Plantation shutters in Arlington Heights

Plantation shutters, also called California shutters or interior window shutters, made to the measurements you take and shipped to your door in Arlington Heights. 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 Arlington Heights

Arlington Heights's 33,005 homes are a mix: 53% detached houses, 40% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 7% townhouses and other attached houses.

The biggest building period was 1950 to 1979, which accounts for 57% of homes standing today; 9% are from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1974. Owners live in 74% of homes.

In nearby Mount Prospect, 3 miles away, 76% of homes were built before 1980, so Arlington Heights's windows are on the whole newer. Nationally, Arlington Heights's homes are older than those in 68% 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.

Replacement windows

57% of homes went up between 1950 and 1979, and most of them have had their original windows replaced since. A replacement window often sits further into or out of the wall than the old one, so the depth you have for an inside mount may differ from window to window in the same house. Measure every opening rather than copying one.

Choosing a louver size

Out-of-square openings

With 64% of homes built before 1980, many openings have had decades to settle. Measure each one's width at the top, middle and bottom, and both diagonals. If the diagonals differ by more than about ¼ inch, add a mounting frame in the designer, or choose an outside mount so the shutter covers the uneven edges.

How to measure

Apartments and condos

40% 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

Bought to stay

Owners live in 74% of homes, and shutters are usually bought to stay with the house. Poplar takes paint well, so they can be repainted years from now if you change a room's colours. Keep your order list: it records every size if you add a room later.

Why poplar

Arlington Heights weather and your shutters

At Chicago Palwaukee AP, IL (4 mi away), July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 18.4°F. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to March.

About 17 days a year reach 90°F, 122 nights fall to freezing and 37.4 inches of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.

That's more freezing nights than in 79% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.

Daylight runs from 15 h 15 min on the longest day to 9 h 6 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 71° above the horizon in June and 24° in December.

Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Chicago Palwaukee AP, IL (temperature) and Palatine 1.3 E, IL (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.

Arlington Heights: average monthly low and high temperatures10°F30°F50°F70°F90°FJFMAMJJASOND
Average daily low to high, by month.
Monthly figures
Monthly climate normals
MonthAverage highAverage lowPrecipitation
Jan31.9°F18.4°F2.1 in
Feb35.8°F21.2°F1.9 in
Mar46.7°F30.2°F2.2 in
Apr58.1°F39.3°F3.5 in
May69.5°F49.7°F4.6 in
Jun79.5°F60.1°F4.7 in
Jul84°F65.8°F3.8 in
Aug82°F64.7°F4.2 in
Sep75.3°F56.3°F3.3 in
Oct62.5°F44.5°F3.1 in
Nov48.5°F33.4°F2.1 in
Dec36.9°F24°F1.9 in

Cold winters

With 122 freezing nights a year, warm room air meets cold glass for months. Shutters closed tight overnight hold that air against the window, so condensation can collect on the sill: tilt the louvers open in the morning, and wipe the sill on windows that often run wet.

Why poplar

Fitting them in Arlington Heights

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 Arlington Heights

More about shutters in Arlington Heights

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

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