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Curb appeal is important to homeowners as well as to potential home buyers. Even homeowners upgrading for their own enjoyment want an attractive house in which to live. The smallest details are the most vital to highlight a house.
Window shutters are so much more than an aesthetic item for your home’s exterior. They close to protect your windows from violent storms. They prevent rain from damaging the cladding. They look good as part of a whole picture.
Choosing new window shutters involves knowing your home’s architectural type, what type of shutters you want, as well as a few other things. Ready to get started?
Table of Contents
What Architectural Type Is Your House?
There are numerous types of houses, from cottage to Craftsman, from mid-century modern to farmhouse, and from Cape Cod to contemporary. The architectural type of house calls for specific trim fitting the type of house. This is true of window shutters as well. Architectural types of house include:
• Greek revival
• Colonial
• Tudor
• French country
• Mediterranean
• Spanish
• Ranch
What Type Shutters Go With Your House’s Architecture?
The five types of window shutters can be used on most types of house architecture. For example, you can use board and batten shutters on a cottage or a farmhouse.
• Raised panel. These look like kitchen cabinet doors. This type of shutter pairs well with any type of architecture and is found on everything from contemporary to mid-century modern to Craftsman houses
• Louvered. This shutter comprises slats angled like the slats of a window shade indoors. The angle allows light and air to circulated around the shutter. You’ll find louvered shutters on houses from Cape Cod to Southern plantation-type houses, and from modern to Colonial homes
• Board and batten. This shutter consists of length-wise boards bound together by width-wise boards on top, sometimes the middle, and bottom. They look a lot like a barn door and look especially good on cottages. They look good against the stone or brick of any style of house.
• Shaker. Much like a raised panel shutter, the Shaker panels are inverted. The optical effect makes the viewer look twice to see if the shutter isn’t actually a raised panel. This shutter pairs well with pretty much any architectural type you prefer
• Bahama or Bermuda. Any coastal community will feature houses with Bahama shutters. They’re louvered and hinged at the top instead of the sides. They open out from the window like an awning or transom window. These shutters pair well with Mediterranean and beach house architecture.
Some of these styles are incorporated into protective coverings and shutters such as the accordion shutters used in hurricane-prone areas.
Size And Materials
If your shutters will simply be decorative, then size and materials are less important than if you want the shutters to close. Shutters should reach one-third across the window and not touch. They should measure exactly the windows’ length. Measure this all around the house.
Most contractors choose vinyl shutters from the big box store with whom they have an account. Those custom building their homes might choose wood or composite, depending on what cladding they choose for the house. Wood wears out in a few years, but composite is made to look like wood and not wear out.
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