Shutter BoysUpdated
The short version: inside a coastal home, the thing that moves a shutter is humidity, not salt. Painted poplar is a sound choice for rooms you keep closed and air-conditioned. For the rooms that stay damp, our aluminum interior shutters are coming in 2027. And nothing on this page is about protecting a house from the weather: these are interior shutters.
A lot of people live on the coast
NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management counts the coastal counties of the United States as “home to 129 million people, or almost 40 percent of the nation’s total population”[1]. Those counties grew by 40.5 million people between 1970 and 2020, about 46 percent[1]. That’s a very large share of the homes that will buy window coverings in 2027, and it covers everything from a beach house a block from the sand to a suburb a long drive inland that happens to sit in a coastal county.
That spread matters, because “coastal” isn’t one condition. A house with windows thrown open to the sea breeze all summer lives in different air from a sealed, air-conditioned condo ten floors up in the same county. The questions below are the ones that actually decide which shutter suits a room.
What salt air does, and what the research is actually about
Salt is a real concern for metal on the outside of buildings. A 2013 article in The Construction Specifier on choosing aluminum finishes for coastal areas makes the point that “even at substantial distances from the ocean, structures are susceptible to corrosion from salt”[2]. It notes that Qualicoat, a European finish standard, “defines coastal as within 5 km (2.8 mi) from any coast or tidal estuary”[2].
Read that for what it is. The article concerns exterior architectural aluminum: storefronts, window frames and wall panels that are rained on, sprayed and dried out again for decades, and how to specify a finish that survives it. It isn’t about anything inside a house, and it’s from 2013. We cite it because it’s the honest source for why people near the coast think about salt at all, not because it says anything about interior shutters.
Our reading, labelled as ours: an interior shutter sits behind glass, in conditioned air, out of the rain. Some salty air comes in through open windows, and a film can build up on anything near them, but that exposure is a small fraction of what an outside window frame takes. We haven’t found a test standard written for interior shutters in salt air, so we don’t quote one, and you should be wary of anyone who quotes you a coastal rating for an indoor product without naming the test.
The real coastal question indoors: humidity
The US Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook is blunt about where wood’s problems start: “Many of the challenges of using wood as an engineering material arise from changes in moisture content”[3]. It also explains why those changes happen: “Wood, like many natural materials, is hygroscopic; it takes on moisture from the surrounding environment”[3]. The moisture wood holds follows the humidity and temperature of the air around it[3].
In a heated home, the National Research Council of Canada puts the swing at about “6% in winter to 12% in summer”[4]. As wood gains moisture it swells across the grain; as it dries, it shrinks[4]. On a shutter, that’s what makes a louver feel a little stiffer in August and a little looser in February. A coat of paint slows the exchange; it doesn’t stop it.
The key word in the handbook’s sentence is surrounding. A painted poplar shutter responds to the air in the room it hangs in. If that room is closed and air-conditioned most of the summer, the shutter lives in steadier air than the ocean outside would suggest. If the room is a bathroom with a daily shower, or a cottage shut up all summer with no air conditioning running, the shutter lives in wetter air, and that’s where wood starts to struggle.
Where poplar works on the coast
Our shutters today are solid American poplar, painted. For a coastal home, that’s a good fit in the rooms most people want shutters in first:
- Bedrooms and living rooms you keep closed and cooled. Air conditioning dries the air as it cools it, so these rooms are usually the steadiest air in the house.
- Big glass facing the water. Louvers let you angle the view and the light separately: tilt them to see the horizon and keep the low afternoon sun off the floor and furniture.
- Sliding doors to a deck or balcony. These take bypass panels on a track, or bifolds that fold to the sides; see patio door shutters for the layouts.
Our poplar guide explains why we use it: it’s a stable, fine-grained hardwood that takes paint well. On the coast, the same habits that matter anywhere matter a little more: keep louvers tilted open on damp days so air moves around them, wipe off any film that builds up near open windows, and follow the steps in our cleaning guide.
Where wood has a hard time
These are the coastal rooms where we’d tell you to wait, or to choose a different product:
- Bathrooms with a shower or tub, especially where the window is within reach of the spray.
- Laundry and mud rooms, where wet gear and a dryer vent keep the air damp.
- Second homes left closed for months with no air conditioning or dehumidifier running. A shut house on the coast can sit in humid air for weeks with nothing moving it.
- Rooms where the windows stay open to the sea breeze all season. These live closer to outdoor air than the rest of the house.
The 2027 aluminum line, made for those rooms
Our aluminum interior shutters are coming in 2027, and they’re the shutter we’d point a coastal home toward for its damp rooms. Here’s what we can tell you today, in the words we’re willing to stand behind before the spec sheet is in:
- Made for bathrooms, laundry rooms and other rooms where wood has a hard time with moisture.
- An aluminum frame and louvers in place of solid wood.
- A finish chosen to stand up to sun and humidity, on a shutter designed for the inside.
- A wood finish, movable louvers, and moulding in 3 levels (stage 1 to 3), for a premium look in the rooms wood doesn’t suit.
What we’re not saying yet: any figure for weight, any named coating standard, or any claim about water that needs a test report behind it. When the supplier’s documents arrive, we’ll update this page with exactly what they show. There’s no price until launch. The aluminum shutters page has the details so far and the waitlist.
One more line we’ll hold: the aluminum line is designed for the inside of the house. It isn’t a substitute for anything rated to protect the outside of a building, and we won’t describe it as one.
Which shutter for which coastal room
| Feature | Room and conditions | Painted poplar (today) | Aluminum (coming in 2027) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom or living room, closed and air-conditioned | A good fit | Also suits; choose on look and timing | |
| Sliding door or big glass facing the water | A good fit; keep louvers tilted open on damp days | Also suits | |
| Bathroom with a shower or tub | Not our recommendation near spray | The room it’s made for | |
| Laundry or mud room | Only with good ventilation | Made for humid rooms like this | |
| Second home shut up for months, no AC | Wood will move with the humid air | Worth waiting for | |
| Protecting the outside of the house | Not what it’s for | Not what it’s for |
The table is our judgement from the sources above and how wood behaves, not a test result. The aluminum column will be updated when the spec sheet arrives.
What poplar costs for a coastal room today
These are live prices from our price list for painted poplar in the basic build (flat frame, 3½ in louvers), the same numbers the designer gives:
- A 36 × 48 in bedroom window: $320 – $400, or $460 – $570 CAD in Canada.
- A 72 × 60 in picture window: $810 – $990, or $1,160 – $1,420 CAD.
- A great room with two 36 × 60 in windows and a 72 × 80 in sliding door: $1,890 – $2,310, or $2,700 – $3,320 CAD.
Your own sizes, frame and louver choices change the number, so price your windows in the designer. If you’re waiting on aluminum for a bathroom, there’s nothing stopping you doing the dry rooms in poplar now and the wet ones at launch. If it matters to you that the two look alike side by side, ask us before you order; we’ll know how closely they match once the line is specified.
Measuring a coastal home
Coastal houses tend to have more glass than most: wide sliders, tall picture windows, corner windows. A few things to check as you measure, alongside our measuring guide:
- Depth for an inside mount. Sliding doors and newer windows often sit in shallow frames. If the louvers would hit a handle or a crank, an outside mount on the trim solves it; our mounting guide walks through the choice.
- Handles and locks on sliders. Note where they are, so panels can clear them when they fold back.
- Which rooms are dry and which are damp. Mark them on your list now. It decides which rooms to order in poplar today and which to hold for 2027.
The bottom line
On the coast, most rooms are a humidity question, and a closed, air-conditioned room is kind to painted poplar. The damp rooms are where wood has always had a hard time, and that’s the gap our 2027 aluminum line is meant to fill. Until its spec sheet is in, we’ll describe it only in the words above, and we won’t claim anything for either product that’s about the outside of your house.
Common questions
Can I put wood shutters in a house near the beach?
Yes, in most rooms. Wood takes its moisture from the air in the room, not from the distance to the water, so a coastal home that’s closed up and air-conditioned is a reasonable place for painted poplar. The rooms to think twice about are the ones that stay damp: bathrooms with a shower, laundry rooms, and homes left shut without air conditioning for long stretches.
Does salt air damage interior shutters?
The published work on salt and aluminum is about the outside of buildings: storefronts, window frames and wall panels that sit in the weather. We haven’t found a test written for interior shutters in salt air, so we don’t quote one. Inside, behind glass, humidity is the bigger day-to-day factor for wood.
Are your aluminum shutters available now?
Not yet. Our aluminum interior shutters are coming in 2027, and there’s no price until launch. Today we sell solid American poplar. You can join the waitlist on the aluminum shutters page to hear first.
Are the aluminum shutters waterproof or rated for outdoor use?
We won’t say either until the supplier’s spec sheet and test reports are in hand. What we can say now: they’re designed for the inside of the house, with an aluminum frame and louvers in place of solid wood, and made for the humid rooms where wood has a hard time.
Will interior shutters protect my windows from the weather?
No. Interior shutters are a window covering that sits inside the glass. They control light, privacy and glare. Anything meant to protect the outside of a house is a different, separately rated product, and neither our poplar nor our aluminum shutters are that.
Sources
- Fast facts: economics and demographics (coastal county population, 2020 ACS 5-year), NOAA Office for Coastal Management (government)
- Selecting aluminum finishes for coastal areas (March 1, 2013), The Construction Specifier
- Wood handbook, chapter 4: Moisture relations and physical properties of wood (FPL-GTR-282, 2021), USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (government)
- Canadian Building Digest 244: Effects of wood shrinkage in buildings (A.T. Hansen, 1987), National Research Council Canada (copy hosted by MIT) (government)