Dress Up Your Windows

If plastic or metal window blinds are not your style, but you need to shield yourself from the glaring sun coming into your home, you may want to dress up your interior with some fashionable wooden window shutters. CBS This Morning's Bob Vila tells you how.

Here is a list of the materials that you will need:

• Interior window set: 3 sets of shutters - one plain, one with hinge on one end and not on other and one painted with hinges on both ends.
  
• Hand plane
  
• Pencil compass
  
• Set of tools (screw driver and screws).

Shutters are a practical alternative to plastic or metal mini-blinds, and a wide range of styles is available. You can install them so they cover the full window, half the window, or four shutters per window so that you can open the top and bottom individually.

Hinge-mounted shutters can be folded back for maximum light and views, or closed for privacy and near darkness.

Another reason for their popularity is that interior shutters can be installed on virtually any window in any room.

Purchasing Tips:

Most home centers stock ready-made, unfinished pine shutters. Sizes are available to fit most windows. They cost about $10 to $50 a pair, depending on style and size. A single blind can cost twice as much per window.

If you can't find pre-made shutters in the right size, custom versions are available. They can be made to exact sizes, saving you the hassle of cutting each shutter to fit. However, they cost more, and typically take at least a week or two for delivery.

Getting started:

For this project, you can buy some ready-made 16x51-inch louver shutters that will cover the whole window, very much like outside shutters.

They are installed inside the window frame with the hinges screwed to the inside surface of the side jambs.

But before you start to attach the shutters, make sure the window frame is square.

To check out a frame, take one of your shutters and hold it securely against the window jamb. If there is a gap between the window jamb and the shutter, you'll need to trim the shutter so it will fit evenly on all sides.

Trimming the shutter:

If there is a tapered gap between the jamb and shutter, take a pencil-compass and adjust it to the widest part of the gap.

Hold the pivot point against the jamb and slide the compass down from top to bottom so the pencil transfers the tapered gap to the shutter.

Using the hand plane:

• Use a hand plane to trim the shutter to the pencil line. Do the same for the shutter on the other side, if needed.
• Then stand the shutter in the window with some 1/8-in. thick shims placed on the bottom and top o make sure you have an even gap on the top and bottom.
• If the shutter is too tall, you can trim it with your hand plane, or even just sand it down until it fits.
• Make sure you have a 1/8-in. space between each shutter all the way around the shutter. You may have to trim it a little before it fits.
• Finally stand the shutters in place and put a few 1/8-in. thick shims beneath and along the sides.

Hanging two shutters requires four hinges. Once you are sure the shutters fit, you can go ahead and install the hinges.

• First, mark a line three inches from the top and bottom on each end and use the scribed lines to align the hinges.
• Screw the hinges directly to the edge of the shutters. Be sure to position each hinge so that its barrel - the cylindrical part containing the pin - is on the inside of the shutters facing the window. Otherwise, the shutters can't fold outward and swing away from the sash.
• Then, rest the shutter on a shim to maintain the clearance on the bottom. This time, the hinge barrels should face out into the room.
• Hold one shutter in the window opening and mark with a pencil where each hole in the hinge will secure to the window jamb.
• Then, go ahead and make a little starter hole where each one of your pencil marks are. You can just use a nail to give the screw you'll use to fasten the hinge to the window a good starting point.

It is best to paint the shutters once you have them completely fit and ready to go. Just pull off all the hardware, paint the shutters and let them dry overnight.

Re-install the hardware and finish up the installation. All you have to do is line up the hinge holes marked on the window jamb and fasten the hinges with screws driven into the side jamb. Hang the other pair the same way. And finally, stand back and enjoy!

For more from Bob Vila visit his Web site.

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