Board and Batten Shutters: An Easy DIY Tutorial

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE SEE OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY FOR DETAILS.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial to learn how to make board and batten shutters.Using this method you can build shutters of any size and add rustic charm to your home or cottage.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

Using lumber and this easy tutorial you can create your own board and batten shutters to give farmhouse style to your home’s exterior.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

Cottage Home Improvements

Carrie and I have a list of home improvement items that we’re constantly updating. As time and money become available we’ll pick a project off that list to work on. One of those list items that had been hanging around for a while was to refresh the look of the front of our cottage.

Removing Overhead Power Lines

For years, Carrie has been talking about removing the overhead power lines that feed into the front of the cottage as well as putting up decorative shutters around the cottage and pole barn.

As you can see from the picture below, the two projects were intertwined as the power line feeding the meter interfered with the decorative shutters on the front of the house.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

Because we wanted the costly electrical move completed first, the low-cost DIY shutter project was put on the back burner. When we decided to put up a pole barn a couple of years ago, we finally had the opportunity to run underground electrical to the cottage.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

Updating Cottage Shutters

It wasn’t long after completing the pole barn that Carrie started dropping hints that she’d really like some shutters on the cottage and pole barn! Fortunately for me, her taste in shutters is pretty basic, and creating them was a fun, easy, and cheap project. By following these simple instructions, you too can give your home or cottage a refreshed look!

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

How to Make Board and Batten Shutters

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links for products or services we think you’ll like. This means if you make a purchase from one of these links, we’ll make a small commission at no additional cost to you so we can keep the great ideas for the home coming your way. All opinions expressed are our own, derived from our personal experience.

These board and batten shutters are cheap and easy to make with minimal equipment. This is a great weekend project that can greatly increase the visual appeal of your home or cottage.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

What you need:

  • 1″ X 6″ Cedar Board – Number and length of boards will vary depending on your project
  • 3″ Exterior Deck Screws – Quantity will vary depending on your project
  • Exterior Primer – Quantity will vary depending on your project
  • Exterior Latex Paint – Quantity and color will vary depending on your project
  • Paint Roller and Paint Sponge
  • Liquid Construction Adhesive – Quantity will vary depending on your project
  • Caulking Gun
  • Various pieces of lumber to create a jig for consistently assembling the shutters

Instructions:

1. Design and plan your shutters. Each window will require two shutter assemblies and each shutter assembly consists of 3 vertical boards and 2 horizontal boards. For each window, determine the height of the shutter you desire as well as the gap you desire between the vertical boards.

Your horizontal board length will be determined by adding the width of the 3 vertical boards plus the 2 gaps of your choosing.

Plan in advance to figure out exactly how many boards you need to buy. I was able to save some money by optimizing the length of boards I purchased to minimize wasted material.

2. Prime the boards. Lay out all your boards on saw horses and apply the primer with a roller. Make sure you cover all of the exposed edges and paint both sides.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

3. Create a jig for consistent results. If you’re doing more than a couple of shutters the time spent creating a jig will be well worth it. As you can see in the picture below, I simply used some 2 x 4’s fastened with screws to create an adjustable assembly fixture.

The top 2 x 6 simply floats and is used to press everything tight and keep the boards square. It’s important that you cut your boards square to start out with.

I purchased a light duty sliding compound miter saw a few years back with a collapsible stand that has been a workhorse for me, making projects like this very simple.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

Once you have the basic frame done, find some scrap pieces the width that you want your gaps and cut them to the length that you want the cross members to form the end. Make 4 identical pieces.

You can see below that I used some extra trim pieces from another project.

Once you have these you can lay in your 3 vertical boards and then place your spacers.

Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm to any home or cottage. Use this method to build shutters of any size.

Click to continue…

Similar Posts

40 Comments

    1. I agree, Stacey! They make a huge difference in the outward appearance of the place. Thanks for coming by to check out the tutorial!

  1. Carrie,

    Your new shutters look so nice! It really added some charm to your cottage and pole barn! I am getting ready to start hosting a new link party with Refresh Living starting this coming Tuesday @ 7pm CST. We would love to have you join us!

    Thank you!

    Cat

  2. I love these! These shutters really make a big difference, and how perfect that you were able to make them yourself! Thanks for linking up with us at Motivational Monday!

  3. Pingback: Linky Party Features #51
  4. Love how they make such a difference and you make them look so simple to do. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy

  5. I love shutters – houses always look better with shutters! Thanks for sharing with #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup 5/31/15

  6. What a great makeover! You are smart to choose the color. Black is a kind of neutral color so that it looks fit with the windows. How much money do you spend to make it?

    1. Hi Katie! Thanks for the comment. The color is actually called “Manix Bronze”, we chose it to match the dark two-tone metal siding. The cost per set of shutters for us was around $65, but that will vary depending on the size of the shutter. I hope that helps!
      Kent

  7. Is the inside of your metal sided building not finished? I have a similar post-beam building with the metal siding that I want to attach shutters to. The inside is dry-walled though so all I have are photos of when we were building to guide me to where studs would be. Any tips on how to find the studs on the outside of the metal siding?
    Thanks.
    Your shutters are adorable!

    1. Hi Meg,
      The inside of the pole barn is not finished. Our construction has some horizontal stud’s running behind the metal siding, so I simply measured up from the edge of the glass in the window on the inside of the barn to the nearest horizontal stud, then made sure I anchored the shutter there. In your case, I’d recommend using a stud finder on the inside of the building to see if you have a similar structure supporting your metal siding then translate that measurement to the outside so that the screws hit the horizontal studs. This isn’t my barn, but here is an example of the horizontal studs found in a lot of pole construction: http://wagnerbuiltconstruction.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/20151112_1356261.jpg
      Thanks for reading and good luck with your project!
      Kent

    1. Thanks Joan! We’re glad you found our tutorial and hope it helps inspire you and your husband as you make your own. We’d love to see pictures when you’re done.

  8. Is that a Flat, Satin, Egg Shell, etc… paint? We have a flat/matte brown and wondering if we need something with a little bit of a shin to it. Yours looked like it had some what of a shin but may have been just the light/pic.

    1. Hi Millard, great question! I just looked ours up — the paint we used was an exterior acrylic latex paint with a flat finish. The flat/matte brown you have should work great if you want it to look similar to ours. Good luck with your project. We’d love to see photos when you’re done – post them on instagram and tag us @kenarryideas.

      Best wishes, Carrie

  9. Pingback: Follow this easy DIY tutorial for board and batten shutters to add rustic charm ... - AllDIYIdeas.comDIY Ideas
  10. The only thing missing for me is the dimension to locate the cross members. I’m sure you need them to be the same on each shutter. Does it depend on the size of the window?

    1. Hello! And thanks for taking the time to look at my tutorial.
      The cross member location is mainly a matter of personal preference and may vary depending on the size of the shutter. To do mine I laid out the pieces on the ground and set the proportions based on what looked right to me (and more importantly what looked right to Carrie!). To make the standardization easy I cut my spacer shims to the length I determined looked right so they served a dual purpose, getting the gapping right between the long vertical boards and setting the distance to the cross members from each end. So in short, pick something that looks good to you and go with it! Good luck on your project!
      Kent

      1. LOL!
        The boss is always right?
        Thanks for your input. Guessing have never been a option with my projects. I’m just a perfectionist that way! Some call it obsessive compulsive disorder! I call it necessary. I hope mine turn out as well as yours

  11. I love your shutters and am planning to make these for our lake cabin. I am making my materials list and would like your advice on the attachment hardware (screws). Our cabin is cypress wood exterior, basically in the shape of a long old fashioned shingle overlapping. How do I find a stud to attach the shutter to and what type and length if screw?
    Thank you,
    Linda Hendrix

    1. Hi Linda,
      Thank you for reaching out to us! I absolutely love the look of cypress, I’m sure your cabin looks great! I used an electronic stud finder to locate the studs on my project. If you don’t want to spend the money on that you can buy a magnetic stud finder relatively cheap which will locate the nails used to attach the siding to the studs. With a bit of work you should be able to establish the stud location. As for the length of screw, that will depend on the weight of the shutter and the type of fastener you use. I would recommend checking with the screw manufacturer you intend to use.
      Best of luck on your project!
      Kent

    1. Great question, Tammy! We’ve had them up for three years now and they’re holding up really well. We have not repainted them yet and they don’t appear to need it anytime soon. We just had to do some minor touch up painting when we nicked up the front one when we added the new front porch last summer. Otherwise, they look great still!

      Best wishes,
      Carrie

  12. I really like the rustic and unfinished look with just the primer on. Is it okay to just leave it at that, or would you need to first treat the wood before putting on the primer? Our house is a darker blue and I think the white would look really great up against it. Do you think something like that would actually look good once up?

    1. Hi Ashlee,
      Great questions! If you want to keep the shutters white, we’d recommend using white exterior paint after the primer. If you’re going for more a “white washed” look, instead of painting, you could use a clear exterior wood lacquer or sealant to seal the wood after you prime or white wash it. You definitely want to seal it or the wood will rot over time as it ages and comes into contact with various weather conditions.

      White rustic shutters on a dark blue house would look great! We’d love to see photos after you complete your project. If you share them on Facebook or Instagram, can you please tag us @kenarryideas so we can see?

      Good luck with your project!

      Best wishes,
      Kent and Carrie
      Ideas for the Home by Kenarry

      1. Yes, thank you so much for the information! That is very helpful, although a project like this seems very overwhelming to me, having no carpentry experience :). That being said, it still looks like something that is doable, especially when looking at prices for premade wooden shutters at the store! Yikes! I’ll be sure to tag you if it ever happens :), and I’ve just followed y’all on Instagram. Sometimes you just need a little inspiration and encouragement!

        1. Absolutely! Just try it with one first and see how it goes. One tip: if you don’t have a saw or are nervous to cut the boards yourself – Home Depot will cut them for you right at the store, just bring your dimensions with you. I think Lowe’s might offer this service as well. Then you’d just bring home your pieces and assemble them.

          Good luck with your project!

          Best wishes,
          Carrie and Kent

  13. We will be making shutters that will be 16×55. How far from the top and bottom should the horizontal boards be?

    1. Hi Kris,
      Great question! It’s really totally up to you and what your preference is. We would recommend placing the horizontal boards on top and moving them around until you like the “look” before attaching them. Then measure so you can replicate it on the other shutters. Also be sure that your measurement idd sex the same on the top and bottom so they’re all consistent.

      Good luck with your DIY project!

      Best wishes,
      Carrie
      Ideas for the Home by Kenarry

  14. They look great. We’re fixing to do this. But I think we’ll paint the boards before we assemble them, may be much simplier. 👍

    1. Hi Evelyn!

      That is a fantastic suggestion – thank you for sharing it! When you end up putting together board and batten shutters, please let us know. We’d love to hear how it all went!

      Best wishes,
      Lisa at Ideas for the Home by Kenarry Customer Care

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *