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THE
LIST
SHUTTERS
AS INVESTMENT
Done right, those panels and Blue Chips.
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Top Reasons Consumers Purchase Shutters
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Based on the percentage of respondents to a D&WC survey
asking to rank the reasons consumers purchase shutters for
their homes, the overall aesthetics of shutters remains the
top choice. In the last three or four years, however, buying
shutters as an investment has come out of nowhere to become
the second most cited reason.
The top three reasons (with the percentage of first-pace votes)
are:
2001
1. Overall aesthetics (52%)
2. Appeal of wood (21)
3. Light control (17)
2003
1. Overall aesthetics (54%)
2. Investment in home (31)
3. Maintenance (15)
Source: Draperies & Window Coverings,
November 2003.
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This year, the general consensus among shutter manufacturers seems
to be that homeowners are seeing both aesthetic and financial benefits
to having shutters installed in their homes (see “Shutter Market
Review,” page 53 for more). This was not always the case.
In 2001, the dealers, designers and decorators who answered our
Retailer Survey on shutters indicated that the idea of purchasing
shutters as an investment in a home was so far off the radar, it
didn’t even register. By 2003, it became the second most cited
reason.
Several possible reasons can be offered:
• A general growth in the affluent middle class upgrading to
higher quality interior products.
• The durability of shutters—both aesthetically and functionally—make
them a long-term investment good for a 10- to 15-year life cycle.
• The flexibility of shutters to be used with any décor
a homeowner may have now, or one day change to.
Perhaps the most interesting trend is that the real estate industry
has begun to see the value interior shutters add to a home. Home
appraisers are likely to include shutters when evaluating a home,
making them a real return on investment for the owners. And in some
cases, the cost of shutters is even being included in mortgages.
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