Re-purposed Wood Shutters

When we ripped out the walls and ceiling in our sun room our yard and trailer quickly filled with debris.  I hated thinking about contributing so much to a landfill so we salvaged what we could.  The ceiling slats were piled high waiting for a new purpose.  It didn't take long for Ryan to come up with an idea!  Board and batten shutters!

For a long time I've been wanting to hang shutters on all of the windows on the front of our house.  But shutters fell to the bottom of the list with the other cosmetic, non-necessity items.  Our focus has been on functionality and repairs.  And then suddenly we had a large pile of 1x4's just waiting for inspiration!  

I'm proud to say that I did the majority of this project on my own. My husband helped assemble the last two shutters so I could finish painting something else (he'll do anything to get out of painting).

First, I pulled out all of the staples, nails, and screws.  Then I measured the height of my windows and cut three slats to the correct length for each shutter (6 slats per window).  I used a scrap sliver of wood, broken into four pieces, as spacers between the slats.  Then I measured across the three spaced slats for my cross support and cut two more slats.  Wood glue and finishing nails secured the pieces together. 

After all the shutters were finally assembled (did I mention this was a side project during out sun room renovation?) I primed them all.  I intended to fill all the nail holes and sand them down, but it was getting late and my husband convinced no one would be able to tell the difference from the road anyway.  Sold.  Primer it is.

I originally thought I would paint the shutters a dark gray.  I really liked one of the paint samples we considered for the new siding on the back of our house.  I looked at tons of pictures online trying to find a color with a little more excitement when Ryan suggested plum.  Plum?  Really?  Our front door is stained a deep red.  Would plum shutters look good with a red door?  In all honesty, he's usually right about these kinds of things.  He has a good eye.  So we went to Lowes and bought a quart of Valspar Ultra Paint + Primer in Royal Plum.  (Had I known the only Valspar paint available in a quart size is the Ultra Paint + Primer I wouldn't have primed first.)  We rushed home and I painted two of the shutters to test it out.  The paint brushed on like a dream.  Smooth and the perfect consistency.  I let them dry overnight before holding them up to the brick to see how they look. 

I have to say, I'm pleased with the results.  My husband was right.  (But don't tell him I admitted it.)  Hopefully this weekend I can give these two another coat of plum and paint the other six.  And maybe I'll weed the flower garden so I can take a nice picture after we hang them....