Painting Shutters is Not for the Perfectionist

We could have just gone to Lowes and purchased vinyl shutters, installed them already, and been done with it.  Did we?  Of course not.  We wanted wood shutters, installed dimensionally, with period hardware.  Easier said than done.  Wood shutters are just that, unpainted wood shutters - hard to find, much more costly than their vinyl counterparts, full of extra work for the uninitiated, and likely to cause much more maintenance down the road, but we gloried in their authenticity.

We were excited when they finally arrived, less excited when we realized that the slats were quite moveable and as such, could allow moisture to intrude causing issues sooner than we anticipated.  So, my caulking skills have been tested as I carefully caulk BOTH sides of EVERY slat in 14 shutters.  Joy.  After some experimentation, it turns out that the Qtip is the tool of choice for caulking carefully without a lot of excess beading.  UGH.  It's painful and time consuming.  And NOT for the perfectionist.

Then comes the priming.  Painting each and every slat with primer, knowing that despite best efforts, there will be drips on the other side - it's the nature of the beast with slats. It's also painful and time consuming.  And NOT for the perfectionist.

One coat of primer, two coats of black paint.  It's an endless job that I'm only half way through, despite hours upon hours of effort.  I may have my 10,000 hour in on shutter painting (not the expertise I was seeking in this lifetime), fighting my perfectionist tendencies all the way.  After all, we'd like to get the shutters hung this decade, since 2015 didn't happen.   Vinyl is looking pretty good about now!