Shutters in 2027: where the market is going and what buyers are choosing

Updated October 18, 2026

The short version: homeowners in both countries are expected to stay put and spend about what they did last year. The blinds and shutters market is still forecast to grow, toward motorized and premium products. Cord rules keep tightening. If you’re staying in your home, that points to a cordless covering you buy once.

Spending: steady, not booming

In the US, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies expects growth in home improvement and repair spending to slow to 0.5% a year by the first quarter of 2027, from 1.8% in the second quarter of 2026, with annual spending of about $523 billion. In its words, “homeowners are expected to maintain spending at roughly last year’s levels”^[1].

In Canada, CMHC’s July 2026 outlook expects home sales to rise only gradually and prices to decline through 2026 before growing modestly. It also expects housing starts to keep falling, from about 241,400 in 2026 to about 223,400 in 2027^[2].

What buyers are choosing

Global Market Insights, a market research firm, estimates the North American blinds and shutters market at $29.5 billion in 2026 and forecasts 8.2% a year growth to 2035. It reports that “Automated and motorized window treatments, once considered luxury items, have now become mainstream”, and that “Homeowners are increasingly investing in hardwood shutters, natural woven materials, high-grade aluminum finishes”^[3]. It also finds that stores and showrooms still sell most window coverings, with online sales growing^[3]. These are one firm’s estimates; treat the figures as a direction rather than a count.

Cords: the rules keep tightening

Canada has regulated corded window coverings since May 1, 2021^[5]. In the US, the Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed new requirements in September 2026, mostly for custom window coverings: free-hanging operating cords, exposed continuous loops and long retractable cords, among others. Written comments are due November 23, 2026^[4]. Shutters tilt with the louvers or a hidden rod and have no cords to regulate.

Our read on where buyers are going

This section is our opinion, drawn from the figures above.

• Improving the home they have. With fewer moves and fewer new homes being started, more money goes into homes people already own. Window coverings are one of the few upgrades you can do room by room without a contractor.
• Seeing the price first. Buyers are used to pricing things online. A covering you can price window by window, before anyone visits, fits how people shop now.
• Real materials. If the move toward premium materials holds, more people will choose wood they can repaint over a covering they’ll replace.
• Cordless by default. With rules tightening in both countries, cordless is becoming the standard rather than an upgrade.

Why consider Shutter Boys

• One material, chosen on purpose: every shutter is solid American poplar, painted white as standard or colour-matched to any paint or stain. Why poplar
• Made to the measurements you take, to the nearest ⅛ in, in the US and Canada. How to measure
• Prices you see first: a 36 × 48 in window is $320 – $400 in the US ($460 – $570 CAD in Canada), before tax and shipping, and the designer prices every window as you add it.
• Fitted by you, with a step-by-step guide, so the installation bill stays with you. How to install
• No cords, in any room.