In varying condition, the original shutters that adorned the front and dining room side of the house were removed prior to painting. As with the restoration of the Butler’s Pantry doors, our painter’s response to the question of stripping and painting them was, “It would be less expensive to replace them.”
Out of the question. If we have learned one thing in this process, it’s do your research. Builders, painters, and the local hardware store will always tell you to replace your windows, buy new shutters or get new doors and hardware. For a number of reasons house components 100 years ago are (almost) always better made than even the highest quality items purchased today). This includes wood siding, windows, doors, hardware and so much more. I will spare you the details in this post, but please reach out if you’d like to learn more.
Thanks to The Craftsman Blog, The Old House Guy Blog, and a number of other online resources, I learned a safe way to strip the numerous layers of paint and return the shutters to a condition where they can be painted and rehung.
Progress so far:
Covered in Dumond Smart Strip to safely encapsulate old paint. 
In various stages of the process. And yes, they are all slightly different . . . the next challenge.
Next: The outcome!
branchville1923.com 