Folk Art Shutters

"The Burrow is the home of the Weasleys.
It's located outside of Ottery St. Catchpole

and it looks as if it's held together with magic

- which it probably is.

Harry describes it as the best house he's ever been in."

―J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

INSPIRATION

I loved this description of the Weasley's house and I wanted my house to appear as if it's held together by magic too.  In my mind, there was no better way to achieve that goal than to add folk-art-painted shutters!

I have been thinking about this project for many years.  There are a couple houses in Cincinnati that have them and I admire them every time I pass by.  Then a year ago my friend Margot put beautiful, hand-painted shutters on her house (you can see her lovely shutters here) and it inspired me to finally start on my own shutter project.

"A building without ornamentation is like a heaven without stars."

―George Sandys

SHUTTERS

I thought about making the shutters myself, but knew that might add months to the project.  In September of 2021, I purchased shutters from Exterior Solutions.  I was so nervous to get the size right because we have two wood supports for the dormer on either side of the window.  So the shutter absolutely had to fit inside of those supports.  I made cardboard mockups to make sure I got the size right.

The shutters sat in their boxes all winter and spring.  Finally in mid-June of 2022 we pulled them out and painted them the same grey-brown as the window moulding.  Note the quality control feline supervisor in the background.  

DESIGN

I knew I wanted to use elements from the design I painted on my back porch door in 2017 (you can see it here).  So I pulled up that file in Illustrator and started playing with different designs.  

In the end it came down to the following two designs below. 

The nice thing about Illustrator is that you can make everything to full scale.  So I knew once I finalized the design I could print them out and place them on the shutters to make sure everything fit.  Below you can see both designs taped to the shutters. 

I was having a hard time deciding so I photoshopped them onto the house.  I posted these options to Facebook and got a lot of feedback which was about 50/50 either way.  Sometimes the feedback can be helpful for me to figure out which way I am leaning.  I was already feeling a nudge towards "scrunched" when Margot said that traditionally you don't paint the batten.  That was all I needed to hear.

The winner was "scrunched"!

STENCIL

Once that decision was made I prepared the files to send to my friend Tiffany who has a laser cutter.  Below you can see what the files look like that I sent her.

And here is a short video of the stencil being cut.  The laser cuts through the Mylar like butter.  (Thank you for the video Tiffany!)

PAINTING THE STENCIL

It was fun to place that first stencil onto the shutter.  

After painting the very first layer of white it became clear I was going to need multiple layers to make it opaque...especially for the white.  I ended up painting at least 4 layers on every stencil.  That meant I had to let the stencil dry 4 times and that it would be extra "sticky". Below is a video of me pulling the stencil off the first time.

(Music by Scott Holmes, "Victoria")

As you can see from the video, the stencil "leaked."  Luckily it was fixable.  I was going to say it was easy to fix, but that would be a lie.  I spent a lot of time touching the stencils up afterwards.  Below you can see before and after touch up.

But to help with the "leaking" problem I did try something I'd  heard about a long time ago.  I painted the grey/brown background color onto the stencil first.  This helped prevent the color from leaking under the stencil.  It really did help quite a bit and even though it required an extra coat, I highly recommend taking the extra time.

Another thing I did to help with "leakage," was to scrape my stencil edges clean after every shutter.  Below you can see a photo of that process.  It may have been easier to use mineral spirits, but I didn't have any.  So my fingernails got worn down until I found an old credit card that worked just as well.

It felt so good to finish painting and touching up all the shutters.  Bubo was excited about it too.

CLEAR COAT (VARATHANE DAY!)

I wasn't sure I was going to even do this step.  But when I pulled the stencils off sometimes the paint would pull up a little bit and I would push it down with my fingers.  In order to secure everything I decided to spray the shutters with exterior water-based Varathane.   I used this product on my Hex Sign project and it has worked well (click here to see and for further discussion about clear coat options).  I sprayed 3-4 coats and called them done!

HANGING THE SHUTTERS

I finished painting the shutters mid-week and figured we would hang the shutters the following weekend.  Unfortunately I discovered I hadn't ordered enough hinges.  I originally ordered the hinges the previous year from Larson Shutters and was worried it would be hard to get them again with all the pandemic shortages.  Lucky for us, I found the same ones again and they arrived within a week.

During the week we were waiting on the new hinges we made a mockup of window moulding out of an old piece of wood that was about the same size.  I wish I had taken a photo of that step because you could see how many time we failed.  I thought I was going to lose my mind trying to get the hinge placement just right so that the weight would be evenly distributed between the two hinges.  I made paper templates to scale in Illustrator probably 5 times trying to get it just right.  

When it came time to actually hang the shutters we used a life-sized template with holes in it that we placed on the lower edge of the window.  I happened to have this weird "plastic-y" cardboard I had purchased to prevent the cats from jumping over the baby gates and it was the perfect material and stiffness for a template.

We also learned from making our wood moulding mockup that unfortunately we would not be able to close the shutters.  For some reason, George had his heart set on the shutters closing.  I think he pictured himself opening the shutters every morning to sing with the birds 😄.  We wrapped our heads around it and tried all sorts of things, but in the end we had to give that up.  When we tried to close the shutter, the batten would hit the moulding.  I would have had to order hinges that had a long pintel arm if we wanted them to close...and I didn't want the angle of the shutters to be too great or you wouldn't see the design. 

“We're in this life together, tethered to each other, fumbling and trying to find our way...”

— Daniell Koepke

The day of the shutter hanging we tethered George with an old faded-pink climbing rope and out he went onto the roof.  It was so nerve wracking that I didn't take any photos.  He was tethered to me and I kept having visions of me being sucked tight against the window if he fell.  Thank goodness all went well!  And thank goodness for washers!  Even with all my planning we still needed to use washers to make sure the weight was evenly distributed between the two hinges.

Once the shutters were done we still had to secure the shutters with shutter dogs.  (I also purchased the shutter dogs from Larson Shutters - here is the link).   

The only problem was they didn't come with an anti-rattle or anti-vibration bracket.  I ended up ordering that from Martell Hardware and it arrived within a week (link here).  I liked this bracket in particular because it allowed us to control the angle of the shutter against the house.  I wanted them almost parallel to the house because sometimes shutters can look droopy if they are pushed all the way back; plus I wanted the design to be fully visible.  We ended up buying 6 inch lag bolts (instead of using the 4 1/2 inch ones that came with them) in order to have enough room for the anti-vibration brackets.

Above you can see the shutter dogs installed.  Normally people put them below the shutter and they stick up.  They are designed to rotate easily when closing the shutter and the weight of the larger scroll will automatically pull the shutterdog back into vertical place.  However we had flashing below the window that we didn't want to drill into.  We ended up placing ours to the side and both the batten and the anti-vibration bracket helped keep it in place.

Below you can see George rejoicing after installing the shutter dogs and the job was finally, truly done!

This project might win the prize for longest from start to finish, but it really was satisfying to see how the shutters transformed the house.  When I pull into the driveway and see them it brings me joy every time.

I usually like to end my posts with some deep thoughts about life.  But this time I just want to say, "Do things that bring you joy."  That's it... sweet and simple.

 A big thank you to Tiffany for cutting the stencils for this project.  And a huge thank you to George for not only putting up with my crazy projects, but for helping me complete them.  I couldn't do any of this without your love and support and delicious cooking.

"Decorating golden rule: Live with what you love."
―Unknown

Folk Stencil Doorstep

"There are doors that feel as though they're leading you,
pulling you, to somewhere enchanting". ―HeartFireAtHome

There are three reasons I began this project.  First, I wanted to get rid of the old, cracked concrete paint that has greeted us for twenty years on our front doorstep.  Second, I wanted the step to match not only the painted lintels of the windows on either side of the door... but also the recently added folk-painted shutters on the second floor dormer windows (click here to see them.) And the final reason is that I have been attempting to make my inner appearance match my outer appearance on all levels of being...I know...a lofty goal.

I have always wanted my house to be a reflection of myself.  When I thought about adding a painted stencil to the entryway, it made me think about doorways and what they mean.  I asked myself the question, "What would a folk-painted doorstep imply to someone entering or exiting my house?"  What came to me was "When you enter this house, you are entering a magical space."  I wanted the step to welcome people into our home and to communicate that you are entering a sacred, enchanting, and delightful abode.

And it occurred to me the same was true in reverse,..."When you are leaving the house and stepping out into the world, you are entering a magical space."  Every time a person leaves the house, the step is a reminder that the world is full of splendor, if one has eyes to see it.  In a sense, the step would be a visual mantra to look for beauty on one's path. You are entering a magical space whether you are coming or going!  

"The door is always a threshold for wonder". ― Unknown

PROCESS

Old Paint Removal

When we bought our house twenty years ago the front porch was covered in old, chipping concrete paint.  Just last year we paid a contractor to remove the paint.  They were not overly successful and did not scrape the entryway step at all.

So, for my birthday this year, George borrowed my neighbor's heated paint remover (thank you Mark) and spent many hot days trying to remove the paint.  It was not easy, but it is one of the best birthday gifts a girl could get IMHO!

PAINTING THE STEP

 I spent A LONG time chatting with the man at Sherwin Williams about the best paint to use.  He told me not to use a primer if people would be stepping on the paint, and to simply use their floor paint straight onto the stone.  One problem we encountered was the floor paint color match was not the greatest.  I took the paint that we used on the lintels and they tried to color match it, but the base used for floor paint was a little different.  You can sort of see in the photo below, the step paint was more "purplely."  I ended up buying two different colors and mixing them to try to remedy the situation.  In the end it worked OK, but I wish I had made more to use to seal the stencils.  I just barely had enough. 

STENCILING

Determine location

The first step was determining the location of the stencil.  I measured the entire step and put the middle flower exactly in the center.  If I had it to do over again, I might have centered the whole thing where the two doors meet, which was slightly different.  In the end no one will notice but me.  But it's something to think about if you are reading this and considering your own project.  Please note my adorable supervisor inside...also, yes, I am wearing my ridiculous mosquito net getup because they were eating me alive!

Base coat

The next step, which is super important, was to paint a layer of the base paint color.  This helps to seal the stencil and prevent leakage of the colors beneath the stencil.  (I have also read you can use Mod Podge for this.)

Thin layers

It is also best to do thin layers of paint.  I did three layers and later learned it is best not to let things sit too long.  Do each layer as soon as the paint dries and then take it off ASAP!

Remove stencil

  Below you can see the first stencil worked fairly well, with only a few spots needing touch-up.

“You who long to step over this threshold, do you know what awaits you?”

― Ivan Turgenev

Clean stencil

I planned the design so that I could flip the stencil around to the left side and line up the flower.  I spent a LONG time scraping the paint off the stencil using an old credit card.  When George got home he said, "You could have just rotated the stencil instead of flipping it over."  I don't know why that hadn't occurred to me.  But as I found out later, it is always a good idea to clean the stencil even if you simply rotate it (or make multiple stencils!).

Rotate stencil

 Here you can see the stencil rotated and ready for the next round of paint layers.

Front stencil done!

I was pretty happy with the way everything went on the front stencil.  There were touch-ups to be done, but overall things went pretty smoothly.

Top Stencil

 After completing the top stencil on the right-hand side I decided to chance it and not clean the stencil before using it on the left-hand side.  

Stencil disaster!

 As you can see below, I had what I would call a stencil disaster.  When I went to remove the stencil it was seriously stuck.  When I tried pulling on it, I could see the paint was stretching the design and even pulling up the base paint!  I was a bit distracted because George was making a video of me pulling it off.  I probably should have stopped sooner and gotten an exacto blade...which I eventually did...but not before causing some damage.  It did help tracing around the edge of the stencil with the exacto knife, but I didn't like cutting through all the layers for longevity reasons.  Any time you create an opening you are creating a space for water or dirt to get under your paint.  I wasn't sure if the cause was not cleaning the stencil or leaving it on too long or a combination of the two.  You really can't see how bad it was from the photo below.  

I was also worried the whole darn thing was going to peel off.  When we lived in Houston we painted our kitchen cabinets with acrylic paint.  It turned out the cabinets were originally painted with oil paint, and it all just peeled off the next day.  That memory kept terrorizing me.  To keep it at bay I decided to forge ahead with my touch-ups, shown below.

VIDEO

Below is a short video of the entire project from start to finish.  It is quite satisfying to watch the stencil being removed.  Turn your volume on! (Music by Hung Tran from Pixabay)

Polyurethane

Because of the stencil disaster, I made sure to seal the whole thing with polycrylic.  Hopefully this will keep any water or dirt from getting under the stencil where I might have cut it with the exacto knife.

FINISHED

It is super satisfying to compare the before and after photos below.  As you can see by my decorations, summer turned into fall during this project.  

“Once you cross the threshold,
you will never be the same.
That is a fact.”
― Kamal Ravikant

I'm not sure how well you can see below, but the front step now matches the shutters!

“You come to these thresholds in your life where you need to remember
why you do what you do, to reconnect with yourself.”
— Neneh Cherry 

There always comes a point in every project where things get "a little rough"...in this case "a little sticky."  I have to admit I had a meltdown when I thought the whole thing might peel off.  I was frustrated and I remember saying to myself, "I am tired.  I am tired of doing hard things.  Why do I always choose difficult things?"  I think it is an important point to ponder.

My sister reminded me that I love to create beauty.  And its true, I am always on the lookout for beauty and joy in this world...and it feels like a deep calling to create both in whatever project I am working on.  Why?  I think it's a way of reconnecting with who we really are at the core of our being.  These projects are a way of bridging the inner and the outer.  The process might not always be easy...but through the overcoming of obstacles and the very act of creation we come to know ourselves one small step at a time.  We come to realize we are joy...we are beauty itself.  

"The purpose of craft is not so much to make beautiful things,
 as it is to become beautiful inside while you are making those things."

―Susan Gordon Lydon

A big thank you to my husband George who always encourages and supports my crazy projects.  Also, thank you to Mark for loaning us your heated paint-removing tool.  And thank you to Tiffany and Brian for cutting the stencils!