Shutters are an alternative to having curtain or blinds. They were traditionally used in the Mediterranean, but are now used all over the world. They began to be used for practical reasons instead of having an open window space in places such as Greece, Italy and Spain. They are now often chosen because they are aesthetically pleasing. They can, of course, be purchased but it is also possible to make your own shutters. This article explains how you could go about making your own shutters, either interior ones or exterior.
First of all you need to choose the wood that you would like the shutters to be made from. This needs to be sturdy, hard-warring wood that will not get damaged easily. This needs to be particularly the case if they are exterior shutters as they will get worn down by the weather if they are not. Shutters are generally between 2.5cm and 5cm thick, so aim for a material roughly this thickness. The next thing you need to do is get the measurements for the Shutter correct. Measure your windows, but don’t forget to add some for overlap. The Shutters need to overlap the windows by around 5cm for interior and around twice this if they are exterior.
Next it is a matter of making the louvers. Louvers vary in width quite significantly; they are usually anywhere between 3cm and 30cm. You need to measure these out and cut them to size. There needs to be a slight overlap though, so no light will come in when the louvers are shut.
Once you have the louvers and the main frame you can start putting them together. Each lover needs to be joined to the frame on each side using pins. You then need a pivot (a pole that is just to open and close the louvers). Holes will need to have been drilled in exactly the same position in the front of each louver. The pivot should then be attached to these holes. As all the louvers are attached to the pivot, the pivot will move when a louver is opened or close, thus causing all of the louvers to move by the same amount.
And that is your shutters pretty much finished. They just need painting and attaching to the interior or exterior of your home. To do this make hinges (similar to door hinges) for your window frame and attach the Shutters.
Andrew Marshall ©
Shutters
