Shutter Terms

Shutter Hardware Terms:

Frame
A three or four-sided device used to mount shutters to the outside of a window.

Hanging Strip
Hanging strips are adjustable items used as an alternative to framing. Also known as hang strips, they are screwed into a wall or window jamb and unobtrusively hold window shutters in place.

Hinge
A hinge consists of two small metal plates that pivot around a pin or rod. Hinges permit window shutters to open and close while remaining attached to a mounting surface. A hanging hinge connects shutters to a window jamb or hanging strip, while an interpanel hinge connects two shutter panels together.

Louver
Louver is the proper term for what are commonly known as shutter slats. Louvers are referred to as fixed or movable depending on whether they can be adjusted to let in air and light. Movable louvers are sometimes called operable slats.

Mortise
A mortise is a rectangular slot or groove in a shutter stile intended to house a hinge, thus drawing the shutter panel in closer to the window frame or hanging strip.

Panel
Panel is the word used to refer to a single window shutter. Most window shutters consist of two panels. If a shutter panel features a flat surface instead of louvers, the styling of the wood will be referred to as either flat or raised.

Rail
A rail is a flat horizontal bar that is found at the top and bottom of an individual shutter panel and sometimes at its center. The size of top rails and bottom rails can be chosen for decorative effect. A center rail is called a divider rail and is necessary on plantation shutter panels exceeding 76 inches.

Stile
Stiles are the vertical bars located on each side of a shutter panel.

Tilt Bar/Push Rod

The tilt bar or push rod is the vertical elongated rod used to change the position of the shutter louvers.

Shutter Style Terms:

Cafe Style
Cafe style refers to window shutters that only cover the bottom half or two-thirds of a window. Cafe style shutters are traditionally kept closed.

DoubleTier
Double tier refers to shutter units in which two independent sets of shutters are used together, one on the top and one on the bottom of a window.

Plantation Style
Plantation style is a shutter style commonly used in the 19th Century American South. Plantation style shutters are designed to remain closed and they feature wider, movable louvers to let in air and light. Plantation style shutters are typically 1 1/8 inches thick with louver widths between 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches.

Traditional Style
Traditional style is a shutter style that was imported from Britain to colonial New England. It features smaller and narrower panels than are found on plantation shutters. The louvers on traditional style shutters are often fixed, meaning traditional shutters must be folded open. Flat panels without louvers are also commonly used with traditional style window shutters. The standard size for traditional shutters is 3/4-inch thick with 1 1/4-inch wide louvers and panel widths of six to 12 inches.