I can haz pocket shutters?

The first time I drooled over pocket shutters was, I think, at the Winterthur Museum when I was about 5. So naturally, when I found evidence suggesting the Crooked House originally had them, I was hoping for a way to recreate them. But I figured I could never justify the price of having them made unless I won the lottery. Which would be hard because I don’t play the lottery.

So I was planning to modify the window casings from the not-quite-right way they were installed in the 1930’s to something more like the drawing at right. I basically knew it was in my future, but once I actually built these, I’d be closing the door on my pocket shutter dream.

I didn’t just want pocket shutters because they’re rare and old fashioned. They’re also super practical since you can close the bottom halves only if you want privacy and light at the same time. So I started pricing out shutters and saw just how much the cost increases as you add more shutter panels per window. I have no interest in huge unwieldly panels that I’d have to leave closed all the time. (I also disapprove of the “plantation shutter” moniker romanticizing crimes against humanity, though that’s a separate issue from the design of the shutters themselves.)

As I thought about the need for a split in my shutters halfway up the windows, and the need for 4 narrow panels with thin louvers that are out of style today, I started to question the need for anything on the top halves of the windows, and then found enough mid-20th Century shutters on eBay to do the whole room for about $125. They’d be a bit off, a smidge higher than the middles of the windows and I think cafe style shutters look kinda unfinished, but they’d meet our needs cheaply.

But remember how I said I’d need to win the lottery to get what I really wanted? Well, I searched eBay under antiques instead of window treatments… and I won the lottery!

(Sidenote: what do you think the etiquette is around talking about money in a situation like this? I’m erring towards politeness, but we all know that spending boat loads of money is part of the story for any old house renovator. In any case, if knowing what I spend on things is useful to anyone, I’m happy to share that information.)

I could see from the listing that these shutters are so close to the right size that I could make them fit perfectly by just cutting them a little bit on the edges you won’t see and tweaking the exact sizing of the window embrasures that I haven’t built yet. And I could see super awesome Victorian details.

The reeding even matches my upstairs doors! Of course I already recreated the 1920’s-30’s remodel woodwork downstairs, so these will stick out a little, but WHO CARES? Look how similar my upstairs doors are!

Last night I picked them up from my parents’ house and was so excited about the shutters I was practically bouncing off the walls. I propped them up in place the best I could just to see them. (And also helped myself to these hurricane globes that my mom had in the attic. I’m also helping HER because she’s trying to get rid of stuff.)

JUST LOOK AT THIS HARDWARE.

So, now I just have to do some real carpentry and build the shutter pockets. That should be a fun project.