The windows every other supplier says no to. Raked gable ends, arches over a front door, triangles above a stairwell, angled highlights - all of them templated on site and cut to the actual shape, with the louvres still fully operable. Free in-home measure and a fixed price.
Shaped windows explained
Yes. Raked, arched, angled and triangular openings are standard work here, and they are the reason a lot of customers find us in the first place. A raked window above a stairwell or a gable end in a Sunshine Coast home is usually the one opening that has been left bare for years because nobody would quote it.
The reason they get refused is that a shaped panel cannot be ordered from a drawing. The opening has to be templated on site, which means physically measuring the angle or the curve rather than trusting the plans, because houses settle and builders round things off. That is a visit and a bit of care rather than anything exotic, but it is why the cheap end of the market will not touch them.
The louvres still work. A shaped panel is a fixed frame with fully operable louvres inside it, so you get the same light and privacy control as any other shutter. What you give up is the panel swinging open, which on a gable end four metres up is not something you were going to do anyway.
Why shutters on a shaped window
These are usually the windows doing the most damage and getting the least attention.
A west-facing gable or a raked stairwell window is high, large and unshaded, which is exactly the combination that bakes a room. Covering it properly is usually the single biggest comfort change in the house.
Blinds and curtains are built to hang from a horizontal line. On a rake or an arch there is no horizontal line to hang from, so the alternatives are a custom fabric solution that looks improvised or nothing at all.
A fixed shaped panel still tilts through its full range. You keep light and privacy control on a window you could never reach to operate a blind on.
A bare shaped window above otherwise dressed windows is the thing your eye goes to. Covering it is what makes a room look finished rather than nearly finished.
High raked windows throw direct sun onto floors and furniture for hours. Closed louvres stop it at the glass.
Customers regularly tell us the shaped window is why they chose us. If we can do the hard opening, the straightforward ones are not in doubt.
Shapes
If your opening is not on this list it is still probably doable. Send a photo and we will tell you straight away.
Most common
Gable ends, stairwell windows and anything following a roof pitch. The panel is cut to the rake and the louvres run horizontally inside it, so the angle reads as deliberate.
Front entries
Full arches, half-rounds and eyebrow windows, usually above a front door or a feature window. The curve is templated and the frame built to it.
The awkward ones
Triangular highlights, trapezoids, octagons and circles. Less common, all doable, and all templated the same way.
Right approach, right opening
Almost everything is doable. Being honest about the handful of things that are not is more useful than pretending otherwise.
A shaped panel on hinges rarely swings cleanly, so shaped openings are built fixed with operable louvres. If you must be able to reach the glass, we will say so at the measure.
Ask us what to specA raked opening onto an alfresco or an exposed gable needs powder-coated aluminium rather than timber, whatever the shape.
See aluminium shuttersMost shaped windows sit above a normal one. Those get standard hinged or fixed panels, matched in material and louvre size so the pair reads as one.
See hinged & fixed panelsHow it works
A free measure, a fixed price and a proper install - so the shutters go in once, sit square, and keep working for decades.
Suburb, shutter type, how many openings and your timeline. 60 seconds online - add a photo and we can quote even sharper.
A shutter specialist comes to you, measures every opening to the millimetre and leaves you with an exact, all-in price. No pressure, no obligation.
Your panels are built to your measurements, then fitted and adjusted on site. Most Sunshine Coast homes are installed 4-6 weeks after measure-up.
Pricing
Shaped openings sit above straight ones because of the templating and the framing, not the panel. Expect a raked or arched window to run roughly 20 to 40 per cent above the same area of square opening. A single gable or stairwell window typically lands between $900 and $2,500 installed.
The templating is the part worth paying for. An angle that is two degrees out is invisible on a drawing and extremely visible once the panel is in the reveal, and a shaped panel cannot be trimmed on site the way a square one sometimes can.
Book my free measure & quote See what plantation shutters cost
A straight rake is the simplest. Arches, curves and multi-angle shapes take longer to template and build.
Priced by the square metre like everything else. Gable ends are often larger than they look from the floor.
High stairwell and void windows need proper access equipment, and that is real time on install day.
Where a shaped window sits above a standard one, matching louvre size and finish across both keeps it looking like one considered element.
Reviews
Feedback from Sunshine Coast customers who've had plantation shutters measured, made and installed by us.
“Our west-facing lounge was unusable by three in the afternoon. They did timber shutters across the whole front of the house and it’s a completely different room - cooler, and the light is beautiful.”
“We’re two streets from the beach so they talked us into aluminium for the alfresco and PVC in the bathrooms instead of timber. Two summers on - no swelling, no rust, no fuss.”
“Measured, made and installed exactly when they said. The raked window above the stairs is why we chose them - nobody else wanted to touch it.”
Care
Usually the least handled shutters in the house, because most of them are out of reach. That makes them the lowest maintenance too.
A vacuum brush head on an extension pole, once or twice a year, is genuinely enough for a high raked or gable panel.
Where a shaped panel has a reachable rod, move it from the middle. On very high panels the louvres are often set and left, which is fine.
Shaped openings show settling first because the angle changes. If a panel starts to sit unevenly in the frame, call us.
A shaped panel is not designed to swing. If you need access to the glass behind it, we will have built that in - do not try to lever it open.
FAQ
Yes, and raked gable ends and stairwell windows are some of the most common shaped work we do. The panel is cut to the exact pitch of the opening and the louvres run horizontally inside it. It is built as a fixed panel with fully operable louvres, so you keep light and privacy control on a window you could never reach anyway.
Yes. Full arches, half-rounds and eyebrow windows are all doable, and they are usually above a front door or a feature window. The curve is templated on site and the frame built to it, so you get a true curve rather than a stepped approximation.
Yes. A shaped panel is a fixed frame with fully operable louvres inside it, tilting through their whole range for light and privacy. The only thing you give up is the panel itself swinging open, which on a gable end four metres up was never going to happen.
Because a shaped panel cannot be ordered from a drawing. The opening has to be templated on site, which means physically measuring the angle or curve rather than trusting the plans, since houses settle and builders round things off. That is a visit and some care rather than anything exotic, but it is why the cheap end of the market avoids them.
Roughly 20 to 40 per cent above the same area of square opening, which puts a single gable or stairwell window somewhere between $900 and $2,500 installed. The extra is in the templating and the framing rather than the panel itself.
Yes, and it is what we would recommend. Matching the material, louvre size and finish across both makes the pair read as one considered element rather than two separate coverings. The straight window below is usually built as hinged panels so you can still reach the glass.
Both are doable. Triangular highlights come up regularly on Sunshine Coast homes with raked ceilings, and circles and portholes less often but they are templated the same way. Send a photo with your enquiry and we will tell you straight away.
We bring the access equipment to the measure. Templating a high raked or void window properly is the whole reason the job works, so it is not something we do from the floor with a laser and an assumption.
Typically four to six weeks, occasionally a little longer for complex curves. Shaped panels are built to a template taken from your actual opening, so there is no shortcut on the manufacturing window. We confirm the install date at measure-up.
The rest of the range
If a room isn't right for one range, another is - and we quote the whole house in a single visit.
Service areas
Local installers covering every suburb from Caloundra to Noosa and out through the hinterland. Tell us what you need and we'll get a shutter specialist out to measure and quote, fast.
MaroochydoreMooloolabaAlexandra HeadlandCotton TreeBuddinaMinyamaWaranaBirtinyaTwin Waters+ all surrounding suburbs
Noosa HeadsNoosavilleSunshine BeachTewantinPeregian BeachCoolum BeachMarcoolaSunrise Beach+ all surrounding suburbs
CaloundraGolden BeachPelican WatersCurrimundiMoffat BeachDicky BeachAroonaLittle Mountain+ all surrounding suburbs
BuderimNambourPalmwoodsMalenyMontvilleWoombyeYandinaEumundiMooloolah Valley+ all surrounding suburbs
If you're anywhere between Caloundra and Noosa we can get an installer to you. See the full service area or get a quote now.
Tell us about your windows and we'll book a free in-home measure and a fixed quote.
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