You may have heard of shabby chic and industrial chic which are revolutionizing the way we restore and reuse old furniture, but have you heard of shutter chic? Old-fashioned wooden window shutters are rarely used these days now that we have high quality double-glazing; however, many people are making excellent use of shutters for all kinds of home storage purposes.
Tall hinged shutters can be used for shelving by inserting shelves though the openings. These make excellent freestanding shelves for ornaments that add a modern feel to an antique look.
When fixed to a wall, shutters can be used to hang photos or store post and notes making a great family notice board.
Some people have constructed wardrobes out of reclaimed shutters, using three tall shutters, two for each side and one for the top. A clothes bar then provides the additional support. In large open plan bedrooms they look fantastic.
Women with a lot of jewellery have used shutters to manage and display their favourite pieces. A shutter is actually constructed in a similar way to a standard jewellery holder in a store. Shutters can provide excellent and simple storage for necklaces bracelets and watches especially.
To convert a shutter into a necklace holder is easy. First wash down the shutter and if there are any splinters sand them down. Hammer in some nails in rows along the wood supports. Finish off with a couple of layers of your favourite colour paint or sand down and varnish, and then you can display your jewellery with pride rather than piling it into drawers. A dark paint works best to help highlight your jewellery. Fit your shutter to a wall, ideally at a slight angle so that necklaces do not just hang freely, although if an angle cannot be achieved it is perfectly okay.
Women who organize their jewellery so that they can always see all of their possessions tend to wear a greater variety of items. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
You can buy shutters to suit all styles of windows so there are a great many options when it comes to size and shape of shutter – do not just buy the first one that is available for your project. The best place to search for second-hand shutters is eBay where there are many excellent bargains.
Necklace holders are certainly the most popular use of shutters, but with a little imagination and some craft tricks you could hang small boxes to organize all of your jewelry.
You can also make an interesting feature of your shutter holders. If you find a matching pair of short shutters you can place them either side of a wall mirror to create a window effect. An additional shelf below the mirror can be used to hold your jewellery boxes and the shutters will hold all your necklaces and bracelets. You can turn your beloved jewelry into a piece of art in your home to enjoy every day.