows and the roller blinds were installed in the pelmets. Provision was made within the pelmets for motorisation at the building stage. This was an example of getting the best from the existing situation and also made the blinds look very attractive. When the blinds were not in use they would retract completely within the pelmet bulkhead.”

Fabric choices for each area were assessed on functionality whether it was a screen fabric a blockout or both screen and blockout to the same windows, Jan says.

“The blockout fabric selected was from the Helioscreen range – Park Avenue – Otter and Black for the screen fabric and these blended very well with the new Grey French Oak floors. Generally the colour scheme of soft greys or charcoal together with Dulux Natural White wall colour and the soft but upbeat colour of the blind fabric worked well with Christopher’s design concepts and allowed the use of strong highlight colours in the furniture decoration.”

A key challenge was creating a motorised solution for the property’s wide-width windows.

“We needed to have linked motorised blinds to cover the spans. Some areas had motorised dual system blinds entailing screen and blockout fabric, and others just single motorised blinds. The fittings in the children’s bedrooms were designated as manually operated with all other areas motorised. Blind fabric was selected for its functional as well as aesthetic properties, keeping in mind considerations such as retaining warmth in the rooms and adding a comfortable, cosy feeling in winter, while assisting with glare reduction in summer. One of the living rooms that looked out onto the pool area was also to be used as a theatre room so this required a blockout fabric (for theatre purposes), with a screen behind for general daytime glare as well. The client has advised that it has been great to be able to use the blockout blind during the day if the children or adults are watching movies. It was also important to give some rooms privacy from the pool if required during the day time.”

Shutters were installed by Melbourne Plantation Shutters’ in-house installer Chris Moot, while the appointment of Simon Akester from Esenar to install the blinds proved beneficial, Jan adds.

“Simon did an excellent job of the dual system motorised blinds, making the two blinds come down from the pelmet very close to one another so there were minimum gaps between the two skins. He came up with innovative install solutions to give the best look to the product and the best result for the client.”

Overall, close collaboration with the designer throughout the project resulted in successful outcomes in terms of style and function.

“The shutters and blinds gave the windows of the home a very stylish and clean look, which was a great back drop for Christopher to add his designer’s flair.”

Key information:

Clients: The Etienne family

Location: Templestowe, Melbourne

Designer: Christopher Elliott - Christopher Elliott Design

Blind installer: Simon Akester from Esenar Installations

Shutter installer: Chris Moot form Melbourne Plantation Shutters

Blinds – made by Helioscreen for Innovation Services Australia – Design Consultant Jan Thomas

Shutters – Melbourne Plantation Shutters (product made by Open Shutters) - Design Consultant Jan Thomas.

Melbourne Plantation Shutters and Innovation Services Australia supply and install shutters, internal roller blinds both motorised and manual, roman blinds, external blinds and awnings, curtains and a wide range of other window furnishings. Established 19 years ago, the company’s experienced sales team possesses extensive product knowledge and installation expertise. The company’s shutters are wholly Australian Made by Open Shutters.