Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in Chicago
Homes in Chicago
Apartments outnumber houses in Chicago: 71% of its 1,277,054 homes are in buildings of two or more units. Detached houses make up 26% and townhouses and other attached houses 4%.
More homes here were built before 1950 than in any later period we count: 47%. Only 15% date from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1953. 46% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 30 Illinois cities we have census figures for, Chicago has the highest share of apartments. In nearby Cicero, 4 miles away, 92% of homes were built before 1980, so Chicago's windows are on the whole newer. Nationally, Chicago's homes are older than those in 83% 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.
Plaster walls and deep casings
47% of homes date from before 1950, when walls were plaster on lath and windows sat in deep wood casings. Plaster cracks if you drive screws carelessly: drill a pilot hole, use fixings made for plaster, and fix into the casing or the framing behind it. A deep casing is good news for an inside mount; measure its depth before you choose a louver size.
Apartments and condos
71% 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.
Out-of-square openings
With 75% 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.
A whole house in Chicago
The most common home in Chicago has two bedrooms: 33% of homes. Three-bedroom homes make up another 26%. The median home has 4.7 rooms.
Apartments are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among apartments in buildings of five or more units has 3 to 5 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $900 to $2,000. For scale, that's about 0.4% of the median home value here, $334,100 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Homes here are smaller than in 84% of the 881 US cities we have figures for: many orders are a few rooms, not a whole house.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 (bedrooms B25041, rooms B25018, value B25077); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table HC2.1 (windows). EIA RECS 2020, Table HC2.1
A typical home3–5 windows
All of them shuttered$900 to $2,000
Every window priced as a 36 × 48 in opening in our basic build (flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers), before tax and shipping. Your windows will differ; the designer prices each one.
Price your own windowsWorking from home
21% of workers here worked from home in the 2020–2024 survey years, more than in 77% of the 881 US cities we have figures for. Glare on a screen comes from direct sun and bright sky behind or beside it. Louvers tilted up throw daylight at the ceiling instead, so the room stays bright and the screen stays readable; wider louvers give the clearest view when you open them.
Ages (B01001), working from home (B08301) and value (B25077): U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Rankings compare the US cities we have figures for.
Chicago weather and your shutters
At Chicago Northerly IS, IL (4 mi away), July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 20.1°F. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to March.
About 13 days a year reach 90°F, 97 nights fall to freezing and 34.7 inches of precipitation falls, most of it around May and least in January.
That's more freezing nights than in 66% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 13 min on the longest day to 9 h 8 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 72° above the horizon in June and 25° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Chicago Northerly IS, IL (temperature) and Chicago Midway AP, IL (precipitation, 5 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31.9°F | 20.1°F | 1.5 in |
| Feb | 35.7°F | 23.1°F | 1.5 in |
| Mar | 44.9°F | 30.9°F | 1.9 in |
| Apr | 55.2°F | 40.4°F | 3.6 in |
| May | 65.7°F | 50.1°F | 4.1 in |
| Jun | 75.8°F | 60°F | 4 in |
| Jul | 81°F | 67.3°F | 3.6 in |
| Aug | 80°F | 67.4°F | 4 in |
| Sep | 73.2°F | 60.2°F | 2.8 in |
| Oct | 60.9°F | 47.7°F | 3.5 in |
| Nov | 48.5°F | 36.4°F | 2.4 in |
| Dec | 36.6°F | 25.2°F | 1.8 in |
Cold winters
With 97 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.
Fitting them in Chicago
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.
More about shutters in Chicago
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Chicago’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Chicago
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Chicago 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.
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.