Painting shutters

Nothing says a French house like its shutters. Solid hinged shutters, ledged and braced, louvred or metal: all take our Multi-Surface paints, Dead Matt (5%), Eggshell (15%), Satin (40%) or Gloss (85%), recommended outdoors on wood and metal alike, over our Multi-Surface Primer. On a south-facing wall, choose a mid tone over a deep black: a dark shutter heats up, and the wood moves.

The greens of the Midi, Brompton Road, Market Green, Sorrel Green; the blues of the coast, Boathouse, Stockholm, Proper Blue; the greys of the Île-de-France, Artillery Ground, Archway House; or the reds of Burgundy, Dulwich Red and Huguenot: shutter colour tells you the region. Match it to the door, and keep the wall in a light tone.

Recommended finishes

Wood or metal shutters

Multi-Surface Dead Matt Multi-Surface Eggshell Multi-Surface Satin Multi-Surface Gloss

Primer

Multi-Surface Primer

Our advice

Shutters, done well

Off their hinges, laid flat on trestles, painted on both faces and every edge: well-done shutters last ten years.

Flat, in the shade, undercoated down to the end grain.

Prepare

Unhinge and lay everything flat

Lift the shutters off and remove the espagnolette bolts, holdbacks and strap hinges if they come off; lay them flat on trestles, in the shade. Scrape flaking paint, sand with 120 then 180 grit, and treat greyed or pitted wood with hardener. On louvred shutters, a slat brush and folded paper get round every louvre.

Apply our Multi-Surface Primer, in the tint matched to the colour, on bare wood and on every board end, where the end grain drinks water; a metal shutter wire-brushed clean of rust takes the same undercoat. Both faces, four edges, the underside of the ledges: a shutter is painted everywhere or it is not painted.

Brompton Road on the shutters, Alderman on the façade.

Paint

Two faces, two coats, in the shade

Paint with a 40 mm synthetic brush along the boards, starting with the ledges and brace, then the boards, then the edges; on louvres, a 25 mm flat brush angled along each slat. Inside face first, 3–4 hours to dry, turn over, outside face next. Two thin coats of Multi-Surface Dead Matt, Eggshell or Satin.

Rehang after 24 hours and leave them open for two days before closing them for the night, so they do not stick in the rebate. On a south-facing wall, the smoother Satin holds less dust and heat. Brompton Road on the shutters, Alderman on the wall, Blackout on the hinges: Provence in three tins.