It is commonly believed that shutters were first used in ancient Greece. They were used for light control, ventilation and protection from the tropical environment. Those first shutters were likely constructed with fixed louvers and made out of marble. Shutters spread throughout the Mediterranean and their form began to change from marble to wood. Movable louver shutters began to surface as a need to allow varying amounts of light and air into a room and the solid shutters provided more insulation and were able to prevent insects from entering the home.

In medieval Europe, houses had rectangular windows with solid shutters that sometimes closed with a large iron bar for security and protection. By Tudor and Elizabethan times, glass windows started to be used, but they were very expensive, therefore reserved for the upper half of window openings. Solid wood shutters below the sash, windows remained closed with solid shutters. Hinged glazed sashes started replacing the solid shutters in the 15 th century. After that, interior shutters were increasingly used as decoration in homes rather than strictly functional purposes. Woodwork like window shutters and moldings became the main decorative elements in smaller houses in early 18 th century England.

As the Spanish started colonizing in the Americas, they brought shutters to the New World. Decadent mansions in the South used shutters, and the term, ‘plantation shutters” is derived from this area. Plantation shutters on cotton plantations usually had wider louvers than shutters used earlier, and they were almost always painted white.

Traditional shutters often found in the New England states trace their roots to England, where the narrower louver was used. Often café type shutters mimic the original use of shutters on the bottom portion of windows before glass was affordable.

As wood construction started to be used for houses in the Victorian period, people started using shutters outdoors. The stone brick houses built previously had deeply recessed windows that prohibited the use of exterior shutters because they would be unreachable from the inside. However, the thinner wooden walls allowed indoor access to exterior shutters.