Thoughts on Painting Wooden Shutters and Being Sneaky

Published: May 12, 2020

There are probably as many different ideas on how to paint anything made out of wood as there are people with stuff to paint. A lot of the basic, good advice that applies to painting a wooden door also applies to painting a wooden shutter. Things like preparation, ventilation, wearing a painters mask, cleaning, priming, getting good paint, and applying multiple coats of paint. All that is relevant and applies to painting shutters too. However, there are a few unique factors that apply to wooden shutters that do not quite apply to other parts of your house.

Before I go on, this information applies to wooden shutters, not vinyl shutters. I do have some advice for people wondering about painting their vinyl shutters. All you have to do is wait a little while. Those cheap vinyl shutters will dry out soon in the Sun, crack, and fall off your house soon enough. Then you can gather them up, throw them away, and vow never to speak of owning vinyl shutters again (I certainly will never mention it). At that point, go out and buy some high quality wooden shutters (as chance would have it, the best are available at this very site), and then consider the productive and happy task of painting them just how you like with this very article. You will be glad you did!

One factor that differentiates painting shutters from doors or wooden furniture is their accessibility. Doors, for example, are right where people tend to walk around. If you can't walk right up to your door, you might want to find something else to call it because it's not really a door. Shutters are not always accessible, especially exterior shutters. Unless you happen to be a spider, bird, or Ninja, walking out your windows is probably something you do not often do. So painting your shutters will often take a little extra effort.

That little extra effort required can be mitigated by the fact that your house itself will need some maintenance now and then as well. The fact is, it will need to be cleaned and painted now and then, probably once every 5 to 10 years, depending on what it is made out of. Older houses will, in general, need that cleaning and painting more often than newer ones due to the better materials usually available these days. Circumstances vary, but if your house has been built in the last 5 or so years, you can probably put off your exterior painting/cleaning maintenance by a few years. But whenever you do decide to give your house some serious cleaning and attention, just remember to do your shutters at the same time. Unless you are very particular about the looks of your shutters (and I salute you if you are), they generally do not need elaborate care above and beyond what you normally do for your house. So while you are on ladders painting your house anyway, take down the shutters and give them some care too.

Which brings up another point about shutters and where they are placed. Being outside (usually), and around your windows, people do not generally walk up to them. Unlike doors, they are most often viewed at a distance. So, if the paint fades a bit here and there where the Sun is hitting them hard, it most probably won't be noticed. If you have inoperable shutters, there is another sneaky thing that you've probably overlooked: Your shutters tend to have the same measurements around most of your windows, which means you can remove shutters from one part of your house that does not have as much sun or wind exposure, and swap them with the shutters that do get a bit weather beaten. Sneaky, yet effective! This way you can extend the effective lifespan of paint on your shutters.

Of course, neglecting your house's exterior and your shutters is not a great idea in the long run. The things that keep your house and shutters looking good, usually paint and cleanliness, are the same things that protect it from rot, bugs and the elements. Obviously, people spend most of their time inside their houses, not outside them. But do not neglect the outside. I've mentioned this before, and I'll say it again. Take some time after the Winter season is done to give the outside of your house a good walk around. Start at the front door, and walk around your house all the way till you get back to the front door again. Check out how dirty it is, and if some repairs are needed. And, of course, take a look at your shutters while you are doing this.

In some cases, your shutters will need a bit of extra care and paint. If they do, painting them will not be too difficult a project. Unlike a lot of wooden doors or furniture, wooden shutters are not that heavy. Unless they are nailed in place, they are not difficult to remove. They are also relatively small, so each will not take a lot of paint, and you will find they do not take long to dry when painted. Remember to be sneaky! Paint the shutters that need the most care first, and disguise their absence with shutters taken from some other part of your house. Plus, remember that you do not need to do all your shutters in one go. Break up the job into smaller parts, prioritize the shutters that need paint more urgently than the rest, and paint a few shutters every weekend. In a few weeks you will find you are done, your house looks beautiful again, and you can enjoy the fact that they will look that good for years to come because you took the time to take care of them. Sure, those beautiful shutters aren't maintenance free, but everything worth having takes a little care.