When we bought this house, all the windows were bare. The first thing we did was to buy a few paper blinds, just as a stopgap for privacy, but those turned out to be, well, less permanent than we had planned. Inertia is a thing with us.

This is part of our 100 Things in 2017 challenge. Click on the photos for a closer look!

But paper wasn’t going to cut it, so when Becky heard an ad for Smith & Noble on her favorite podcast, she was immediately enamored. They’re not cheap, though, so we planned to install them in two phases. We ordered the first batch, and waited while they were custom made for us.

It turned out to be quite an adventure, but the results are amazing. The shutters really elevate the house, and we feel like fancier people with them in. Plus, they control light and heat really well, which helps us sleep at night. Stay tuned, we’ll probably be putting some of these into our new house, too!