I love the Rustic Luxe look! So when I saw a pair of grungy, chippy, wet, snow coverd shutters on a recent antiquing outing I knew that they were destined to live in my dining room!
There was one little problem.... they were way to big to go on either side of the gilded mirror!
But that was really no problem at all! Here's how to cut a shutter down and resize it to almost any length...
Here is the shutter before...
This shutter had to be unhinged and cut down to 36 inches... just right to hang on either side of the dinning room mirror.
This was really an easy project. The whole thing took Bobby and I (and when I say Bobby and I , I mean Bobby) about 40 minutes to resize both shutters and hang them.
Please read all the instructions before cutting your shutters!
CUTTING THE SHUTTERS
I wanted each shutter to be 36 inches long so they would be 1/2 inch longer than the mirror at the top and bottom.
Because the hindges were frozen in place with years of rust we decided not to cut then out and compromise the integrity of of the shutters. Instead we cut the shutters in the middle.
Measure carefully, and cut all the way through the shutter. Bobby used his table saw.
If you can measure the shutters from the top, you will not have to take apart the top rail of the shutters and put them back together. Use the top rail as is.
* IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SAW CALL YOUR LOCAL HARDWARE STORE TO SEE IF THEY WILL CUT THIS FOR YOU.
THE ANATOMY OF A SHUTTER
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REFITTING THE TOP RAIL TO THE SHUTTER
IMPORTANT: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CUT THE TOP OF THE SHUTTER OFF, SKIP DOING THIS SECTION BUT READ IT AND GO TO "REFITTING THE BOTTOM RAIL"
Remover the top rail (top solid piece... the arrows are pointing to it in the picture below) from the cut off top piece of the shutter.
The louvers will pull apart easily from the stile and so will the top rail.
When the top rail is removed from the cut off piece of shutter, it is now time to secure it back in to the shutter.
Make sure to line up the mouse hole with the top of the tilt rod. This will assure that both pieces are facing front.
Remove as many louvers as needed to fit the top rail into the shutter. The top rail must fit exactly to the top of the stiles.
In our shutters, Bobby had to take out a louver and cut off about about 1/3 inch and put it back into the shutter so the rail would fit perfectly.
Fit the top rail snugly into the top of the shutter.
When the top rail is placed in the shutter matching the mouse hole with the tilt bar and the top of the rail with the stiles, clamp it so it does not move.
Turn the shutter over to the back side and secure the top rail to the side stiles with L corner brackets and screws.
REFITTING THE BOTTOM RAIL TO THE SHUTTER
Securing the bottom rail to the shutter is the same process as securing the top rail to the shutter.
Remover the bottom rail (bottom solid piece) from the cut off bottom of the shutter.
The louvers will pull apart easily from the stile and so will the bottom rail.
The bottom rail will not have a mouse hole so be careful to remember which side of the rail is the front.
Remove as many louvers as needed to fit the bottom rail into the shutter. The bottom rail must fit exactly to the bottom of the stiles.
Turn the shutter over to the back side and secure the bottom rail to the side stiles with L corner brackets and screws.
TA-DA!
Shutters that are sized to fit the decor!
Here is another pair of shutters we sized to fit on the mantel...
I hope you will now be on the lookout for some chippy shutter to decorate you home too!
Remember to
Thanks for the tutorial. They certainly look good.
ReplyDeleteWow that looked like a lot of work, but well worth it. They look great aside the mirror.
ReplyDeleteI have done this before, but your way looked a whole lot easier, fun to read. rhc
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great to have a man who loves you enough to cut down shutters for you. It's a rustic-luxe match made in heaven!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy so many of your decorating projects and love to see how others decorate. So thanks for letting us all watch. But that said, I must say, I'm not a fan of the 'chippy' shutters next to the gilt mirror. Seems sort of forced to me?
ReplyDeleteSo cool....you made it look somewhat easy. Thanks for sharing. :-)
ReplyDeleteThey came out beautifully - a wonderful tutorial.
ReplyDeleteThese turned out so nicely! I finally gave away two 8'x4' plantation shutters we had - just so big and they kept falling down. I used them for one photoshoot and that was it! Now I wonder!!
ReplyDeleteBobby is a dear to do this. It looks terrific in your beautiful home!!!! We had settlement today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour Bobby is such a handy guy!...Pinning and archiving this!...thanks Yvonne and thanks to Bobby too...they turned out so incredible...love that Rustic Luxe!
ReplyDelete