Exterior window shutters are taken for granted as an easy to install, quick fix to improve curb appeal.
Unfortunately, few people understand the complexity of window shutters or the correct way of hanging shutters.
What one thinks is a simple mistake will destroy a home’s curb appeal. Don’t let this happen to you!
With historic wood shutters or plastic shutters, there is a LOT you need to know.
Read on and we will insure your success with shutters and curb appeal.
With a photo of your house we can also replace your plastic shutters with real wood shutters to show you the difference and how we can improve the curb appeal of your home.
House without exterior window shutters
Historic shutters. Operable shutters are now added.
How Exterior Window Shutters Can Ruin the Appearance Of your Home
And What You Can Do to Fix Them
Topics covered:
- The History of Exterior Window Shutters and How They Were Used.
- Window Shutter Mistakes – Exterior Shutters Today vs Historic Shutters.
- Exterior Shutter Hardware – Choosing the right Shutter Hinges.
- Examples of Good versus Bad Window Shutters.
- What Shutter Styles are Right for My House?
- Painting Shutter Colors.
- Purchasing Exterior Window Shutters.
There is a Lot More to Window Shutters Than You Think.
Shutters:
- Make one of the greatest impacts on the appearance of a house.
- Are a feature that is easy to add to your home.
- Provide the most bang for your buck in beautifying your home.
- Can ruin the entire appearance of your house if not done correctly.
Yes, exterior window shutters, just as windows, can be your best friend or worst enemy. Exterior shutters can make or break the appearance of your house. Window shutters are the most abused in about 99% of homes. Yes, exterior window shutters can grossly subtract from a potentially beautiful house and make it look bland and out-right ugly! The good news is that the bad can easily be fixed and allow your house to come alive with beauty. Here we will explain what most homeowners and builders are doing wrong and how easily exterior window shutters can make your house pop with beauty.
The History of Exterior Window Shutters and How They Were Used.
Exterior wood window shutters over the course of history were not only aesthetically pleasing but provided a necessary function with their many uses.
They were used for security, provided privacy from outsiders passing by, added an extra layer of insulation during winter weather (with wood having a high R value) and blocked out the sun, preventing damage to furniture.
Louvered shutters allowed a breeze to enter a home, keeping the room cool on a hot summer day.
Earlier historic shutters were used for security in place of glass windows.
Shutters were either single board, or board-and-batten shutters (vertical wood slats) which were used on cottages and primitive buildings.
Solid raised paneled shutters then appeared and provided a lighter, more elegant look.
Fixed louvered shutters then came into use during the second half of the 18th century.
Historically, solid raised panel shutters were referred to as “shutters” while those with louvered shutters were called “blinds”.
To the right you see a photo of shutters from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (1772). Stiles and rails (the edges) on early louvered shutters were quite narrow.
Notice that the shutter is mounted off to the side of the window casing. This mounting style was used only for early shutters such as these.
Many early louvered shutters when closed would not fit snuggly into the window but instead rest against the window sash and stick out from the window.
This window has a separate set of window shutters for both the upper and lower sash.
Through the middle 19th century, most homes would have solid raised panel shutters on the first floor for privacy and security.
On the second floor they would have louvered shutters to allow the breeze to enter during the warm months.
Sometimes the first floor had white shutters. At night when closed a candle lit interior would appear brighter.
Dark colored louvered shutters on the second floor would provide darkness for daytime napping.
An individual window shutter could also combined both features – a raised solid panel on the lower portion and louvers on the top part.
The example to the right shows an 1840’s window.
The shutter on the left is installed graphically from an old sepia-tone photo.
The shutter on the right is planned to be constructed by Shuttercraft to match.
Historic Board and Batten shutters are used for privacy and security.
Raised panel shutters
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello 1772
1861 Green louver shutters on top floor, white raised panel shutters on first floor. Click to enlarge.
Original c. 1840 shutter from an old photo is pasted on left side of window. Reproduction shutter mockup by Shuttercraft on right.
“Operable Louvered Shutters”, louvers that are regulated by a tilt rod began to be manufactured around 1830-1840. Before this the louvers were fixed in an open position.
With the advent of the exterior Storm Window in the later 1800’s, shutters were sometimes removed and stored away before the cold months and wooden storm windows would be installed. Removal was easy – all you needed to do was lift the shutter off the pin on the hinge.
Exterior window shutters could also remain on the building, left in an open position. If using storm windows, please note that this was all dependent on the type and mounting of the shutter hinge. It is possible that the storm window would not be able to be inserted into the window jamb if a shutter hinge was in the way.
During the warm months, the storm windows would be removed and window shutters would be closed to protect furniture from the sun and allow outside air to cool the house.
At the end of the Civil War, awnings (Preservation Brief #44 – Awnings ) became popular and window screens began to come into use. Screen windows were just like storm windows except they had screens in the wood frame. In addition to these screen windows, adjustable screens (The Adjustable Window Screen Company patent, 1866 ) still sold in hardware stores today, or lace curtains also served the purpose. Visit our page on storm windows and window screens .
In some styles of architecture, exterior shutters also began to fall out of fashion. By the 1920’s, although some exterior window shutters were still used for practical reasons, most were strictly decorative.
Those shutters that were purely decorative however, were still functional or had the appearance of being functional. Homeowners could operate the shutter to cool or insulate the home if they wished. There was no difference to the appearance of the house.
Unfortunately, this changed during the 1950’s with the advent of Aluminum Siding and Aluminum Shutters. This is when the dreadful problem we have today began.
Where Exterior Window Shutters Went Wrong
The public has always been in love with the warm cozy feel of a traditional styled home. Exterior wood window shutters provide that look and feel. Aluminum siding and fake aluminum shutters started to be heavily marketed in the 1950s.
To simplify installation of aluminum shutters on aluminum siding, the method of installing exterior window shutters – hanging shutters changed. Window shutters began to be installed by screwing the shutter onto the siding NEXT TO, instead of directly on top of window casing, and without the use of hinges. This was easy and required minimal intelligence.
Eventually, people became more lazy, less knowledgeable, and more insensitive to the appearance of their windows and began using the wrong size shutters. Before you knew it, they were putting rectangular shutters on arched windows and whatever else you could imagine!
This is where we are today. As you may or may not know, the window shutter has evolved in a grossly unfortunate way. Sadly, we too have evolved to accept this new bland look. It is now normal and what we expect to see when we look at a house with shutters. This is also what architects and builders do and what we see with many exterior window shutter companies.
If you are not aware of the “bad window shutters” problem you soon will be.
Read on and we will re-train your eyes to understand, see, and feel the impact of a architecturally correct and incorrect window shutter.
You will be the expert. We use the term Historic Shutter to represent a visually correct, properly mounted and designed shutter, as all shutters should be, including those used with contemporary architecture.
Hi! I live in Baltimore and have noticed that in certain historic homes in the area the shutters have candlestick, moon and/ or star cut outs on the shutters. I’m assuming this was a decorative touch . Do these cut outs have a particular symbolism? Or is it purely for decoration?
That’s a 1920’s style. They could mean something to the owner at the time but no particular reason.
Ken
What type of wood was most commonly used on these in midwest America ca. 1950?
I really am not sure. Probably Western Red Cedar.
Hi, I have a 1920s colonial revival that is essentially a square box with four single windows on the front. Unfortunately previous homeowners have replaced the old windows but there are hooks for (I’m assuming) storm windows on the top window pane of each window. Would they have used storm windows and shutters? Also would stationary louvered shutters make sense for this style CR?
Thank you for the article!
From what I understand sometimes people may have used both storm window and shutters. You can find info on shutters and old storm windows but seldom both. Storm windows have been around for a long time. To hang storm windows you need to be sure the shutter hinges will not be in the way. With edge mounted shutters, which were very popular, the storm window would probably not get past the hinge. Face mounted would not present a problem.
Louvered shutters are ok for a 1920’s Colonial Revival but shutters with cut-outs (louvered, board n batten etc.) are what you need. They were the most popular.
Sixty percent of our wood lovered shutters remain in storage in our garage of our 1861 brick gothic revival house. Am using a heat gun to soften and remove layers of paint after disassembling shutters as glue joints have failed. New parts, I make as needed. Hinges pattented 1843, had missing parts cast by an iron foundry near here. Parts had to be annealed in a kiln to soften the metal to be able do do the machine work. Missing bifold shutters on some french doors appear in a 1937 photo and horizontals parts will be duplicated from measurements from morter lines in the brick walls behind the shutters. It may be suttle,but is important to overall look..
We just bought a lovely brick home built in 1934. There are solid wood shutters on the second story windows, and none on the first story. The first story windows have extra glass panels to the side, almost like a visual glass “shutter”. Would it be appropriate to add first story shutters? Should we replace the upper level with louvered shutters?
Since the shutters are wood – keep them. Look for ghost marks of hinges on the other windows to see if the house had shutters there.
Hi, Thanks so much for all the background information on your site. I live in a tudor/cape cod home built in 1936 that had shutters attached to the brick in a way I can’t find referenced anywhere. In the space where the shutters were hung, the builder left two clean horizontal gaps in the mortar and inserted pieces of wood into those gaps. The shutters were then nailed into those pieces of wood. I just ordered board & batten, cedar shutters similar to what was there originally and would like to affix them to those wood pieces. Are you familiar with this method of hanging shutters on brick? The wood still in the gaps is weathered, but not rotted and appears strong. I’d like to just reuse that wood, but don’t know if I should try to replace it. Any thoughts about that? Thanks for your input.
While wood framed houses have a wide casing to attach the shutters, a brick home has a narrow brick mold surrounding the casing. This should provide ample space to attach a hinge. These shutters when closed should fit inside the brick mold resting against the blind stop. I would not think that hinges should be attached to the brick but in this case the shutter instead of fitting inside the brick mold would fill the entire opening in the brick. I believe this is a very old European way to mount shutters. I recommend taking a photo and sending it to a good shutter company like Shuttercraft to answer your questions.
My wife and I have purchased a 1848 colonial in Massachusetts. I’m wondering what style of shutters we should purchase?
To complicate matters a bit, we are adding an addition to the home so it will have a Victorian tower. Any recommendations for shutters?
Thanks!
Not everyone should own a historic house and this is a great example to how good homes get ruined. I would NOT add a tower to a Colonial house for it will look like a Frankenstein house. You are combining two entirely different styles that will clash. A good architect would never put his/her name on such a design. Find a historic preservation architect through your State Historic Preservation Office that is qualified for state projects and have them design a sensitive addition. Please do NOT make your beautiful 1848 house look like a joke. You are a steward of a historic house so please do not ruin it. Your house should have louvered shutters on the top floor and panel shutters on the first floor.
I have a hinge question. We have raised panel interior shutters, solid basswood, that we are installing soon. 2 windows, 4 shutters on each. We want to buy finial hinges for use on the window casing side installation, but my question is – what type of hinge do we buy that will join the 2 shutters together, that will be seen from the outside? Do we use plain or the finial hinge? Thank you.
Hi – sorry but I don’t know the answer to that question. I recommend touring a historic house that is pre Civil War that would most likely have interior shutters and see what is used. You can also call some good shutter manufacturers.
We are renovating a 1910 southern farmhouse and trying to decide if we should remove the fake vinyl shutters that were put on the house in the 90s. Did 1910 farmhouses have shutters or would it look better if we removed them?
definitely. No shutters will make your house look classier than having vinyl shutters.
Our raised panel shutters on the first floor and movable louvers on the second floor were stripped and repainted. The hardware was removed, sand blasted, repainted and reattached. The dates on the locks show April 18, 1861. We had copper caps added to the tops. Now some of the pegs in the panel shutters are popping out. The paint and wood have been weathered by hail. Would it be worthwhile doing another restoration or should we consider replacing with reproductions?
Wow – you did a real lot of work! After all that and also being fortunate enough to still have the originals, I would keep them. You should not need a full restoration but some glue for the pegs and minor repairs along with paint.
Am researching how to select shutters for our 1830 antebellum frame home located near Tallahassee, FL.
Hi Ken. I have a Bayman’s Cottage on Long Island built circa 1824. A door on either side and 3 windows on the first floor, and 3 windows on the second floor (expanded before our purchase from peekaboo windows). We removed the pathetic and broken down plastic shutters and have had no shutters for a couple of years now. Not sure if these cottages would have had shutters or not… should we leave it shutterless or install simple board and batten shutters?
Thanks for your input.
Such an old house would definitely have shutters.