How to choose shutter colors, and when to skip shutters altogether

Choose a shutter color that either contrasts clearly with the body or repeats a color on purpose. Black, deep green and navy are the classics; matching the front door, or going a few shades deeper than the body, are quieter options. Then check the size: shutters should look as if they could close. If they can’t, skip them.

Shutters are part of the look of many Colonial Revival, Georgian and post-war houses across Grosse Pointe and Metro Detroit. Get the color and size right and they finish a facade; get them wrong and they’re the first thing that looks off. We paint with Sherwin-Williams, so the colors below carry Sherwin-Williams names and numbers.

What do shutters do on a house today?

Shutters started as working parts of the house. Closed, they protected windows from storms, kept out sun and heat, and added privacy and security; louvered ones let air through while blocking light and rain. On most houses today they’re fixed in place, but their visual jobs are real:

• Framing. A pair of shutters makes a window read larger and more deliberate, especially on a plain wall.
• Rhythm. On a symmetrical house, repeated shutters set the beat of the facade.
• Color. Shutters carry an accent color around the whole house, which a front door alone can’t do.

That last job is why shutter color matters so much. There are a lot of shutters, and they repeat at every window.

What size should shutters be?

The classic rule: each shutter should be about half the width of the window and its full height, so that the pair could close and cover the opening. Shutters that pass this test look like they belong. Skinny ones screwed to the siding beside a wide window look pasted on, whatever their color.

A few more details separate convincing shutters from afterthoughts:

• Mount them at the window. Traditionally, shutters hang on hinges at the window casing, not on the siding several inches away.
• Louvers point up when open. That way, if the shutter were closed, the louvers would shed rain away from the window.
• Line up the rails. On panel shutters, the middle rail should align with the window’s meeting rail, where the upper and lower sashes meet.
• Match the shape. An arched window needs an arch-topped shutter, not a square one.

Which shutter colors work, and why?

Every good shutter color does one of two things: it contrasts clearly with the body, or it matches something on purpose. The colors that fail are near-misses, close to the body or trim but not the same, which look like mistakes. Five strategies cover nearly every house.

Black

Tricorn Black SW 6258, a true, neutral black, frames windows crisply against almost any light or mid-tone body. For a softer frame, Iron Ore SW 7069 is a soft black, a dark charcoal that’s less stark against pale grays. On a dark body, black reads as shadow rather than contrast, which can be exactly right.

Deep green

Dark green is the other historic shutter color. Rookwood Dark Green SW 2816, from Sherwin-Williams’ historic Rookwood colors, looks at home against white, cream, gold and red brick. Pewter Green SW 6208, a deep, moody green-gray, is more muted and suits sage and gray bodies.

Navy

Naval SW 6244, a deep navy, is a softer alternative to black on white, cream and light gray houses. It reads nearly black in shade and shows its blue in sun, which adds a little life. On a navy house, shutters are usually black or matched to the body; our guide to navy exterior paint colors covers that pairing.

Matched to the front door

Repeating the door color on the shutters ties the facade together and keeps the scheme to fewer colors. It works especially well with deep, traditional colors: Rookwood Dark Green shutters and door on a gold house, or Tricorn Black on both against red brick. With a bright door such as Positive Red SW 6871, a bright, saturated red, it’s usually wiser to keep the shutters deep and let the door stand alone. Our front door paint guide goes deeper on the door itself.

Tonal with the body

Shutters a few shades deeper than the body, in the same color family, give a calm, layered look; Pewter Green shutters on an Evergreen Fog SW 9130 body are a good example. Taken all the way, the shutters match the body exactly and the trim does the framing. A slightly glossier sheen can keep matched shutters from disappearing.

When should you skip shutters?

Not every house should have them. Skip shutters when:

• The style never had them. Tudor Revival and Craftsman houses rarely wore shutters; their character comes from half-timbering, stucco, brick and broad trim. Our guide to Tudor house colors looks at those houses on their own terms.
• The window is too wide. Picture windows, wide paired windows and bays can’t be covered by two half-width shutters, and undersized ones beside them look tacked on.
• There’s no room. Windows set close together, or tight to a corner or door, leave no space for properly sized shutters.

It’s also fine to skip them on a house that could take shutters but looks cleaner without. Our Color Studio includes a “No shutters” option, so you can see a scheme both ways before deciding.

Louvered or panel shutters: does the style change the color?

Louvered shutters, with angled slats, are the classic choice for Colonial Revival and Georgian houses. Raised-panel shutters are more solid and formal; on some older houses, panels went on the first floor for security and louvers upstairs for air. Board-and-batten shutters, made of vertical boards joined by cross pieces, suit cottages and farmhouses more than formal fronts.

Style changes how a color reads. Louvers cast rows of small shadows, so a louvered shutter tends to look a little darker than a flat panel in the same color. A color that looks right on a flat sample board may read deeper on louvers.

Louvers also take longer to paint well, since every slat has a top, a bottom and two edges. Shutters usually come off the house to be painted properly, on all sides.

Can you paint vinyl or composite shutters?

Often, yes, with the right paint and some care. Many shutters today are vinyl or composite, and factory colors, black especially, tend to fade and chalk over the years. Paint can bring them back, but vinyl has a catch: it softens as it heats, and dark colors absorb more heat. A vinyl shutter painted darker than its maker allows can warp.

• Check the shutter maker’s guidance before choosing a color, especially if you’re going darker than the original.
• Use a paint and color suited to vinyl. Some are formulated for it and labeled vinyl-safe; check the label.
• Prep properly. Clean off chalk and dirt, rinse, let the shutters dry, and follow the label on whether a primer is needed.

Composite shutters are generally paintable too, but materials vary, so follow the maker’s instructions. Wood shutters, the traditional choice, paint like any exterior trim. Paint them on all sides, edges and back included, so water has nowhere to get in; Michigan’s freeze–thaw cycles are hard on bottom rails and louvers, where water sits. If you’re planning an exterior painting project, put the shutters in the plan from the start.

Does shutter hardware matter?

More than its size suggests. Hinges and shutter dogs, the S-shaped or scrolled holdbacks that keep open shutters against the wall, are what make shutters look operable. Traditional hardware is black iron, and black works with nearly every shutter color. Even fixed shutters look more convincing with hinges at the casing and a shutter dog holding each one open.

Whatever color you choose, test it the way you’d test a body color: screens and chips mislead, so hold a painted sample board beside a real window, look at it from the street, and check it in morning and late-day light. For complete schemes built around shutters, see our six Colonial house color schemes.

Questions

Try these colors on a houseSketch body, trim, shutter and door colors in real Sherwin-Williams colors.→