Text by Linda Wright / Styling by Yukie McLean
Release your creative juices and imagine the varied ways to incorporate shutters into your decorating scheme.
Shutters have hung at windows for centuries to provide privacy and control the amount of sunlight streaming into a room. With the advent of louvered shutters (as opposed to solid panels), fresh air could even flow into the area. Today, we control sunlight and privacy with draperies and blinds, and we cool our rooms with air-conditioning. So have shutters disappeared? Hardly.
Shutters are a popular decorative element in cottages large and small. Professional designers as well as creative homeowners scour flea markets and junk stores in hopes of finding paint-worn shutters. Talented woodworkers incorporate them in projects that don’t even go near windows. So check out some clever repurposing ideas we’ve found in hopes of inspiring you.
To give an old bookcase a touch of cottage style, attach two shutters to use as doors. Don’t worry about painting them; a little patina adds to the charm.
By hinging two shutters together, a corner shelf was created. Shelves were added and s hooks make it possible to hang items.
In this bedroom, two shutter panels are hung above twin beds to make instant headboards. The design for the other bed’s footboard incorporates two small shutters.
Here, a tall single shutter provides the back support of a tool stand.