Being proud of your home’s curb appeal is a great feeling that we at USAExterior.com find joy in helping you achieve.   One of the best cost-effective ways to highlight your house and improve its style is to add shutters.  As we wrote in our previous blog entitled, Enhancing Your Home with Exterior Shutters, “Whether you’re trying to sell your home or merely express your own sense of style, shutters are a great way to make your curb appeal pop and catch the eye of both your neighbors and online house hunters.”


Board and Batten shutters are one of the oldest styles of shutters on the market and yet they are trending again!  Board and Batten style shutters can be utilitarian with hinges and latches for increased security and safety or they may be purely decorative but either way they are the perfect choice when you want to create a rustic or relaxed feel. 


These shutters consist of two main components.  The vertical slats are called Boards and the horizontal ones that hold the Boards together are called Battens.  Today’s market offers a range of shutter styles with different widths and numbers of Boards and Battens.  As a general rule, wider Boards and/or spaces between the Boards create a more rustic look while narrower ones that are joined with no spaces display a more refined style. 


Styles range from two Boards and two Battens up to five Boards and three Battens with three Batten shutters coming in horizontal or barn style Z configuration. Arch Top shutter accent the contour of arched windows.


Materials range from high end Redwood or Cedar, more economical pine which are much cheaper but require ongoing maintenance, to modern and durable composite wood or vinyl materials.  


If you like to work with your hands and your shutters are purely decorative, wood Board and Batten shutters can be a fairly simple DIY project.  There are plenty of online resources to help you on such a product.


But with the extensive number of Board and Batten styles that may or may not combine with your home, it’s always a good idea to consult a professional about the options and what might best enhance your home.


Have fun adding shutters to your home and know that we are always here to help!