Make your own Board and Batten shutters

Once upon a time, there was an anemic and very old house on a very old street next to other very old, prettier houses.

There was a black, gaping, hollow hole in the front of the house, that some who didn't know better might call a picture window. In reality it was the house's mouth, silently moaning out a haunting dirge for all who dared gaze upon it in passing.

Can you hear the house quietly moaning out it's dirge?

I decided to make my own decorative shutters because the ugly vinyl/plastic ones are SO overpriced in stores. Also, the board and batten wooden style shutters are much more appropriate on our old house. 

I went to Home Depot and bought wood planks for about $2 each (for an 8-foot length). I also bought another couple of pieces of thinner wood for the horizontal connector pieces. 

These shutters cost us only about $10 each!

Once home, I measured and marked 8 planks at 60" (the height of our window frame; yours obviously may be different). Make sure the marks are straight. Cut the planks on the marks so they are all equal. I used a table saw, but you can use whatever saw you'd like. 

Lay 4 pieces next to one another, touching (I've seen styles with gaps, but it wasn't the look I was going for). Measure the width of the shutter and mark out that measurement 3 times for EACH shutter along the length of the smaller piece of wood. Cut. These pieces will be the horizontal connector bars.

Measure and mark half-way along the length of each shutter. Then, for ours, I measured 9 inches from the top and bottom of each shutter to place the top and bottom connector pieces.

Make sure all pieces are flush and even, and make sure your connector bars are exactly on their marks. Nail the connector bars in place, making sure to get the nails through the connector bars and into each wood plank of the shutter. A nail-gun will be your best bet for this part. Next, flip the shutter over and use a hammer to bend the nails down and make them flush with the wood. 

Above: The completed set of shutters, ready to be primed and painted. They are 5 feet (60in) tall.

* (OPTIONAL: These shutters could also be STAINED and sealed with a stain color of your choice! That would be a very visually interesting and beautiful option as well, on the right house. It would lend a more rustic or cottage-y feel.)

The next day I primed the shutters, back and front, with 2 coats of Kilz2 Latex primer. 

Above: The back side of the shutters, primed. We were also in the process of priming and painting the deck, so that's why I didn't care if I got primer on the deck. You may prefer to prime/paint the shutters with cardboard underneath, or maybe lay the shutters across a couple of boxes in the grass for this step. 

I next painted the shutters 2 coats with a medium brown color (also the color we decided to paint the deck). The type of paint I used was Glidden Porch and Floor latex paint. It is important to use a paint that is formulated for outdoor applications. Allow to dry fully between coats and before installing; I waited 24+ hours. 

Then I installed them using 4 very long screws for each shutter. 2 screws just above the top connector bar, 2 screws just below the bottom connector bar. To do this , I propped a shutter up with the end of a shovel, leaned the shovel against the house so the end of it was at the right height (just below the window frame where the bottom of the shutter would be). I used a scrap piece of wood to prop against the middle of the shutter (just under the center connector bar) to keep it in place while I drilled/screwed the shutter in place. If my husband had been home, I would have had him hold them in place while I installed them. 

Above: after I installed the shutters and painted the window trim the same color.

Above: Shutters, trim, and deck all painted the same color. 

Our sad, aged house is singing a different tune! The window doesn't look as gaping, bare, or somber. The face of our old house now looks alive and inviting, not hollow and scary as it did before. 

Ours is no longer the spookiest or ugliest house on the street. 

Before:

 After:

The house is smiling after it's face-lift :o)