When it comes to multitasking, your home’s shutters are champions. Not only do they define the character and personality of your home, they also offer practical benefits, such as protection from heat, light and wind. It’s understandable, then, that most people want plenty of choices when it comes time to purchase shutters.
Offering homeowners those choices is the mission of Coastal Shutter Company, which serves the area from Savannah, Georgia, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The company offers a full range of beautiful interior and exterior products: Bahama, colonial, plantation and rolldown shutters—as well as blind options such as woven wood, Roman shades and honeycomb shades, to name a few.
Owner Bryan Dubis founded the company in 2011 after a successful career as a certified public accountant. Today, he provides homeowners and homebuilders with high-quality products and superior service. “We’re a team of knowledgeable professionals who walk customers through every aspect of their project,” says Dubis. It’s this close relationship with clients that keeps the telephone ringing and sets Coastal Shutter apart. First, he and his staff make home visits to carefully plan a project’s details up front; later, they are available for around-the-clock follow-ups.
Dubis’ top recommendations?
Invest in good hardware. “We suggest using non-corrosive stainless steel hardware, especially along the coast,” he says. “Also, match the shutter style to the architecture of your home.” And customers should not overlook the advantage of impact-resistance, which offers the potential for tax credits and insurance discounts.
Staying on time and within budget is a priority. The company’s good relationships with product suppliers allow it to be responsive when deadlines are tight. Furthermore, Coastal Shutter’s manufacturing partners offer some of the most generous warranties in the industry. “We want to get it right,” Dubis says. “It’s personal with us, and our staff is large enough to handle, in timely fashion, any concerns that may arise.”
Consider two of the company’s most recent clients, homeowners Allen and April Coleman and interior designer Carol Lund, all from Mount Pleasant. The Colemans’ project was a full-service job. For the exterior of their home, the homeowners selected a mix of Bahama and colonial shutters in a color that complemented the color of their front door, giving the entire house a Caribbean look. For the interior, the company installed plantation shutters throughout. This added elegance as well as privacy and light control to each room. Installing a pull-down shade for the homeowners’ office door brought relief from the summer heat.
In sum, the Colemans met multiple objectives: a new look for their home’s exterior and interior, privacy where they wanted it and light control to protect the furnishings. “Working with Bryan and his team was like a breath of fresh air,” Allen Coleman says. “Bryan met with us personally throughout the project and was always full of great ideas. Everything requested was installed professionally, and we couldn’t be happier with the final results.”
The company’s project with interior designer Carol Lund was quite different. It involved providing new exterior louver and Bahama shutters and upfitting refinished shutters with new hardware. Inside, Coastal Shutter installed new plantation shutters to bring privacy and a clean look to the interior of her cottage-style home.
Lund says: “The team at Coastal Shutter is very professional. As an interior designer in the Charleston area for 24 years, I’ve learned the importance of being able to trust the character and workmanship of the subcontractors I recommend. Bryan follows through on jobs and communicates well with my clients. In fact, he goes beyond what he has to do to make them happy. When he worked at my own home, he offered valuable creative ideas and was a great problem solver. He’s a pleasure to work with.”
