I Shutter At The Thought...

...that these shutters were going to be thrown away! They were too small for the windows in my house, and too many different widths to link together. What do you do with a bunch of misfits??? You take them to the workshop...

Sand and paint the shutters

Write your emergency phone numbers on the labels

And..close the shutters for privacy

I love old wooden shutters, but they are so difficult to find! I can't tell you how many times I've drug my mother into this warehouse called "Construction Junction" full of unwanted remnants of the past, near the city of Pittsburgh. What do they say, "one mans' trash is another mans' treasure?" When companies, or regular residents, renovate old buildings around the city, they bring the unwanted wooden shutters, marble sinks, light fixtures, gorgeous oak furniture, and more to this warehouse.

From there, you can actually make a deal with the sellers, and walk out with as much "junk" to renovate as you want!

I however, inherited these shutters from my great aunt. I sanded them quickly and painted them. I love the look of latex paint in gloss, especially for older looking projects. It reminds me of the old oil based paints that everyone used to use in hunter green. I took some sand paper and sanded on top of the paint after it was dry to let the brown paint from underneath come through. (Making it look rustic) I placed emergency phone numbers on in the label slots, and when you close the shutter, you do not disclose your personal information to visitors!

 

I had some remaining metal label holders from the locker project (in the bathroom), and unfortunately when I went to find some small screws that wouldn't penetrate the thin shutters, I realized I had used them for some Christmas decorations around the house. So...I ransacked the house of my old picture frames and used the screws from those.

The best part about this project is that you can conceal your personal information, and be stylish at the same time. On top of which...it is super easy and doesn't take too much time; and...you just restored something that some else would have just thrown away!!!