This is window.

That’s what we thought until June this year, when we started to take a serious interest in window joinery for our house. We quickly realised that in a simple stone house, it was the windows and doors that could determine the final aesthetics and style of the house. Then we considered functionality and…two months later we are at most halfway to the final decision, both aesthetically and functionally.
A window in Greece, on an island, is a complex creation: it consists of three components – the windows proper, the mosquito net and the external shutters. All three have to be arranged in the space, given colour, considered in terms of aesthetics, functionality and still finding the balance of these two features with the budget.
PVC was the only thing we didn’t have a problem with: it falls away. Ugly, not very weatherproof, not repairable.

Colours and design

We are looking for a warm palette, somewhere between sage and olive and broken whites and warm greys. For example, one like this:

The challenge with colours is that you have to harmonise the colours of the three components mentioned in the introduction. If we mix up the technologies (wood/aluminium), we enter into the necessity of matching paints from different palettes.

Fabric

The first decision that comes to mind – timber joinery, a natural fit with stone, rural surroundings and our aesthetics and philosophy of living close to nature – is questionable. Firstly: it is the most expensive solution (twice as expensive as aluminium joinery) and secondly, in the case of shutters, it is not the optimal solution in terms of resistance to the merciless sun but also potential protection against fire and burglary.
Aluminium, especially when coated with a durable paint (Neokem Prisma ‘durable’ paints are commonly used in warm countries) would technically be optimal, it’s just that…we don’t like the aesthetics of these windows. They are technical, with sharply defined edges, with size limitations due to operating on pre-made profiles.
The conclusion at this point is that the windows will be wooden, the shutters aluminium or wooden, the flyscreen aluminium.

Windows

We decided on meranti wood windows (the only ones that seem sufficiently resistant to the heat and humidity of Corfu), from a well-known manufacturer – so that there would be no problem with warranty and service. We received offers from Haufen and Cretan Holz.
The second key parameter is the glazing. They need to insulate well against heat and noise – the latter due to aircraft operating in the air. Here there will be a double-glazed window with an additional acoustic insert and different glass thicknesses. A triple-glazed window, to our surprise, does not outperform such retrofitted double-glazed windows.
Thirdly – hardware. Here we want to get away from the standard, modern handles. It will be noble and old-fashioned, also due to the muntin bars and traditional window design.
Fourthly – thresholds. In order to ensure that terrace windows do not have a protruding threshold, it is necessary to look for additional solutions, for example for the disabled. In the offers we found solutions from 1.3 to 3 cm.

Shutters

The heart says – wood. Reason – aluminium. All we know at this point is that we don’t want the classic shutters with blinds. The permeable ones are a nightmare to clean, those with movable blinds have plastic mechanisms, ugly and unable to withstand the Greek sun. So we aim for a board, something like this:

An aluminium louvre, coated with resistant paint, better protects against fire, break-ins and the damaging sun and humidity. But we don’t know at this point whether we will be able to find a manufacturer who will make these shutters so that they are close to the wooden rest.
Finally, there is still hesitation left as to whether to take split shutters or not. The former slenderise the window and take up less space on the wall when opened. However, they are less convenient to use and, of course, more expensive. We also considered internal shutters for a while, but I don’t think that’s for this house.

The last, but not least is decision, where to hang shutters. To windows frames or to the external wall? Here we have chosen second option, as more traditional and better looking.

Flyscreens

Even here there are challenges. The first is that, as a very standard fixture, it usually comes in three colours: white, blue and brown. This can ruin the beauty of a wooden window. The second challenge is the resistance of the mesh to damage caused by the accidental entry of an inattentive visitor. Recently, mosquito nets with a flexible net and a sliding mechanism have appeared on the market. The net does not break (and it costs a lot).

Costs

Having said all the above, there is money behind decisions. We obtained 6 offers covering 4 different brands: Haufen, Holz, Alumil, Elvial.

Between cheapest alu joinery (Alumil) and most expensive wooden (Haufen) there is 100% of difference. What we also observed, shutters could cost almost the same as windows, which seems to be ridiculous.