The wood for the bedroom shutters is going stay natural. We keep the stains and the marks of time.
After gentle sanding, planks will be treated against termites then brushed with a synthetic wax typically used on wooden furniture by Balinese cabinet makers.
Our first choice was bee's wax but we couldn't find it in Bali. It might have to do with the climate. Synthetic wax might be more resistant in high humidity climates. Or it's just simpler and cheaper (*).
We will screw a strip of metal at top and bottom of each plank to stop the wood from splitting further.
Shutter hinges were custom made by Arie's crew.
We designed them beefy for stability
I went back and forth between having a single shutter or cutting it in two unequal parts horizontally, the bottom part being 108cm tall. The advantage of the double shutter was greater control over the light coming in and more privacy options.
The problem of the interstice between the top and bottom shutter was almost keeping me up at night. Once cut, if left as is, there would be some light peering through and possibly a line of sight. With rubber gaskets or brooms, friction might become a problem. With hard stoppers, shutters would only be able to open in a specific order.
I decided to go with the simple solution first and keep a single shutter for now but placed the hinges according to the double shutter design so we'll just have to cut the shutters if we change our mind.
Each shutter will receive five hinges. Hinges will be painted metal color
.*. On this subject, I have read several times that Balinese don't use chemical products in their rice fields. This is not true. I regularly witness chemical spraying in the sawah (rice field in Bahasa). There are sometimes even advertising for chemical products on the edges of rice fields.
