Measure for Measure, Shutters

Published: May 08, 2020

Like a lot of things, getting the proper measurements for your window shutters is not difficult, but it should be done with a little care. An oversized or undersized shutter might not look right, and it would be a shame to go through the process of getting quality shutters and then find they do not even fit your window. So please don't neglect this step!

A good rule of thumb is to measure for each and every window where you want your shutters. Do not assume that once you have measured one of your windows you are done! We would all like to think that everything is "standardized", and that one size fits all. That's the ideal, sure, but it doesn't always work like that. There are many reasons your windows might actually vary a bit from one to the other. Measure each one, record the measurements for each window, note where the window is, and record it somewhere. You'll be glad you did.

Once again, we need to think about what you want your shutters to do. This will impact the care you need to take when you measure. If you've been reading along with our site's information you probably know what I'm about to ask you: Do you want your shutters to be functional, to just look functional, or to be decorative?

Functionally Functional?

The functionality question is important once again for some obvious reasons. If you want your shutters to work, you need them to fit. So, for functional shutters you need to take care with your measuring and consider not only that they fit into your window, but that they need a little extra room to move. That point is important. Your shutters will swing in and out during operation, so there needs to be a small gap where your shutter meets your window. Also, during summer, or in warm climates, you will need room for your shutters to expand with the heat. Everything expands a little when hot, and everything contracts a little when cold. Count on that, and plan for it.

For shutters that only appear functional, you have more leeway. Obviously, you want them to look like they could actually fit into your window, so measure with that in mind, particularly the Height, top to bottom, of the shutter. This is really where the shutter gives the appearance of being right for your window. The width is not as important to get right, as the shutters are not supposed to actually cover the window. You can be accurate anyway (perhaps you might want to have your shutters actually become functional someday). If in doubt, measure for functionality. If style is your muse, I suggest thin shutters with less width to accent a narrow but tall window? Or, for a smaller window, shutters with more width could give the illusion that the window is larger than it actually is, and might help to add detail to a plain section of your house.

For purely decorative, non-Functional shutters, you don't need to be very exact. Your shutters can be as large or as small as you want them to be. You can accent a window with smaller shutters, or create the illusion of size with larger ones. It's still important to keep a sense of scale with your shutters. Don't let your shutters be too big or too small, you'll disrupt the look of your home. You don't want the shutters to look ridiculous, you want them to accent and add visual interest to your home. Too big or too small, and its no longer your home that people notice. They will all be staring at the part of your house that is all out of proportion to the rest. So measure with that in mind. You can't go wrong by measuring for your shutters as if they would actually fit the window, then modifying those measurements for the style and accent you want.

Take the measure

Now, how do you actually measure your windows? Well, for starters, we won't be using the metric system. We're still inches and feet around here. Call us old-fashioned if you like.

The actual measurements of the shutter will depend on the casement of the window, or the frame that the window itself rests in. That's where the shutter will go, and that's what you want to measure from. Take a look at your window with this exactly in mind. Imagine where the shutters would actually go. If you need some help, get some pictures of shutters in closed and open positions, and compare that with your windows. That should help you see where to start.

Consider other parts of your window that might be protruding a bit. You might have sliding glass windows with a lip that sticks out a bit to make it easier to grab and open the window. Note that, and measure how far out it sticks. That might be important when it comes time to choose your hardware. If you have parts that extend from the window, you do not want your shutter to close flush against those parts inside the casement. You might prefer the shutter to close just outside the casement instead, flush against it, not inside it. The proper shutter hardware can handle that problem, and for now it should not affect our measuring, but it is something to consider for functionality. Some windows need extra space between the glass and the shutter. Again, the world is not as "standard" as you might think it is. However, in all probability, inside the casement, and about 1" to 2" away from the glass should work just fine.

For the actual measurement, look to where the shutter is going to go, and measure at the very top of the window, the width of it, from left to right. Now, measure the width again, at the very bottom, again from left to right. Compare the two measurements. They might not be the same! Remember, variations happen.

To double-check, do that again, measure the width of the window at the top, and the bottom. If the numbers differ a little, use the smaller of the two measurements. Now you have the width of TWO shutters, closed, over your windows. Note that down, call it your Width, along with which window of your house you are measuring if that is important (and it probably is).

Now, you want the height of your shutters. Again, look to where the shutters will go, the casement of your window. Measure it now from top to bottom, the height of the casement, on the left side of the window. Note that down, and now measure the height of the casement on the Right side of the window. Note that down. Are they the same? Measure the Height of the casement again, on the left, and on the right, to make sure. If they differ a little, that is OK, use the smaller measurement of the two.

Now, let's make some adjustments for functionality. For functional shutters to accurately scale to your window, take the height figure you just measured and subtract ½" from it. Take the width figure and subtract at least ½" for a smaller window, or ¾" from a normal sized or larger window. That will allow for room for the shutter to move if you need it to, or just look like it can. If you don't want your shutters to be or look functional, you can skip this step.

You don't want one big shutter for your window. So,take that adjusted width figure and divide it in half. Be as accurate as you can. Round up if you need to to the nearest ?" or better. That figure is now the width of the individual shutter. The height figure you calculated before is the height of the individual shutter.

Note the height and width of the shutters you will need for the specific window you have in mind. Shutters usually come in pairs, so you will need two of that measurement. And if you do not want functionality at all, just decorative shutters, here you can alter your width measurement to suit what you have in mind. Just go easy on modifying the height of the shutters!

And that is it! If you want to be very sure, have a friend or contractor check your work, or do the measuring again on a new day, to make sure your numbers still work. Either way, you should be ready to order your Shutters!