Shuttered Windows

I talked about why I decided on shutters for a window treatment here, along with my inspiration. I’ve been simultaneously working on the T&G, filling the gap in the ceiling caused by the staircase removal, the fireplace , the rustic windowsill and putting up these shutters. None of it is completely finished, but I wanted to post an update on the shutters. The photos aren’t great because the window itself has sunlight streaming through it throughout the day, but this is how it’s taking shape…

I’m going to be adding some off white pumpkin handles to the shutters, but I’m loving the rich wood against the white tongue and groove.

In the image below the rustic windowsill is starting to come together, as is the additional surround on the window itself. You can glimpse the pale gold handle that I swapped the original white one for – I have to remove the exterior one.

Just as an aside in this full picture below you can also see the sectioned off area on the ceiling where the staircase hole was. I’ve been taking various, salvaged wood mouldings to form this gingerbread style section. I think it will compliment the bookcases and the hook is where the lantern pendant will hang. For a while I’ve been worried that this section wouldn’t be successful, but it’s finally coming together. The paint is managing to disguise a lot of the imperfections.

I had filled the hole in the ceiling with T&G, but the fact the building is on a curve and the awkward nature of the hole itself meant I couldn’t line up the planks straight. I finally came up with the solution of plastering over the wood as you would wattle and daub and this is my first coat of plaster that’s gone up.

I now need to finish this part with some plaster of Paris and extend the plaster work round to above the window, smoothing the area out.

It took a while to get these shutters in position, including some time treating termites, but I’m really pleased with the result. The rustic window ledge will compliment them perfectly.

As you can see I had to pad out the corner of the window frame with wood to make it run in line with the T&G wall so that I could have an L shaped piece of wood fitted to the corner.

To remind you, here was the cupboard turned shutter…

Originally I’d intended for the shutter to hang just above the window sill as I’d thought I’d have a curved overhang. So I’d cut the L shaped wood to fit the length of the frame and then marked it with this S to show where the shutter would start.

I had to remove the original hardware. It was half nailed in and it was necessary to chip away at the wood to get the hinge out unfortunately. Although the door originally had two hinges I wanted to have three to ensure it was sufficiently supported.

If you look below you’ll see there is an error; I should have started with the female side of the hinge, the opening pointing towards the ground.

I actually laid one door lengthwise on the ground then put the L shaped wood over it so that one side went over the front of the door and the other covered the side. This meant that the opposite cupboard door acted as if it was the corner of the window frame that the L shaped wood would eventually go against.

Then I inserted the male part of the hinge into the female and lined up the end of the shutter with the S mark. The male side’s screw hole section was laid flat against the L shaped wood behind and I drilled holes in as needed. In this way I could ensure that the two sides of the hinges would correspond with each other in the right position on the wall.

You can see that after I’ve drilled a set of four holes I add the screws in temporarily to hold the position, then I go to the other end to make sure it’s straight before drilling. I finally drilled the middle section.

Here is the L shaped wood glued and then nailed onto the corner, the drilled holes facing into the room. I left that for a day to make sure the glue was properly cured.

The day after I drilled into the holes again and this way the wood behind had the holes going right through. I then screwed the hinges in place with 4cm screws and hung the door/shutter to ensure that it work.

This is when things got a little difficult. If you look in the image above you’ll see the wood feature for the cornered off area that was the staircase opening. This was a new addition, added after I had originally measured the shutter in terms of fitting the window. When I originally hung the shutter I realised that I couldn’t push it back against the wall as this was in the way. I won’t lie, I panicked a little bit. What I ended up doing was moving each of the feminine hinges on the door shutter down two holes, then drilling two more to full fit the hinge. This meant that the entire shutter was about an inch lower and therefore missed the area in question.

I rehung the shutter. Phew! It worked!

But it wasn’t the end of it. When I hung the other shutter it had to be above the protruding heater, obviously, but this meant the shutters where now hung at different heights. I could have given up here, but a good nights sleep helped me see a solution. The wood feature is a furniture leg that I had wanted to add a ceramic finial to, but it was too long. The leg came from the salvaged armoire bases used on the bookcases; the two armoires had different size legs, so I replaced the ones I had with two smaller ones and prayed this worked. It’s seems to be, so that’s good news.

Just one more thing, here’s the chimney breast that I posted about here…

I’ve plastered over the lower stonework as it was a little rough and I’ve started painting it. My husband popped his head round the door and commented on how bright the room was starting to look.

I’m going to add a post on the hearth later, but I’ve started to lay out the stonework and I’m going to add the Laura Ashley tiles that I already have for a border. It’s coming together.