The Shutter Story: The Surprise

Thursday Jonathan & I came home to this:

Can't tell the difference? Let me show you the old one.

My parents totally surprised us with beautiful brand new shutters in our dining room. Remember how Jon and I had DIY'd some customizable ones from Home Depot? Well neither one of us were 100% happy with the end result. We were just glad that we were able to use them at all after the big mistake with the circular saw. 

After we had finished installing them my mom asked if I would replace them. I said "No, but I wouldn't get these for the other windows!"

Luckily my parents ignored me and ordered this behind our backs! I guess my mom had met the shutter man while we were at work. Sneaky. But so awesome. 

I didn't even notice when I got home from work. When Jon got home I met him in the garage. All of a sudden he asked "Babe, why are the shutters in the garage?" Cue my totally shocked and throughly confused face. "What? What are you talking about?" Jon starts to point at a corner of our garage. "The shutters are here. The shutters I installed. Look!" 

We looked at each other in bewilderment. Then I asked "Did they fall?" When we went to check the window we (finally) saw the new ones. Once the shock and confusion subsided I knew it had to have been my parents. We called them up and my mom tried to play it off at first. Then she asked how we liked it and said it was Jon's birthday present. 

It may seem like a strange gift but Jon (and me!) really loves the way it looks. He said and I quote "It makes our house look beautiful." I'm a huge fan too. Its a lot less busy looking than the old ones and it has the trim around the window which makes it look a lot more finished. And since we had been thinking about replacing it down the line, it saves a ton of cash since it our second biggest window.

A million thanks to the best parents! Such a lovely and thoughtful surprise. 

The Shutter Story: The Salvage

Finally! Our shutters are installed.

Remember how Jon and I completely screwed up our first attempt at installing shutters? No? Wish we could. 

Allow Jon to remind you where we left off.


The Shutter Story: Jon Screws Up from Berennisse Behr on Vimeo.

Yep, we accidentally cut one shutter too short and it was no longer useable for the bedroom window as planned. Day 1 was a total bust.

We woke up in a much better mood the next day. The pieces (you can see me discussing our plans here) we had cut were jagged and the two mounting bars that would sit flush together looked really bad together. Jonathan suggested buying a power sander to help us smooth out the cut pieces to make them fit better. After another trip to Home Depot (that would make it 4 trips to 2 different locations), we sanded all the cut pieces.

Jonathan was really happy because it looked so much better. Like maybe we could have the shutters look decent. 

Then we could finally install them! One and a half days later.... Jon measured where the mounting strips would go and I held them up while he predrilled the holes.

To install the middle pieces Jon used some L shaped brackets. He attached two L brackets next to each other in the center of the windowsill on the top and the bottom. Then he screwed the mounting strips to the brackets.

Then all we had to was slide the shutters on. That process only took about 40 minutes. Just like the instructions promised. 

We're not really happy with the final product. The fit is a little tight and the doors don't close exact but at least they're up. We've decided to just bite the bullet and purchase customized ones for the other windows. We might even pay someone else to install them. Everyone that has seen them says they look fine but naturally we are our own worst critics. 

The best part about this whole mess is that our dining room looks like its almost done. The worst part is that our bedroom still has some old drapes and is a freaking furnace. 

Here's what Jon had to say about the whole experience.


The Shutter Story: Jon Recaps from Berennisse Behr on Vimeo.

My favorite part is where he says "got your approval." :)

To summarize:

• 4 trips to 2 different Home Depots (not counting our visit to their online store)
• 2 new tools (circular saw & power sander)
• 2 days (instead of 40 minutes)
• 2 tired and frustrated homeowners  
• $400 spent (half on the shutters and half on new tools)

NEVER. AGAIN. (Most likely... you never know. Jon might want to give it another go.)

The Shutter Story: The Screw Up

We bought DIY shutters to install in our bedroom. The box and product reviews said it would take about 40 minutes to install... well they lied! It took us TWO DAYS.

99% of the time all of our projects come out mostly as planned. Every now and then we'll have a tiny hiccup (like Jon's victory over the sink) but normally it just requires an extra trip to Home Depot and we're good. Not the case with our shutters.

The previous owner had frilly lace valances on all the windows. That's it. No blinds. Not only could everyone see into our home there was also no way for us to block some light and heat out. No sleeping in. No way to help keep our house cool. The weekend we moved it we put up cheap drapes and have been using that ever since. Its not a big deal throughout the house except in our bedroom. Its the hottest room in the house and its visible by other units which means limited privacy. 

We had always planned to install shutters throughout the house but put it off because they're crazy expensive. Since spring is coming to an end and summer with its 100 degree heat is here we knew we had to get on it (that's why we did the cover patio). After lots of research and pricing out different sources we were sad to find that the best deal we could get was a little less than $400 for ONE window, not including installation! We only have 4 windows but would still be around $1600! Yeah... no.

So we turned to googling DIY Shutters and there was a whole lot of nothing. My BFF Home Depot saved the day. They sell shutters in a small variety of sizes that generally fit to standard sized windows. At $200 it was waaaay cheaper than the customized ones we had been looking at. AND you could buy it online! One less trip to Home Depot. Jon & Berennisse = SOLD. To be on the safe side we only ordered shutters for our bedroom window figuring if we liked it we'd order the rest.

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we decided to install it. We measured, bought a circular saw and made three Home Depot trips in preparation. And then we ran into our first problem. There wasn't a shutter big enough to fit our window so we ordered two thinking we would combine them to make a big one that opened like an accordion. A ton of people had left pictures when reviewing the shutters online and it looked like they had done it so why couldn't we? Apparently pictures lie.

Jonathan looked at me and said we couldn't do it. We could install them as two different ones using brackets but it would not open like an accordion. I sulked but ultimately decided to just do it. We go back upstairs and run into our second problem. The shutters were just a hair too wide. Seriously? This project had already failed before we had ever started to work.

The shutters are designed to allow you to cut a little off the top and a couple of inches off the bottom. The only place you're not supposed to cut is on the little bar used to mount the shutters. After another debate we decided to just go for it. It only required a small adjustment to shave off an 1/8 of inch in order to make it fit. We didn't think it would be that big of a deal and decided to just cut one set of shutters so we could return the second one

We donned some safety googles and finally got to cutting.

The first two panels went relatively smoothly. I held the shutter in place while Jon cut. That saw is not a joke. You have to hold it steady in order to cut and the chips come flying off in every direction which really hurts. Jon and I were covered in tons of tiny pieces. Because of the vibration and you having to hold it place it was hard to cut in a perfectly straight line. The pieces weren't cut perfectly but Jon tried to straighten it by sanding them smooth.

Then it got all screwed up. I really want to use another, stronger word but I'm trying to keep it classy. We started on the third shutter. Jon measured and I held the shutter in place. Then Jon got ready to cut. As soon as he started to cut I knew we had messed up.

Jon used the wrong the guide mark on the saw and cut it too short. 

Unfortunately it was too short to salvage. No shutters for the bedroom. And since we had already cut the second set of shutters we couldn't return them. Goodbye $200!

Imagine us tired, frustrated and full of choice words aimed at the saw and shutters. We were FURIOUS.

After we calmed down I measured the window in the dining room and realized it was a little bit smaller that our bedroom window. The shutter we had cut too short was still going to be a little small but it would be a lot less noticeable. 

So at 10 pm we started the whole process over again. Measuring and cutting all the shutters. We also had to cut two of the mounting devices since the dining room window is not as wide as our bedroom window. Jon was hesitant to do this but in the end we knew that we had to try to salvage this project. What was the worse thing that could happen at this point? See me explain below.


The Shutter Story: The Screw UP from Berennisse Behr on Vimeo.

After that we were fried. We finished cutting and went to bed. WORST PROJECT TO DATE. 

Stay tuned for part two. The Shutter Story: The Salvage.