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Plantation shutters in Austin

Plantation shutters, also called California shutters or interior window shutters, made to the measurements you take and shipped to your door in Austin. Fit them yourself, or ask us for an independent installer near you.
Framed California shutters fitted across a condo window wall, in time-lapse.

Homes in Austin

Apartments outnumber houses in Austin: 50% of its 483,071 homes are in buildings of two or more units. Detached houses make up 43% and townhouses and other attached houses 5%.

Much of Austin is new: 43% of homes were built 2000 or later, and only 28% before 1980. The median home dates from 1994. Most homes are rented: owners live in only 43%.

In Pflugerville, 14 miles away, 21% of homes are apartments, fewer than here. Nationally, Austin's homes are newer than those in 76% of the 881 US cities we have census figures for.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Estimates carry margins of error.

Shallow openings

43% of homes were built in 2000 or later. Newer windows are often set close to the room side of the wall, and handles, cranks and alarm sensors stick out into the space a louver swings through. Measure the depth to the glass and to anything that sticks out; the designer checks it against the louver size you pick.

Choosing a louver size

Apartments and condos

50% of homes are in buildings of two or more units. Balcony and patio doors suit bypass or bifold panels rather than hinged ones, which need floor space to swing. Check what your HOA or building allows to show from outside before you order: most rules are about the colour seen through the glass.

Patio door shutters

Rounded drywall corners

72% of homes here were built from 1980 on, and many houses of that era have rounded ("bullnose") drywall corners around the windows instead of square returns. A shutter can't sit flat against a curve: choose an outside mount with a frame that clears the corner, or an inside mount if the flat part of the opening is deep enough for your louvers.

How to measure

Renting?

57% of homes are rented. Shutters screw into the window frame or casing, so ask your landlord before you install; taking them down later leaves only screw holes to fill.

Austin weather and your shutters

At Austin-Camp Mabry, TX (2 mi away), August averages a high of 97.8°F and January a low of 41.8°F. Average highs reach 85°F from May to September.

About 123 days a year reach 90°F, 12 nights fall to freezing and 36.2 inches of precipitation falls, most of it around May and least in February.

That's more 90°F days than in 95% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.

Daylight runs from 14 h 6 min on the longest day to 10 h 11 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 83° above the horizon in June and 36° in December.

Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Austin-Camp Mabry, TX (temperature) and Austin-Camp Mabry, TX (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.

Austin: average monthly low and high temperatures30°F50°F70°F90°FJFMAMJJASOND
Average daily low to high, by month.
Monthly figures
Monthly climate normals
MonthAverage highAverage lowPrecipitation
Jan62.5°F41.8°F2.6 in
Feb66.5°F45.8°F1.9 in
Mar73.3°F52.2°F2.9 in
Apr80.3°F58.9°F2.4 in
May86.9°F66.8°F5 in
Jun93.2°F72.9°F3.7 in
Jul96.6°F75°F2 in
Aug97.8°F75.1°F2.7 in
Sep91.4°F70.1°F3.5 in
Oct82.5°F60.8°F3.9 in
Nov71.5°F50.5°F2.9 in
Dec63.9°F43.4°F2.7 in

Months of hard sun

With 123 days a year above 90°F, sun on the window is the main thing shutters do here. Closed louvers stop direct sun before it reaches the room; angled up, they still let light bounce off the ceiling. On south and west windows, white and light finishes stay cooler and show fading less than dark stains; keep stains for windows out of the afternoon sun.

Why poplar

Fitting them in Austin

Shutter Boys shutters are made for you to fit yourself: an inside or outside mount takes a drill, a level and our step-by-step guide. If you'd rather hire someone, a finish carpenter or blinds installer can fit them; ask on your quote and we'll tell you if we know one near you. You arrange and pay the installer directly.

How to install · How to measure

Near Austin

More about shutters in Austin

Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Austin’s own figures.

For designers, contractors and stores in Austin

Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Austin can sell or refer Shutter Boys shutters: dealers buy at trade pricing with a protected area; referral partners earn a fee on each client they send. No fee to join.

Apply to the dealer program · Dealers in Texas

Price your windows

Pick your look once, add every window, and see each one drawn and priced. Send it to us and we reply with your quote.

Design your shutters