After buying my house, one of the first things I needed to do was to hunt for some antique shutters for my house and garden studio. I simply could not live with the plastic shutters that the builder placed on my colonial style house. I wanted to turn back time to give the house an old restored home appeal rather than “the new house on the block” look. This meant hunting down 100-year-old shutters. Although I could have had custom built shutters that would look like old ones, I chose to search for them and bring a bit of history to my new home. You no longer can find shutters with working louvers and detail, and so I began my journey. I went to tag sales, estate sales and even live actions in hopes of finding some poor old shutters in need in need of new life.
One spring afternoon while away in the Hamptons, I found what I was searching for, shutters that had been recently removed and just awaiting my arrival. This wonderful flea market that cost only five dollars to enter had lots of vendors and shops from around the country. I had found my shutters right here in the Hamptons. What was I to do? My small car would never accommodate all the shutters that I was about to purchase. I had to think quickly about what to do next. Call a friend with a truck. Having my cell phone on hand, I starting making calls. My third call was a hit, and soon I had purchased the entire amount of shutters I needed. You must know that I did play hardball and negotiated the best price I could. I could barely stand it, but I did prevail, and soon I was the proud owner of these treasures. Few could understand this crazy person going on about old distressed shutters needing major attention and a new home.
After I first brought them home to Westport, I felt as if I had struck gold and decided to leave them just as I had found them. After all, they told a great story and the look was distressed and old. But, perhaps a bit too distressed and old, so I decided I would repair what I needed for the house and I would leave the others just the way I found them. The ones on my garden studio are exactly how I found them 5 years ago while the ones on the house have been sanded and restored to their original beauty.
The final effect was brilliant. Something old was new again, and something new looked older. The best of both worlds.
And there you have it.