Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in Decatur
Homes in Decatur
Decatur is a city of houses: of its 36,018 homes, 74% are detached, 3% are townhouses and other attached houses and 21% are apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes.
The biggest building period was 1950 to 1979, which accounts for 47% of homes standing today; 5% are from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1960. 63% of homes are lived in by their owners.
In nearby Springfield, 38 miles away, 65% of homes were built before 1980, so Decatur's windows are on the whole older. Nationally, Decatur's homes are older than those in 90% 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.
Out-of-square openings
With 79% 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.
Plaster walls and deep casings
32% 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.
Replacement windows
47% 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.
Whole-house orders
With 74% of homes detached, most orders here cover a whole house: bedrooms, a patio door, perhaps a bay. Put every window in one list in the designer so the louver size and colour match from the street, and if you have an HOA, send it the drawings before you order.
A whole house in Decatur
The most common home in Decatur has three bedrooms: 40% of homes. 13% have four bedrooms or more, and 15% have one or none. The median home has 5.2 rooms.
Detached houses are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among detached houses has 10 to 15 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $3,200 to $6,000. For scale, that's about 4.6% of the median home value here, $99,600 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Homes here are smaller than in 85% 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 home10–15 windows
All of them shuttered$3,200 to $6,000
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 windowsOne room at a time
Homes here cost less than in any other of the 881 US cities we have figures for, and many owners do a house in stages. Start with the rooms where light and privacy matter most, usually bedrooms and the street-facing front, and keep the same louver size and colour so later rooms match. Your saved design keeps every size.
Young children at home
6.2% of people in Decatur are under five, more than in 65% of the 881 US cities we have figures for. Shutters have no cords or chains at all: the louvers tilt with a rod or by hand, so there's nothing to hang within a child's reach. US rules for cords on custom blinds and shades are still being rewritten; ours never had any.
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.
Decatur weather and your shutters
At Decatur Wtp, IL (2 mi away), July averages a high of 84.7°F and January a low of 19.7°F. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to February.
About 26 days a year reach 90°F, 110 nights fall to freezing and 40.4 inches of precipitation falls, most of it around May and least in February.
That's more freezing nights than in 71% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h on the longest day to 9 h 20 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 74° above the horizon in June and 27° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Decatur Wtp, IL (temperature) and Decatur Wtp, IL (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34°F | 19.7°F | 2.4 in |
| Feb | 39.1°F | 23.5°F | 2 in |
| Mar | 50.8°F | 32.8°F | 2.6 in |
| Apr | 63.4°F | 43.3°F | 4.1 in |
| May | 73.5°F | 53.8°F | 5 in |
| Jun | 82.2°F | 63.1°F | 4.7 in |
| Jul | 84.7°F | 66.5°F | 4 in |
| Aug | 83.5°F | 64.9°F | 3.5 in |
| Sep | 77.7°F | 57°F | 3.1 in |
| Oct | 65.3°F | 45.7°F | 3.4 in |
| Nov | 50.3°F | 34.3°F | 3.2 in |
| Dec | 38.6°F | 25°F | 2.4 in |
Cold winters
With 110 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 Decatur
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.
Near Decatur
- Springfield 38 mi
- Champaign 39 mi
- Bloomington 43 mi
- Normal 46 mi
- Peoria 71 mi
- Terre Haute 87 mi
More about shutters in Decatur
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Decatur’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Decatur
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Decatur 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.