Repurpose Your Old Wood Shutters Into Patriotic Porch Decorations

If you are planning on installing new custom shutters in your home, consider using your old wood ones to decorate for the upcoming patriotic holidays. Paint your old wood shutters with patriotic colors and place them on your front porch to help show your American pride. Here are some instructions for you to use to make some decorative patriotic shutters of your own.

Materials You Will Need

• Tarp or old sheet to use as a drop cloth
• Needle nose pliers
• Garden hose
• Face mask
• Paper
• Scissors
• Computer and printer
• Pencil
• White spray primer
• Spray paint in red, white and blue colors
• Painter's tape

Preparing The Surface

Blemished areas on your shutters will make the entire look rustic overall, so it is not a big deal to repair any chipped or cracked areas. If there are any spots with splintering wood, however, remove them using a pair of needle nose pliers so that no one gets injured around your new decor. After you do a spot check and removal of splintering, rinse down the shutters with a garden hose to remove any dust build up they may have gotten while in your home. Allow to dry thoroughly in the sun.

Readying For Paint

Place your shutters on an old sheet or tarp so you do not get paint all over your driveway or yard while working on the project. Make sure to use a face mask to keep harmful fumes away when spraying your shutters with color. First, use a spray bottle of white primer to completely coat your shutters so paint will adhere. You only need to paint the side that will be showing to the public. Allow the primer to dry according to the directions on the bottle.

Cover the sides and top and bottom edges of the front of the shutter with a few inches of painter's tape, so the white-colored primer you had just applied will act as a frame when you remove the tape. Starting from the top, tape the top two slats with painter's tape. Skip the two slats below the taped slats. Tape the two slats below these. Continue all the way to the bottom, covering every two slats with painter's tape.

Print a large star shape from a picture you find online. Cut this out using scissors and trace it with a pencil over some of the slats near the top center of each shutter. Carefully use painter's tape to fill in this star shape.

Painting The Shutters

After your tape is in place, the rest of the project goes by quickly. Paint the upper part of your shutters with blue spray paint. Paint the bottom of your shutters with the red spray paint. Give two coatings of each color, allowing to dry in between. After the paint has dried, remove the painter's tape to expose the white portions. You will be left with shutters that resemble the American flag. Lean your shutters up against the wall of your front porch. Place a chair in front of them to give you a festive seating area to be enjoyed by all!