What To Do With Old Shutters

Are you looking for a project to do with old shutters? Then this easy DIY is for you! This project is so easy, that you can do it in a day. Let’s get to it!

As an Amazon Affiliate (and other companies including Dixie Belle Paint Company), we earn a small commission on products sold through affiliate links. Your purchases through those links help support this blog at no additional cost. In purchasing the supplies we use and recommend via our links, you help to support the free tutorials we offer you and our other readers. Thank you so much! Read my full disclosure here.

Today is Thrift Store Decor Wednesday and I am joining some of my repurposing friends in sharing fun upcycled and creative projects for you! Be sure to read through to the end of this post and see the amazing projects from the whole team!

old shutters galore

No kidding, we have and run across shutters all the time in this business. Auctions, barn sales, estate sales, and even a yard sale or two.

Hubby even has a friend who keeps his eye open for old shutters for us.

We’ve made several types of projects out of them but one of my faves is a wall sconce light. In fact, I made some for our home to bring more light into the living space. They’re on timers so they just automatically come on and turn off every day.

It’s the little things in life…..

Let’s get into the project.

list of supplies:

• an old shutter (or a pair of them!)
• wall sconce light kit with a plug and an on/off switch
• Edison bulb
• pliers
• heavy gauge wire
• 3/4″ wood screws with a pan head
• wire cutters
• power drill and drill bit
• Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (I used Shutter Gray) (This one is similar)
• Dixie Belle White Lightning Cleaner
• Dixie Belle Best Dang Wax
• Dixie Belle Best Dang Brush
• wall hook

step one:

Old shutters are usually filthy, so clean them well before painting. I scrubbed it outside with Dixie Belle White Lightning mixed in a bucket with hot water. A brush helped to loosen all the yuckiness and some of the flaking paint. Then I hosed it down to rinse it.

A day in the sun and this old shutter was dry and clean!

I chose Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Shutter Gray – it just seemed appropriate! The shutter needed two heavy coats with a bit of touch-up here and there.

step two:

Using a flat-edge chef’s knife that I only use in my workshop, I chipped away some of the paint by scraping the flat edge of the blade along the wood. You’ll see in the YouTube video below that the paint chips away so easily.

step three:

Dixie Belle’s Best Dang Wax is a water-based, easy-to-use furniture wax. This wax has no smell, it’s easy to clean the wax brush and the wax is just plain easy to use!

I applied it with Dixie Belle’s wax brush (Best Dang Brush) to apply the wax in a very thin coat. After allowing the wax to dry for about 15 minutes and I used the same brush to buff the surface just a bit. I was able to use the same brush because I barely added any wax with it and the wax had dried on the brush.

So easy, right??

shop for Dixie Belle products by clicking the image below!

step four:

The next step is to attach the sconce light fixture to the old shutter.

I decided to show you how to attach the wall sconce light through a video. It seemed easier to show you rather than tell you here on the post.

Be sure to hop over to the video – I’ll give you step-by-step instructions to add the light to your old shutter! Feel free to subscribe to our channel while you are there – I would love for you to join our reinventing journey! 😊

step five:

It’s time to add the hanger! This old shutter wall sconce light fixture is meant to hang on the wall but you could also lean it into a corner of a room. If you do that, take precautions so that no little ones could knock it down and hurt themselves.

Also, if you have a Roomba…..well, let’s just say you should hang it on the wall!!

I cut a section of the heavy wire approximately the width of the shutter plus 16-18″ The wire is meant to show as part of the design of this old shutter light fixture.

If you want the wire to be hidden, attach it to the back with eye hooks and a shorter piece of wire.

Pre-drill holes and then use 3/4″ wood screws (mine are black and have a head-on them like a washer) and screw them into the top of the shutter.

If your shutter is loose, put the screws in the outermost section of wood, not on the inside section of the shutter like I did. The outermost section on my shutter wasn’t in great shape so I put the screws in the interior section of the old shutter.

Don’t insert the screw all of the way, allow a bit to stick up. Then wrap the wire around the screw at least two times, then finish screwing the screw all the way in.

I used my needle nose pliers to twist the wire into a curly cue. You’ll see how I did that in the video. This adds a whimsical touch to the old shutter light fixture, don’t you think? Of course, you can skip that step if you don’t like it!

YouTube video for you!

There you have it! What do you think? I love it so much!

how to decorate with an old shutter

Let’s think of some ideas where this light could be used in your home!

• as a single light with a side chair that is near a wall (like in the image above)
• a pair of them on either side of the living room or dining room windows
• a pair of them on either side of the master room bed
• a single shutter in a child’s room
• near an entryway

That last idea, near an entryway, gave me another idea! Add a basket to the old shutter with some hooks as a drop-off for keys, gloves, or mail!

how to hang an old shutter light fixture

This shutter has some weight to it so be sure to use a strong hook made to hold the weight of your shutter. Attach it after finding a wall stud or use a molly. By all means, hang this shutter securely to the wall!!

I used a command hook rated for the weight of my shutter light after I sprayed painted it in a bronze color.

Edison bulbs for a vintage feel

Old shutters repurposed into a light fixture looks so vintage (it is vintage!!) so of course, the light bulb needs to look vintage as well. Amazon has tons of Edison bulbs available now and they are not nearly as expensive as they were when they first came out.

vintage bulbs for old shutter light

Here is a selection of bulbs as well as some other wall sconce light fixtures for you to choose from for your next light fixture from old shutters project!

thanks for shopping via our links! in doing so, you help to support all the free tutorials we offer! there is NO additional cost to you!

so glad you stopped by!

It really means the world to us that you stop by here for our projects and tutorials. We hope you are inspired to make some of the projects we share for your home. If you do, can. you let me know? Comment below and let me know about your project!

---

the projects continue!

This post is part of a blog hop I did with some of my repurposing blogging friends! Be sure to visit their posts to see the fun projects they have to share with us!

• Domestically Speaking – Thrift Store Metal Pumpkin 
• My Repurposed Life – Bar Stool Makeover 
• Petticoat Junktion –  Rustic Home Decor Wall Sign
• Our Southern Home –  How to Update Thrift Store Art
• My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia – DIY Mini Succulent Garden In A Sugar Mold 
• Sadie Seasongoods –  Boho Candle Holder (and Crazy Brass Cleaning Hack!)
• House Of Hawthornes –  Quilted Mason Jar Makeover 
• Organized Clutter –  Goodwill Shadowbox Fall Decor Makeover
• Reinvented Delaware –  What to do with Old Shutters (that’s me!)
• Shop At Blu – How to Make Pumpkins from Scrap Wood 

---

We would also love it if you joined our journey via email. We don’t sell email addresses and we only send 3-4 emails per month letting you know about our projects! You can sign up below and I will send you a fun freebie!

Pin the image below to your home decor and repurposing idea boards! Just click the pin button at the top left corner!

Thanks for joining our journey!

Thanks so much for joining us for this post! Join our journey so you don’t miss any fun projects, tutorials, and inspiration we share with you each week! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We share even more inspiration on Pinterest!

Until next time…