Blindster shutters vs Shutter Boys: faux wood or solid poplar, compared

Updated October 30, 2026

The short version: Blindster and Shutter Boys both sell made-to-measure shutters online that you measure and fit yourself. Blindster’s shutter is faux wood and ships in the continental US; ours is solid American poplar and ships to the US and Canada.

Who Blindster is

Blindster calls itself “family-owned and operated”. Its founder, Kyle Cox, started the company in 2010 to help people save money on window coverings, and its address is in Jersey Village, Texas^[1]. Most of what it sells is blinds and shades; shutters are one category among them, labelled “Custom Faux Wood”^[2]. It offers up to 10 free samples and free shipping^[2].

Its shutter, in its own words

Blindster’s shutter is the Premium Faux Wood Plantation Shutter^[3]. The options it lists:

• Louvers: 2½ in, which it calls “the traditional style”, and 3½ in, “the more modern style”^[3].
• Frames: an inside-mount bullnose Z-frame, an inside-mount 2 in Bel Air Z-frame, an inside-mount L-frame, and an outside-mount L-frame fixed to the trim, wall or a door^[3].
• Tilt: a front tilt bar as standard, or a concealed tilt bar, “an embedded gear and pinion system” with no visible rod^[3].
• Sizes: widths from 6 to 98 in and heights from 10 to 96 in, measured to the nearest ⅛ in^[3].

It says DIY installation is simple, and offers a ZIP-code search for local pros if you’d rather have help^[3].

Frames and mounting, explained

Blindster’s four frames come down to one decision: does the shutter sit inside the window opening, or over the trim around it^[3]? A Z-frame mounts inside the opening, with a lip that laps onto the edge of the window frame and hides small gaps; Blindster offers it with a bullnose (rounded) edge or a 2 in Bel Air profile. An inside L-frame also mounts inside, sitting flush with the wall. An outside L-frame fixes to the trim, the wall or a door, which is the answer when the opening is too shallow for the louvers to tilt, or when a crank or handle sticks out.

Our frames follow the same logic: inside mount wherever the window is deep enough, outside mount where it isn’t. Before you choose on either site, measure how deep the opening is from the room side to the glass, and to anything that sticks out, like a crank or lock. Blindster asks for that window depth on its order form^[3]; it decides which louver size can tilt open without hitting the glass. Inside or outside mount · Choosing a louver size

Two practical notes. Blindster’s louvers stop at 3½ in^[3], so if you want the wider, more open view of a 4½ in louver, that’s a reason to price ours. And its size range, up to 98 in wide and 96 in tall^[3], is per shutter order line, so a very large opening may be split into several panels or frames on either site: check how the panels divide before you order, because the dividing lines are what you’ll see every day.

Side by side

Our price is for poplar with flat moulding, paint stage 1 and 3½ in louvers, before tax and shipping. Blindster’s ship date is the estimate its product page showed on October 30, 2026^[3].

Shipping and lead time

Blindster ships to “all states in the continental USA”^[4]. Orders “typically ship 1 to 7 business days after they enter production”, and most “arrive within 5-7 business days of leaving our production facilities”^[4]. On the day we checked, its shutter page gave an estimated ship date of December 7 to 9 for an order placed that day, then 2 to 5 business days in transit^[3]. That’s roughly five to six weeks from order to door, as of October 30, 2026. Check the date it shows you; it moves with the season.

Guarantees, returns and warranty

Blindster publishes two guarantees, and they work differently for shutters:

• Fit-or-Free: if something doesn’t fit because of a measuring error, you can ask for a remake within 60 days of delivery. Shutters get “one (1) free remake” (other products get three), you pay “$20 per product for shipping”, and all shutters carry an additional “$85 oversize freight fee”. It’s available “one time per person per lifetime”, and remade products can’t be returned^[5].
• 60-Day Satisfaction Guarantee: contact it within 60 days of delivery; the maximum refund is $500 per person, household or address in any 12 months, and return shipping, oversize freight and handling charges aren’t refunded^[6]. It can’t be combined with Fit-or-Free^[5].

Because everything is custom made, Blindster says returns are donated to charity^[7]. Its warranty page has sections for the Blindster Limited Warranty and an Accident Protection Plan^[8]; the terms didn’t display when we checked, so read them there, or call Blindster, before you rely on them.

The $500 refund cap is worth noticing on a shutter order. A house of shutters often costs more than that, so the satisfaction guarantee covers part of a large order, not all of it^[6]. Fit-or-Free is the more useful protection, and it’s one remake, once^[5]. Either way, careful measuring matters more than any guarantee. How to measure for shutters

Faux wood or solid wood?

This is the real choice between the two. Blindster doesn’t name the material inside its faux wood shutter on the page we read^[3], so ask before you buy. In general, faux wood means a synthetic or composite material made to look like painted wood. It suits humid rooms better than wood does, and it’s heavier for the same panel size. Solid poplar is lighter, can be sanded and repainted, and takes a stain or any colour match. Our faux wood vs real wood guide covers the trade-offs with sources.

Where Blindster is stronger

• Mixed orders: blinds, shades and shutters from one store, with up to 10 free samples^[2].
• A published remake guarantee for measuring mistakes, with its conditions spelled out^[5].
• A shipping estimate on the product page before you order^[3].
• A synthetic material for a humid room where wood would be a poor choice.

Where we differ

• Real wood on every window: solid American poplar, in white, any colour match or a stain. Why poplar
• Canada: we ship across Canada except Quebec, priced in Canadian dollars.
• 4½ in louvers and three moulding levels as well as 2½ and 3½ in.
• Shaped windows: arches, half-rounds, angled tops and circles. Arched and shaped shutters
• A price on screen for every window as you add it in the designer, before checkout.

Who should choose which

How to compare the two quotes

1. Price the same sizes, louver size, frame and tilt on both sites.
2. Note whether a price depends on a cart promotion and when it ends.
3. Add shipping, tax and any fees: Blindster’s remake shipping and oversize freight fees apply only if you use its guarantee^[5].
4. Compare the material, not only the colour: faux wood and solid wood look alike in a photo and behave differently in a room.
5. Read each warranty’s length, who it covers and what it excludes before you order.

When a shade suits a window better

A sliding door you use all day, or a wide window you want completely clear, is often better with a shade than a shutter. Our sister company Shade Boys makes patio door shades, roller shades, zebra blinds, cellular shades and wood blinds to measure, so a house can have shutters in the bedrooms and shades on the doors.

Which to choose

If you want a faux wood shutter, blinds in the same order and a published remake guarantee, and you’re in the continental US, Blindster covers that. If you want solid wood, a shaped window, 4½ in louvers or delivery to Canada, that’s what Shutter Boys is for. Our shutters are one product: solid American poplar, made to the measurements you take, priced online window by window, and fitted by you. Price your windows

Blindster and the names of its products are trademarks of their owners. Shutter Boys isn’t affiliated with Blindster, and this page isn’t endorsed by it. What we say about Blindster comes from its own pages, checked October 30, 2026; prices, offers and terms change, so check before you buy.