We are often contacted by owners of older homes in the colonial towns in the region like Portsmouth, Newburyport, Ipswich and Salem, MA, asking about colonial or traditional shutters. Many of these clients assume that these window treatments are historically correct for their home. Determining what type of shutter would be correct for a particular home takes a little bit of work. First, we must determine the age and the original style of the home, and even consider the level of wealth of the original owner of the home.

Within our service area North of Boston we use the following guidelines;

• Homes built before 1740 generally had Indian Shutters which were solid panel shutters that slid into the wall like a pocket door and used for security during Indian raids. Many period homes still have the original panels. We craft replacement panels ourselves to match the existing panels. Although used far less, we have seen these panels in homes built as late as 1820
• From 1740 until around 1820 solid panels gradually gave way to louvered shutters. The solid panels were generally hinged instead of the pocket style above and bi-folded either against the wall or if the home had masonry walls the panels would fold against the ornate moldings generally at an angle from the window. The panels were almost always ‘double-hung’ which means that there were two sets of shutters one above the other. Allowing the upper panels to be hinged open while the lower set afforded privacy. The louvers varied in size from a little more than one inch to slightly less than two inches.
• The Federal and Greek Revival Styles of the early to mid 1800’s found shutters falling from fashion. When used at all, they were usually found in the formal rooms at the front of the house and nay have been somewhat ornate raised panels matching the mill-work in the room and may have been highly decorated with faux-painting and or gilding. Louvered panels slowly gained some popularity toward the end of the period and increased in size to two inches or slightly larger.
• The Victorian period saw the Cafe` style shutters used for the first time. Similar to the double hung shutters nentioned above, the Victorian period often used shutters only on the lower half of the window. Louvered shutters were fairly exclusively used in this period with the louver varying in size from 1 1/4″ to about 2″.
• Plantation style shutters really are not architecturally correct for any period home in this region. When working with clients we generally suggest that they consider the importance of remaining true to the history of the home and compare that importance to their lifestyle, comfort and enjoyment of the home. Many clients choose to compromise and select plantation shutters because of the increase in light and airflow afforded by this newer style. Although this style of shutter has been used since colonial times in the Southern areas of the country. The original styles used louvers around 2 1/2″ in width. The most popular louver size used today is 3 1/2″ and the 4 1/2″ is quite popular for large openings and homes that have water views.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your renovation project, we will be happy to assit you in determining which options are best for you. Link

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Fabric Valence over Plantation Shutters

Clients often ask if it is OK, or acceptable to combine soft treatments with plantation shutters, absolutely! This is a beautiful example of a project we completed in Portsmouth, NH some time ago. See for yourself if the two can be combined. Link

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