Home life
Shutters emerge from the blind spot
S
hutters have emerged out
of the blind spot… There’s
been a bit of a revolution in
window dressing – and not the
sort which applies to shopfronts.
Mike Schnuppe, who runs The
Great Shutter Company based in
Fulflood, has seen a marked shift
in homeowners installing shutters
since he set up his independent
business two years ago.
From a corporate background,
Mike went on to work for the UK’s
largest shutter distributor, dealing
with 200 independent clients,
subsequently introduced shutters
to John Lewis and trained their
staff about the new product line
and how to sell it.
The popularity of this alternative
window dressing is just beginning
to take-off – and it is since they
have become more affordable.
Teak or MDF, plus choices galore
in between, customers may now
opt for whatever best suits their
home, taste and budget.
In moving from being a
distributor to a retailer, Mike, who
has a fitter to support his business,
brings his surveying skill to every
potentially shuttered home.
“Shutters are a growing
interiors’ trend. They started in
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HOME LIFE Resident Aug-Sep.indd 41
London as a fashionable product,
but people are discovering that
they are more versatile and
practical than other window
products,” explained Mike.
“The ability for the consumer
to decide at what height they can
split a louvred panel section into
independently moving sections
means the can control levels
of privacy in their home. Not
ABOVE: Michael Schnuppe, The Great
Shutter Co.
only this, but also the consumer
controls how light comes into a
room. You cannot do that with
curtains nor blinds. With laptop
and iPad use, as well as wallmounted TVs, it’s important
that light can be adjusted
without completely dimming a
room for people with different
requirements.”
Because he knows shutters
inside out, Mike, who covers a
35-mile radius from Winchester
city centre (throughout
Hampshire), can work with
customers dispensing expert,
friendly advice to suggest a
solution rather than merely selling
a product trend.
“There’s no big showroom,” he
added. “If you want to see shutters
in action in a full-on, busy family
home, I will organise appointments
for people to come along and
view mine, have a coffee and find
out more.”
From a London-centric product
to a growing popular choice in and
around Winchester, shutters are
aesthetically pleasing, do the job,
useful and increasingly soughtafter.
Light fantastic you could say…
www.thegreatshutterco.co.uk
Resident 41
15/07/2016 11:57