DIY Shutters for the Bathroom

My "Impossibilities Challenge" continues!  I've been renovating this bathroom of mine for the last 2 years... TWO YEARS!  Sigh.  The finish line is in view, I'm so very happy to say.

This bathroom had no window and I hate rooms with no windows.  I really, really wanted a window but this room is all my own work and I'm not a carpenter, so I was a little intimidated at the thought of installing a window myself.  Lucky for me, when I ripped down the wall covering I discovered that someone had taken out a window somewhere along the way so all I had to do was cut through the wall and install a new window.  Easy peasy - well, sort of...

Here is what I began with:

And I installed the window and trim with only a few minor bumps along the way.  

Here is the finished and trimmed out window:

I installed a deep ledge so I could put plants on it and I was planning to install roman blinds but decided instead that I wanted shutters.  I couldn't find any inexpensive shutters and none turned up at yard sales so I opted to build my own out of one 10' 1x8" board.  The window is 28" wide and the 8" boards are 7 1/4" wide (I ask myself why???).  I had to rip the boards down by 1/4 inch each to make them fit properly in the opening.  They're just a smidgen uneven, but it worked!!

So you measure the height and width of your window and allow 1/8th of an inch on all sides so that the shutters can move freely and you have space for your hinges.  I used T hinges to attach the shutters to the window frame and butt hinges to attach the panels together.  Easy peasy & worked like a charm!!!

 I wanted the shutters to open and frame the window without blocking any of the light from the window.  Don't ask me how I lucked out on choosing my hinges, I managed to pick out just the right ones.  The whole thing came together perfectly.  Love it when that happens.  Total bill for my new shutters $40 (including taxes, hinges and knobs).  By the way, you can get away with spending way less than what I spent, I splurged on pre-primed pine boards.  MDF is not a good choice for bathrooms, but un-primed boards can be bought for much cheaper!

YAHOO!!!

Yet another step in the bathroom reno is complete.  Onto the next!

To see all the posts in the Impossibilities Challenge series, click HERE

Cheers!

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