A bay window is the best feature in most living rooms and the hardest thing to cover well. Curtains bunch in the corners and blinds stop at every pane. Shutters mitred to follow the angles run continuously around the return. Free in-home measure and a fixed price.
Bay windows explained
A bay window is two or three panes meeting at an angle, and every soft window covering handles that badly. Curtains bunch in the internal corners and block the light you bought the bay for. Roller and venetian blinds have to stop and start at each pane, so you end up with three separate coverings and two ugly gaps where the angles meet.
Shutters are the exception because the frame is made to the opening rather than hung across it. We mitre the frames to the exact angle of each return, so the shutter runs continuously around the bay as one element. From inside the room it reads as joinery that was always there.
Corner windows are the same problem with a sharper angle. Two windows meeting at a right angle with a post or a butt join between them can be framed so the shutters turn the corner cleanly, which is something no blind can do at all.
Why shutters on a bay
Bay and corner windows are where the gap between shutters and every other option is widest.
Frames are mitred to the actual angle of your return. Nothing stops short, nothing overlaps awkwardly, and there is no gap at the join where two blinds meet.
A bay covered in three separate blinds always looks like three separate blinds. A mitred shutter set reads as a single piece of joinery wrapping the opening.
Bays often have a seat, a sill or a plant under them. Shutters sit in the reveal rather than hanging into the room, so nothing has to be moved to close them.
Each panel tilts independently, so you can close down the western pane in the afternoon and leave the others open. Curtains across a bay are all or nothing.
A bay is usually the brightest opening in the house, which is exactly where fabric fades fastest and where bunched curtain stacks look worst.
Shutters give the bay a defined edge and depth. Most customers tell us the bay looks bigger afterwards, because the shape of it finally reads properly.
Layouts
The layout decides where the vertical lines fall, which is the thing you will look at every day. It gets worked out at the measure with the angles actually measured rather than assumed.
The standard bay
Frames cut and joined at the exact angle of each return so the shutter runs continuously around the bay. Standard work for a 135-degree three-pane bay, which is the most common shape on the Coast.
Right-angle corners
Two windows meeting at 90 degrees get a corner post that both frames land against, so the shutters turn the corner cleanly instead of butting into each other.
Wide bays
On a wide bay each pane gets its own panel or pair, so no panel is bigger than it should be and nothing sags on its hinges over time.
Right product, right bay
Bays are almost always living areas, which usually points to timber - but the exposure of the bay matters more than the room it is in.
Timber is the right answer here. It has the depth of finish that makes a bay read as joinery, and a living room is a dry, protected position.
See timber shuttersSome ensuites have a small angled window over the bath. That needs waterproof PVC rather than timber, whatever the shape.
See waterproof PVC shuttersSend a photo of the bay from inside the room. Bays and corners are almost always doable and we can usually tell from a picture.
Ask us what to specHow 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
A bay costs more than the same glass area in a straight window, because every frame has to be templated and mitred to the angle rather than cut square. Expect a typical three-pane living room bay to land somewhere between $1,800 and $4,000 installed depending on size and material.
The extra is in the templating and the framing, not in the panels themselves. That is why a bay is worth measuring properly rather than ordering to a drawing - an angle that is two degrees out is invisible on paper and very visible once the shutter is in the reveal.
Book my free measure & quote See what plantation shutters cost
Priced by the square metre of panel. A three-pane bay is often four to six square metres before the angles are considered.
Each mitred join is extra templating and framing. A three-pane bay has two, a box bay has four.
Painted basswood is the usual specification for a living room bay. Cedar or a colour match adds to it.
Older Sunshine Coast homes settle. An out-of-square bay takes longer to template and sometimes needs packing at install.
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
A bay gets more direct sun than any other opening in the house, which is the only thing that makes its care different.
A microfibre cloth or a vacuum brush head with the louvres tilted flat, every few weeks. On timber keep it dry rather than damp.
If one pane takes the western sun every afternoon, closing the others occasionally evens out any long-term colour change across the set.
Swing each panel from its frame edge rather than by a louvre. On a bay the end panels are the ones people grab wrongly.
The angled joins are where movement shows first if a house settles. If a panel starts to catch at a return, call us - adjustments are covered.
FAQ
Yes, and it is one of the best uses for them. The frames are mitred to the exact angle of each return so the shutters run continuously around the bay rather than stopping at every pane. That is something no blind or curtain can do, which is why bays are one of the most common jobs we quote.
The frames are cut and joined at the angle of the return, so the two sections meet cleanly with no gap. On a 90-degree corner window we use a corner post that both frames land against. Every angle is templated on site rather than assumed, because bays are rarely the exact angle the plans say.
Yes. Every panel tilts independently, so you can close down the pane taking the afternoon sun and leave the others open for the view. That is a genuine daily advantage over curtains across a bay, which are all or nothing.
Yes, and it is a common arrangement. Shutters sit within the reveal rather than hanging into the room, so a seat, a sill or plants underneath do not have to be moved to close them. We measure the seat depth so nothing fouls when the panels swing.
Curved bays are handled as a series of flat panels following the curve, and splayed returns are simply another angle to template. Both are doable. Send a photo with your enquiry and we will tell you straight away what we would do with it.
Typically $1,800 to $4,000 installed for a three-pane living room bay, depending on size and material. A bay costs more than the same glass area in a straight window because every frame has to be templated and mitred to the angle rather than cut square.
Painted basswood in almost every case, because bays are usually living room openings and timber has the depth of finish that makes a bay read as joinery. The exception is a small angled window in a bathroom, which needs waterproof PVC regardless of shape.
Typically four to six weeks. Bays take a little longer to template because every angle is measured on site, but the manufacturing window is the same as any other opening. 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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