Fraser Nolan

Interior shutters offer a simple, stylish and secure alternative for windows in any home; whether grand or modest, period or modern. Fraser Nolan Designer Interior Shutters have now been supplying the local market with plantation shutters since 2002. Although shutters are still relatively rare in the UK, they are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to blinds or curtains.

Shutters have adjustable louvres that can be used to control the amount of light, privacy and heat within the room. All our shutters are custom made to the nearest mm in both width and height, and therefore can offer a solution to the most difficult problems of window and design. We offer a full advice/design service, along with measuring and installation if required. We carry the range of shutter panel samples, in a full array of colours and stains, and these can be viewed either in our showroom or at your home.

Tell me about your background. What led you to become involved in the world of Plantation shutters?
I'm originally from Cookstown. I boarded at Victoria College before studying at Queens where I gained a BA in History. I've always had a great interest in houses, both interior and exterior, nurtured by my father who was in the brick and quearry business, and my mother who loved interiors and sourcing antiques for our family home, I became interested in shutters on a trip to California visiting relatives when i was 18. They had louvre shutters on all the windows and i'll always remember how they gave great light and a lovely feel to the rooms. Shutters always make me feel like I'm on holiday, which of course i was at the time!

When did you set up Fraser Nolan Designer Shutters? Was this the fulfillment of a long term goal?
I set up Fraser Nolan Shutters in 2002, after the last of my five daughters had started school. I had previously gone back to Queens as a mature student to study law, and after gaining my degree and meeting my husband Con who's now a solicitor, I decided I didn't want to work in the legal field. I'd been thinking of shutters since my trip to California in 1980, and I approached a firm in London with a view to stocking their brand. Luckily the owner was a woman, more or less the same age as me, with four children! She was not only happy for me to work from home (as I had no premises at that stage) but she actively encouraged me to start the business. That's how I got started, and I'm now in my seventh year.

Shutters are still relatively uncommon here but are they becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to curtains and blinds?
Although louvre shutters may be a fairly new concept to us, people should remember that they have been used in the old Plantation houses in the deep south for over 150 years. They are now one of the main window treatments for the design conscious in America. London also is ahead in the style stakes, where they are now widely used in interior schemes by many leading designers. Here you will notice that many old housesretain their original shutterse, although these are usually solid. We're finding a new market for the product, which we customise to any colour, as well as offering our standard range of paint finishes.

What are the advantages of shutters compared to blinds and other window dressing?
Number one, they look fantastic, shutters really have the wow factor. From a practical point of view, light and heat can be controlled by a tilt of the louvres. Shutters work from the bottom up, ie. you can close the louvres at the bottom of the window below the mid rail, and have privacy where it's needed in the room. This is ideal in bedrooms and bathrooms as they give you privacy yet still allow the light in at the top of the window. Blinds, on the other hand, have to close from the top down and curtains are either open or closed.