Tutorial: Indoor Decorative Shutters the Easy Way

Add the per­fect touch of tex­ture and warmth to your home with this DIY tuto­r­i­al for build­ing indoor dec­o­ra­tive shut­ters. This type of project will come togeth­er quick­ly with min­i­mal wood­work­ing skills required.

Required Tools

Additional Supplies

  • Fin­ish Nails
  • (6) 1/4″ Sand­ed Ply­wood (Cut into 6 ” planks)
  • (2) 1 x 2″ fin­ished trim pieces (Cut to 14″)
  • Stain
  • Stain Rags
  • Your secret weapon (aka a jig)

Instructions

I began this project with a large sand­ed ply­wood sheet from Lowe’s. Sim­ply ask them to cut your sheet into 6″ planks. Once I had the wood home I was able to use the miter saw to cut the planks to size. This com­plete­ly depends on pref­er­ence and where you plan to hang your shutters.

Once they are cut to size, lay them out just like pic­tured below. I chose no gaps between my boards, sim­ply ‘because I did­n’t want to add the extra step of cre­at­ing the per­fect gap. 

If a gap is some­thing you think you may want to include, sim­ply use 2 nick­els in between each board at the top and bot­tom. I am work­ing on a youtube video to demon­strate this technique.

wood planks layed on the ground

Next, using a 6″ scrap piece of wood as a jig, (this will change your life…seriously) I spaced my hor­i­zon­tal trim pieces even­ly on both the top and bot­tom por­tions of the board. 

A jig is sim­ply a pre­cut piece of wood you can use as a guide for spac­ing. It makes this step so much eas­i­er, as it elim­i­nates the need for exact measuring. 

6" jig used for easy and quick spacing

Using a nail gun, secure the trim in place,

unfinished wood shutters leaning up against the side of the house

Now you’re ready for stain! This is the fun part of the project where the shut­ters real­ly take on their beau­ty. I used a Mixwax in stain in a Wal­nut shade. I have used this shade a lot through­out my home already and had it on hand. 

Fun fact, I rarely go out and buy new stains and paints for spe­cif­ic projects. I usu­al­ly shop my own stash for what I need. Being a SAHM that lit­tle tip is a huge time and mon­ey saver! Side note, I would love to cre­ate some shelv­ing des­ig­nat­ed to all of my pain and stain­ing sup­plies. But that’s a project for a dif­fer­ent day.

minwax stain being applied to plywood planks with glove and rag
woman standing and holding shutters up on either side

With the help of the Mr., we hung these by screw­ing them direct­ly into the studs. Though the shut­ters them­selves are not too ter­ri­bly heavy, the cor­bel lamps I want­ed to use for styling them were. Hang­ing in a stud reduces the like­ly hood of tear out in your sheetrock.

primitive country dining room with black chairs, buffalo check curtains and a large vintage mirroe
dining room table with mirror and shutters in the backgroound
window with magnolia plant in the floor and buffalo check curtain

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