Monday, May 3, 2010

Shutter Wall - Attaching the Shutters

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For an updated post on the completed project click here.

Ah the shutter project. Sorta my baby....I love it, it's kinda messy, takes up a lot of my time, and has been fun to show off. But you know how when you get a new car, you notice everyone else driving it?....in the same color? Or when you name your kid, or dog something creative and unique, suddenly you hear it all the time? Well, I've had a little of that too. My inspiration for this project came from a display at Anthropologie. The display used shutters but in no way was it close to how I chose to recreate my dining room wall. Since beginning my project I've come across a couple similar ideas. My friend Melody who lives in Davis, CA mentioned that one of her favorite restaurants in Sacramento has walls covered with shutters. I googled sacramento restaurant shutters and look what I found:


It seems as though they used shutters of mostly the same size, which I have to add would probably be a lot easier when it comes to fitting them together. I also like their use of an occasional horizontal shutter. They covered their ceiling with the shutters which really intensifies the motif but is sort of like considering a fourth child in my house.....NOT going to happen. On a side note, I like their use of three stacked coffee tables for display purposes. I could imagine that in a corner of a room near a window, used for plants.

Flipping through the new Pottery Barn catalog I came across page 45, with a picture of the Como Headboard. The website didn't show the wall to the extent that the catalog did so I took a picture of it.

Uh, shutters? On the wall? Did they not get my fax about the copyright on that idea? In fact it looks quite similar to my guest room wall.

Which, by the way my husband thinks we should consider taking this down so we don't over use shutters in our home. What do you think? I don't mind it and think it adds enough character to the room and is far enough away from the dining room to not matter. (Ironically the shutters in the dining room are on the other side of this wall.) This collection of white shutters with hinges used to be the actual headboard of the queen bed we had in this room. When we moved our master bedroom (cal king) furniture into the guest room, we left it on the wall behind the iron head board.

...Anyhow the shutter project is coming along. I invited friends over to paint with me....Thank you Robin, Caroline and Rachel! My daughter also painted a few and besides working next to me, she mentioned that she enjoyed the time she spent painting them quietly by herself. This is my four year old I'm talking about here....enjoying the tranquility of a little art therapy. Interestingly my artsy 6 year old son wanted nothing to do with painting the shutters, but quite enjoyed helping his daddy with attaching the wooden support beams.

After priming 5/8 inch OSB plywood, my wonderful supportive husband Dan, ran them through his table saw, cutting four inch wide strips. What is OSB plywood you ask? Check out WiseGEEK on OSB Plywood.

Working with the table saw in the front yard always brings the neighbors asking questions ...."Laura's covering our dining room wall in shutters." "....She's what?"

After priming and trimming two sheets of the OSB plywood, Dan and Riley attached them horizontally about every foot or so on the wall. Additional small pieces of the plywood needed to be attached to insure the shutter was not at an angle on the wall.

Using a stud finder (convenient when I was in college), Dan made sure the support beams were screwed into the studs. He even climbed them to prove their stability. No pictures of this stunt unfortunately...just my stud. I had planned to paint all of the plywood the same color as the wall but after getting about two thirds finished I decided to only paint where the shutters didn't line up perfectly.

Getting these guys lined up just right was like a giant game of Tetris. Micro cuts here and there were made to get them to fit just right. Most cuts were made on the top or bottom, and many of the double opening shutters were cut in half. We plan on going back with small cuts of wood to fill in any spaces left when we're finished attaching all the shutters. We'll either use remnants of shutters that have been trimmed or small pieces of MDF.


One of the giant shutters that was not a double opening shutter was cut in half. This had to be done at just the right spot on the sides to account for the shutter part being left intact. So far the only shutters that have needed a vertical cut have been the bottom two shutters on the far right.

We have some shutters left, but not quite enough to finish the job. I decided to stop with a few left so that I can complete the project evenly once I have all the shutters ready. I had abdominal surgery 2 weeks ago and can not lift anything over ten pounds for 4 more weeks so this project has been put on hold for a bit. I plan to make a trip out to the Habitat for Humanity thrift Shop soon to see what treasures are waiting.

The shutters have started a domino effect of upgrades (good-bye chandelier) and I'm gathering ideas for other evolutions for my dining room like table, chairs and lighting. I'll keep you updated when the wall is complete. :)



















35 comments:

  1. Love the colors you chose! Good luck finishing the project.

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  2. Love it!! The colrs are so yummy!!

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  3. Thanks! The colors are blends of all our interior house paints mixed together in different amounts. I find them calming.

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  4. I LOVE it! Everything about it... The creativity, the way the colors of the shutters totally tie in with your table runner, the photographs you took of the process and your wit. You are one talented lady! Thanks for sharing! Still need to get you a picture of my sisters livingroom.
    ~Live lovely, Lynn

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  5. Amazing! Thanks so much for sending the link our way. Love all that texture and the colors are fantastic too!

    xo,
    s (& j)

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  6. Thanks Sherry! I'll send you some before and after pictures when I finally get the whole room finished. Best of luck on your birth!

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  7. It's looking good. To be honest, I like yours the best--I think using different sizes, colors, orientation makes it more dynamic.

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  8. That looks absolutely fantastic! Pottery Barn should hire you for their next catalogue! Love the colors- couldn't get any better!

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  9. Whoa, tres fab.
    Mondrian will be thrilled!
    "Shuttered" is a great theme for the dining room wall. What are considering to do in the Master to celebrate that other construction job. "Fettered?"

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  10. OH MY GOODNESS ! I would never have thought about that! What an awesome idea...and in my favorite colors! Muddy blues and greens! I think I'm in love with your wall!
    ps. thanks for visiting my site! I'm becoming a follower of you now!

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  11. hmmph! And I can never find shutters when I'm looking for them! Well I for one, have not seen a shutter covered wall, and I'm LOVING it! It's going to look fabulous!

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  12. Lisa- check out if you have a Habitat for Humanity shop around. They have tons of stuff waiting to be upcycled!

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  13. Looks great Laura!

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  14. Dr. Amanda RammelMay 24, 2010 at 2:27 PM

    Looks great! I will pass along the info. You are so talented

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  15. I am in love. Seriously IN LOVE! I am going to feature this on my blog tomorrow!

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  16. Thanks Lorie! I look forward to following your blog as well!

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  17. That is absolutely amazing! I love shutters, but I would have NEVER thought of using them this way. I am impressed to the point of speechless. In a word, gorgeous!

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  18. amazing! i LOVE this.... so cool!

    thanks so much for stopping by my blog and for leaving me this link! I am your newest follower!

    I hope you come back to visit and folow along if your not already! looking forward to getting to know you better!

    www.housemadehome.net

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  19. saw your blog on another friend's site...hope you don't mind me posting...just have to say "Wow"!! I love everything!!! Love all the different sized shutters...can't wait to see the finished product!!!
    Nan Evans

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  20. I have to say that is one of the neatest projects ever! I love the shutters. They add color and dimension. What a great project!

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  21. It's beautiful!!! I know what you mean, I was using animal print way before I could even find it in stores!! And now look! Sheesh!

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  22. Wow. The ceiling and your wall are wicked cool. Why did I not do something like this years ago?

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  23. Hey Laura
    Dropping in again from SITS. Even though I know we've done the blog hop thingy with our tribe, I wondered if you'd be amenable to me featuring your shutter project on my blog. I'd put it under the Clever Clogs feature (it runs as a separate story to my actual blog entry) then link to your blog for the details. I'd need a pic though. Let me know. Gillian

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  24. I arrived here from another blog. I am a shutter importer here in the UK, and I've been really excited by the interest surrounding shutters. I realise that these blogs essentially are trying to advise on how to get the same look of the product cheaply; however, these ideas have inspired me! I love the photos of the walls and ceiling covered in shutter panels... maybe we'll dress our showroom with all the mis-measures!
    Our site is www.londonblinds.co.uk/plantationshutters. If anyone needs advice (or even price), I would be happy to provide it free of charge if you mention this blog post.

    Tell me.... where did you get all those shutter panels from??? That must have cost you a fortune!!

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  25. Oh...If Only...I had the motivation to do this wonderful project. I love shutters and your wall looks wonderful!!!!
    Susan follow me ;0
    myhomeroad.blogspot.com

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  26. This wall is amazing!! Love the wall, adding your blog to our blogroll for sure. epochbydesign.com/blog :)

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  27. Adds some really nice texture and design to that large wall!

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  28. its really ugly and tacky! Sorry. I can't believe anyone ould actually do this in a home!

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  29. ....From one anonymous to anonymous nov 17.. I say "one man's tacky is another man's jewel"....we'd be a boring race if we all liked the same things.....I personally LOVE the shuttered ceiling....such individuality..love it!!...If I could give my children one gift ...I think it would be creativity.....of course I like pink flamings too...go figure...

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  30. Looking forward to seeing what you did with the shutters. The only reason I rolled my eyes was because shutters are hard to paint.You did a great job on them.
    houston shutters

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  31. I love this shutter also. Would be great for back side of my townhouse which gets extreme afternoon sun in the summer. But I probably would never be allowed to install. Also, it would prevent my watching all the bird activity on my patio, and I don't want to miss that
    shades houston

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