Cafe style shutters

Privacy at eye level, daylight above

If you have a window facing the street, café-style shutters can be a charming way to add privacy while keeping the top half open to the light. We'd love to help you picture how they could look in your room.

A cafe-style shutter covers only the lower part of a window, usually the bottom half or a little less. The top stays clear. The idea comes from the shopfronts and cafes that used low shutters to hide diners from the pavement while keeping the room light. At home, it works for the same reason.

Most of the time, privacy is only needed at the height where people can see in. Above that line, a window mostly brings in light and sky. A cafe-style shutter covers the first and leaves the second alone.

Where it suits best

• Street-facing rooms. Living rooms and front bedrooms on terraced streets, where passers-by are close.
• Kitchens and dining rooms. You can keep the louvres open to the garden while still covering the work area.
• Ground-floor bathrooms, with a suitable finish.
• Home offices. Keep a view of the sky while cutting the glare lower down.

It is also a good fit for rooms where you would rather not have curtains or blinds taking up the whole window. For other privacy ideas, see privacy without darkness.

What you get, and what to keep in mind

You get daylight through the whole upper part of the window, adjustable louvres on the lower part and a lighter, more open look than a full shutter.

Worth knowing: a cafe-style shutter does not cover the whole window. In the evening, with lights on, anyone looking up could still see into the room from the upper section, and the top of the window stays bare. If you want to darken the room fully or cover the top too, a cafe-style shutter on its own may not be enough. Some people add a blind or a curtain above for night time. Our tier-on-tier shutters do offer a top tier for exactly this reason.

Fitting and layout

Cafe-style shutters are usually hinged panels fitted inside the window frame or reveal, or on a surround fixed around the window. The panels can be hinged to open like doors, or folded back in bi-fold form. The height of the shutter is a choice, and one thing to decide at the measure is where the top edge sits. Too low and the privacy is lost, too high and you lose the view. We often tape up a rough height on the glass to help you see what it looks like.

Louvres and controls

The louvres tilt to direct light and control the view. Louvre width comes in several sizes depending on the range. On a half-height shutter, narrower louvres can look in proportion, while wide louvres suit larger windows. Louvres are usually tilted with a rod or a hidden control, which means there are no cords. That helps in homes with young children. For general safety guidance, see our child safety page.

Light, care and what to expect

Shutters filter and redirect light, but they do not block it completely. With cafe-style, the upper window is open, so light enters freely. Dust with a soft cloth or a duster, and wipe the louvres gently. Care advice depends on the material of the range you choose.

Cafe-style or something else?

Cafe-style is one of three layouts. If you want everything covered with one set of panels, look at full height shutters. If you would rather use a blind, a pleated or roller blind can cover the lower half, though it will not look the same. Our shutters page gives the full overview.

We do not make the shutters ourselves. We are here to measure, advise and help you choose the layout, and we will happily tell you if something else would suit you better.

Want a second opinion at your own window? Book a free measure and we will talk it through with samples in hand, with a quotation before you commit to anything.

Inspiration