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Sonya Hamilton Designs

Painting Exterior Shutters

By Sonya

Home (3)

When we were building our home 7 years ago we were given the choice of shutters or no shutters. Well, shutters, of course. Without hesitation, I said yes. I’ve always had this thing about shutters, especially on a brick home. I like them. I think they help a house say “welcome”.

Notice the birds on the roof? Just another way to say welcome.

Shutters DrybrushedThe time came this past Spring when my welcoming shutters needed a new paint job. Since painting the front door turquoise…3 years ago…I had been toying with the idea of changing the color of the shutters as well. I’m always up for a change. Even if it takes a while getting around to it.

Our shutter painting project hit a slight snag when I realized…

I have a 2 story house…with shutters on the 2nd story of my 2 story house…and a husband who isn’t terribly fond of heights…and me who’s not terribly fond of heights…and we don’t own a ladder over 8 feet tall.

Shutters (2)

Pooh! What’s a bit of a challenge for the sake of change?

Turquoise Door and Shutters When I painted the front door I painted the surround as well. So many have asked the color of the trim around the door. I wish I knew! It’s a hodge-podge of several attempts to darken then original color.

Above, you can see the shutters framing the dining room window in respect to the front door. It was time to go brown.

Shutters - My painting helper Enter my handy husband who graciously agreed to paint all 5 sets of shutters except the one set on the second story. I’m a bit embarrassed to say several weeks went by with the lower shutters brown and the one, lone, upstairs window with black shutters. My neighbors were probably wondering if we intended to leave it that way.

Shutters

In the meantime, after looking at my solid brown shutters for several weeks, I decide to use a dry brush technique and paint a bit of black on each of the brown shutters to give them dimension. Here you can see the (r) before and (l) after.

The day finally came for painting the second story shutters. Thank goodness there’s only one window up there.
After borrowing an appropriate size ladder from a neighbor, I climbed to the top and proceed to paint as quickly as possible.

Shutters and Ladders (3)Now, at this point you’re probably wondering why on earth we didn’t just hire someone to do this for us!  You’re not alone. The exact same thought kept running through my head… repeatedly. That and the thought of what am I going to do if I drop this paint can.

Shutters and Ladders (2)

Though, he may not be fond of heights Scott had no problem holding the ladder for his strong-willed wife with the “I can do this” attitude.  He was with me the whole time.

Now, for the pic I honestly can’t believe I’m showing you. Clearly, not my best angle.

1-Shutters and Ladders

This is the window to my son’s bedroom. While painting the shutters brown I propped the paint can on the window ledge using the chair to keep it from tipping into the bedroom. The open window gave me a place for leverage as well. It was quite nerve wracking being high enough on that ladder to reach to top of the shutters.
In this pic, I’m dry brushing on the black and counting the seconds until I can say DONE!

Even with the heights, scary ladders and prickly holly bushes it was worth it. I’m very pleased with the results.

Praying it’s another 7 years before we have to paint again.

Home (2)

So many of you have asked to see the front of our home to get a better idea of how the turquoise door relates to the brick, shutters, etc. Sorry it was such a long time coming. I gave up waiting on the perfect landscaping (aka the taming-the-out-of-control-rose-bushes, planting pansies, new mulch, etc) because it just may not happen this year.  

I hope this helps a few of you who may be contemplating painting your shutters or a new color for your front door!

PAINT SOURCE – The original brown paint I used for the shutters was Status Bronze by Valspar but it wasn’t dark enough. I took the remaining paint back to the store and had them add black to darken it. Looking at a Sherwin Williams Fan Deck, the color is close to Brainstorm Bronze (7033) and Smokehouse (7040) though still slightly darker. The black that was drybrushed onto the shutters was flat black paint.
Find the turquoise door details here.

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Comments

  1. Stacey says

    October 16, 2013 at 8:24 am

    Looks great! I can’t believe you you went up on the ladder!!

  2. Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says

    October 16, 2013 at 8:24 am

    I love your house, Sonya! The shutters are a great style. You are braver than me. I hate heights, too, and can only go so high before I start to freak out.

  3. Mari says

    October 16, 2013 at 9:47 am

    Your home is beautiful and I love the way your front door looks 😉

    Smiles~
    Mari

  4. Martina says

    October 16, 2013 at 10:42 am

    Sonya your home is absolutely beautiful!! Love the paint technique you did on the shutters!

  5. Shenita says

    October 16, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    I can’t believe you went up there, Sonya! The color looks great; and your home is gorgeous! I get creeped out climbing the ladder to decorate the top of the Christmas tree!

  6. Stacy says

    October 16, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    The shutters look amazing, but you are crazy to get on that ladder! 🙂

  7. Pamela says

    October 16, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    Fabulous Sonya! I want to do ours sometime soon.

  8. Nana Diana says

    October 16, 2013 at 10:59 pm

    WOW! That looks great! Absolutely wonderful. I love the dimension it added when you dry brushed the black on. It’s perfect even if it was scary up there- BUTT even on the ladder you did a good job!;>) (sorry- couldn’t resist) xo Diana

  9. Shirley@ Housepitality Designs says

    October 17, 2013 at 5:38 am

    You are a brave woman Sonya…I could not have done that!…I hubby is not afraid of heights, so I relinquish those tasks to him…but I think I would have had to brave it myself to do the dry brush technique….the shutters turned out magnificent…the dry brush technique was the icing on the cake!…I love, love the facade of your home…gorgeous!!!

  10. Christine says

    October 17, 2013 at 6:48 am

    You are one brave woman! I love the that you didn’t let anything stop you from getting those shutters painted, good for you!

    They look wonderful by the way….love the new color 🙂

  11. Carol says

    October 17, 2013 at 7:36 am

    You are so brave that is what I do too, ‘just do it!’ Looks wonderful! I dont know why they always paint shutters black when with most bricks brown is a much prettier color. I painted my front door red and brown shutters and all the neighbors said who is your decorator. Haha I wanted to know, did you paint the other side of your door turquoise to? I am going to repaint mine and thinking of taking the red inside to the other side of the door, just for fun and to give a punch of color, it is white now!

  12. Beth Mc says

    October 17, 2013 at 8:24 am

    This is the first time I’ve seen a picture of the entire front of your house. It’s so pretty. I love the brick and the rooflines…so much character!

  13. Nancy says

    October 17, 2013 at 9:18 am

    I have been trying to convince my husband to let me paint our front door like yours but to no avail. Maybe the picture of the full front of the house will convince him. I noticed the beautiful wreath as well you show in this picture with the red. Do you have a tutorial of that or a close up to show how you did it? Thanks so much!
    Nancy

  14. Cynthia says

    October 17, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    I really would have never done that……I am so afraid of heights, it is terrible. Love the color choices!!

    Cynthia

  15. Sherry says

    October 17, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    Hi Sonya, Your home is gorgeous!! I hate heights too but I spent a couple of days working on my dad’s roof last week. Thanks for linking to the Open House party.
    xx,
    Sherry

  16. Freida says

    October 18, 2013 at 11:16 am

    Sonya, your home is absolutely gorgeous, and with your color choices for the door and shutters, it’s over the top! WOW! It’s amazing how much dimension your dry brushing adds! Pat yourself on the back for a job very well done!
    I am desperately wanting to paint our front door and shutters, but I’m facing the exact same dilemma as you with second story windows. Several years ago, I fell off my ladder attempting to wrap Christmas lights around a tree and destroyed my ACL and tibia. My life hasn’t been the same since! So please be extra careful any time your feet are not planted on the ground! Anyway, needless to say, my not-so-handy husband is not too keen on me climbing up the two stories just to repaint my #1 eyesore! I wonder if, after he gets the first estimate, he changes his mind?!?

  17. Holly says

    October 22, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    I am impressed. Your home style is amazing and I love the shutters!

  18. Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says

    October 24, 2013 at 9:54 am

    You look pretty good up on that ladder and the shutters look amazing. Great color and your home is beautiful. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

  19. Kathryn Griffin @TheDedicatedHouse says

    October 27, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    Sonya, your home is beautiful! Love the front door! And, you brave girl!!! You will be one of the features tomorrow at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Hope to see your prettiness again at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

  20. Sarah says

    October 28, 2013 at 10:23 am

    You are one brave lady! Glad you are safely down from those heights writing about the adventure. The shutters do look great, but next time they need painting I’d hire someone to do this. Don’t test fate. ‘-)

  21. mishelle says

    October 31, 2013 at 2:04 am

    Your house is gorgeous!

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