Getting Shutters Right

Not every old house was built with shutters, and adding them without checking your home's history can look off rather than authentic. Many early American houses, including some Georgian-style homes, had interior shutters instead of exterior ones. Shutters became common on Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival houses, then fell out of favor on Victorian styles like Queen Anne, where varied window shapes made them impractical. They came back with Colonial Revival houses after 1900, often added to older homes during a "colonial" makeover, and later became purely decorative on many mid-20th-century houses.

If you're considering shutters on your own house, the details matter more than the general look. They should be sized to fully cover the window if closed, match the window's shape (arched, pointed, or rectangular), and have louvers angled to shed water correctly when shut. Real hinges or at least decorative hardware called shutter dogs make them look functional even if they're not meant to open and close. Shutters bolted flat against the siding tend to look fake and can trap moisture against the wall, which speeds up rot.

For upkeep, rot-resistant wood or a modern composite holds paint longer, and proper priming plus two coats of quality exterior paint pays off over time by cutting down on repeat labor. Once shutters are up, small touch-ups matter: exposed wood that gets wet can lead to peeling paint, failed joints, and eventually rot or insect damage.