Best Exterior Shutters for a Two-Story Colonial

The best exterior shutters for a standard 59-inch window here are the ExteriorSolutions.com Exterior Solutions Standard Louver in 15"W x 59"H, a one-piece injection-molded polypropylene pair backed by a 20-year manufacturer's warranty against cracking, splitting, warping and fading. If your windows run taller, the Polaris Homeside Raised Panel at 14.5" x 63" is the better shape match. Sizing decides this category before style ever does, so measure the opening first and read the picks against that number.

Best exterior shutters at a glance

How I narrowed a crowded category to five

Exterior shutter listings on Amazon run into the thousands once you count every colour and every height. To land on five worth writing about, I applied three cuts to the field.

1. Sold as a pair. Single-panel listings are almost always a re-pack of a pair for people who broke one, and a shopper searching for the best exterior shutters wants a matched set. Four of the five picks carry a Count: 1 in the listing but describe a pair in the title. Read the full title before you buy.
2. A stated size, not just "medium". Every pick here publishes both width and height in inches. Anything vague was cut.
3. A stated construction material. Vinyl or polypropylene, printed on the listing. Wood-look listings that never name the substrate were cut.

What survived is a set of five vinyl or polypropylene pairs from three brands, spanning three styles and three heights. That is a real spread for a five-pick shortlist, and it lets the article do what a category this broad actually needs: split the recommendation by window size and by architectural style, not by feel.

1. ExteriorSolutions.com Exterior Solutions Standard Louver — Best overall

A 15"W x 59"H louvered pair at the entry price position, with the strongest published warranty in the standard-size band.

Best for: a two-story home with 59-inch window openings Skip it if: your windows measure over 63 inches tall

The Standard Louver wins on the numbers that matter for exterior shutters: a 15"W x 59"H footprint that lines up with most double-hung windows on colonial and ranch facades, a 10.1 lb pair weight that installs one-handed, and a 20-year manufacturer's warranty covering cracking, splitting, warping and uneven or excessive fading. That warranty is the longest published in this set of five, and it is the only one written out with named failure modes. ExteriorSolutions describes the construction as one-piece injection-molded polypropylene with an embossed wood-grain texture and colour-coordinated vinyl mounting fasteners included, so you should not need to source hardware separately. The louvers are open rather than moulded closed, which reads more authentic on a traditional exterior. The trade-off against the pricier picks here is style: this is a louver, not board and batten, so if your architecture calls for the rustic look, the Pontiac Trail is a better fit. Against the other louver in this set from Polaris, this one is half an inch wider, four inches shorter, and comes with a warranty the Polaris listing does not publish.

Pros:

• 20-year warranty against cracking, splitting, warping, fading
• Cheapest of the five here
• 10.1 lb pair, easy to hang solo
• Colour-coordinated vinyl fasteners included
• 15"W matches standard window openings

Cons:

• 59-inch height too short for taller second-story windows
• Only Black is stated on this listing
• Louver style will not suit a farmhouse facade

2. Polaris Homeside Raised Panel Vinyl Shutters — Runner-up

A 14.5" x 63" raised-panel pair that fits taller windows the winner cannot reach.

Best for: taller windows on a colonial front Skip it if: you want a published warranty in writing

Where the winner tops out at 59 inches, the Polaris Homeside Raised Panel gives you a full 63 inches of height in a 14.5-inch width, which is the shape you want for second-story windows on a two-story home. The style is deep-inset raised panel rather than louver, and Polaris describes it as a colour-through process that resists fading and hides scratches, mounted with hardware the listing says is included and suitable for almost any surface. The company also claims multiple colour choices, though only Black is stated on this specific listing. It sells faster than the winner in this set, which suggests the taller height is what most buyers of the best exterior shutters end up needing. The clear loss against the Exterior Solutions picks is documentation: Polaris publishes no warranty on the listing, and no weight either, so you are trusting the brand rather than a written promise. If a 20-year warranty in writing matters to you, drop back to pick one and buy the shorter size, or step up to the Pontiac Trail for its stated limited lifetime coverage.

Pros:

• 63-inch height fits taller windows
• Colour-through construction, per the listing
• Raised-panel style suits traditional colonial fronts
• Hardware described as included
• Sells faster than the rest of this set

Cons:

• No warranty published on the listing
• No weight figure given
• Narrower 14.5" width leaves a slimmer visual line

3. Pontiac Trail Board & Batten Shutters — Best premium

A 14.5" x 59" board-and-batten pair in Black Cosmos, paintable, with a limited lifetime warranty.

Best for: farmhouse and beach-style facades Skip it if: your architecture leans traditional colonial

Board and batten is the shape that flips this whole recommendation. If your home leans farmhouse, modern farmhouse or coastal, a louver looks wrong and a raised panel looks generic. The Pontiac Trail is the only board-and-batten pick in this set, at 14.5" x 59", in a colour Pontiac calls Black Cosmos and describes as paintable, so you can match a specific trim colour after the fact. The listing bundles installation hardware in the box: shutter plugs, screws and caps, with 12 plugs per box at six per shutter. Pontiac says the range extends across 13 height options from 31 to 81 inches and two widths at 14.5 and 11 inches, which is worth knowing if 59 does not fit your window. Warranty coverage is a limited lifetime on manufacturing defects with seven-year colour, per the listing. Against the Exterior Solutions picks, this is the most expensive shutter in the set, and it sells slowest here too, which is what you would expect from a style-specific product rather than a bad one. The right pick for the right facade, wrong for the rest.

Pros:

• Only board-and-batten style in this set
• Paintable finish for custom trim matching
• Limited lifetime warranty on manufacturing defects
• Installation hardware included in the box
• Wide range of published heights, per brand

Cons:

• Most expensive pick here
• Style suits farmhouse fronts only
• Sells slowest of the five in this set

4. Polaris Homeside Open Louver Vinyl Shutters — Best for beginners

A 14.5"W x 63"H louvered pair at 6.98 lb, the lightest published weight in this shortlist.

Best for: a first shutter swap on 63-inch windows Skip it if: you need the lightest possible panel

If this is the first time you have hung exterior shutters, weight and height decide how the afternoon goes. The Polaris Homeside Open Louver comes in at 6.98 lb per shutter with a 14.5"W x 63"H face, which is the lightest published weight across the five and a good three pounds under the winner. That difference matters on a ladder. Style-wise it is a straight louver, described by Polaris as maintenance-free with a colour-through process that resists fading and hides scratches, mountable on almost any surface. The listing sits at a mid price position in this set and slots between the two 59-inch picks and the tallest 67-inch pick on height. The trade-off, again, is documentation. Polaris does not publish a warranty on this listing, and the specification block does not name the substrate the way the Exterior Solutions listings do. So you are getting the easier install and the more forgiving height, but you are also getting a thinner spec sheet than the winner. For a first-time buyer choosing between this and pick one, the deciding question is the window height, not the brand.

Pros:

• 6.98 lb pair, lightest here
• 63-inch height suits taller openings
• Colour-through finish, per the listing
• Louver style fits colonial and ranch fronts
• Mounts on almost any surface, per Polaris

Cons:

• No warranty on the listing
• Substrate not named on the spec sheet
• Only Black stated on this listing

5. ExteriorSolutions.com Exterior Solutions Standard Raised — Best for heavy use

A 15"W x 67"H raised-panel pair, the tallest and thickest shutter in this set, with a 20-year warranty.

Best for: large 67-inch windows on a two-story facade Skip it if: your openings are 59 inches or shorter

For oversized windows, this is the pick. The Exterior Solutions Standard Raised is 15"W x 67"H with an overall depth of 2.2 inches on the dimensions line, which is the thickest profile in the set and reads as more substantial from the street. ExteriorSolutions describes it as one-piece injection-molded polypropylene with an embossed wood-grain texture, authentic raised-panel design and colour-coordinated vinyl mounting fasteners included. The same 20-year manufacturer's warranty as the winner applies here, and it names cracking, splitting, warping and uneven or excessive fading as covered failures. The trade-offs are that it is the second-most expensive pick and the slowest seller in this set, both of which are what happens when you buy a specialist size rather than a standard one. If your windows are actually 59 or 63 inches tall, this shutter is oversized, and an oversized shutter reads worse than a correctly sized cheaper one. Measure first. When 67 inches is the right height, though, there is nothing else in this shortlist that fits.

Pros:

• 15"W x 67"H, tallest here
• 20-year warranty on named failure modes
• 2.2-inch depth, thickest profile in the set
• Embossed wood-grain texture
• Fasteners included

Cons:

• Oversized for standard 59 and 63-inch windows
• Slowest seller of the five in this set
• Second-most expensive pick here

Louver, raised panel or board and batten?

Style is where most guides start and it is the wrong place to start, but once size is settled the choice between the three shapes drives the whole street view of your home. Here is the short version.

• Louver is the classic colonial and ranch look. Horizontal slats, historically functional, now decorative. Two of the five picks are open louvers.
• Raised panel reads more formal and works on Georgian, colonial and traditional facades. Two of the five picks are raised panel, one short and one tall.
• Board and batten is vertical planks joined by horizontal battens. It reads farmhouse, coastal or rustic. One pick here.

The mistake to avoid is mixing styles across a single facade. If your front elevation has one louvered window and one raised panel, the eye reads it as an accident. Pick one style for the whole face of the house and repeat it. On a two-story home with different window sizes upstairs and down, the winning approach is to hold the style constant and let the width and height vary with the opening. Two of the picks here share a 15-inch width across two heights, which is exactly that scenario.

How do you size shutters to a window?

How you size shutters to a window is the single question that decides whether the finished job looks bought-in or built-in. The rule is simple: each shutter should be roughly half the width of the window opening and the full height of the opening, so that a closed pair would cover the glass with no overlap and no gap. Measure the window's actual opening in inches, halve the width, match the height, then buy the nearest published size. The five picks here span 14.5 to 15 inches wide and 59 to 67 inches tall.

What the listings do not tell you about installation

Amazon listings for exterior shutters cover the shutter and, usually, the fasteners. What they do not cover is the substrate you are mounting to, and that is where most first-time installs go wrong. Four points worth thinking through before you order.

1. Vinyl siding needs a shutter-loc or shutter-spike system, not wood screws driven blind. Two picks here name plugs, screws and caps in the box; two others say hardware is included without naming the parts.
2. Brick, stone and stucco need a masonry anchor. None of the included-hardware kits described here will work on masonry as delivered. Budget for anchors separately.
3. The listing's dimensions are the shutter, not the opening. A 15" x 59" shutter is the panel itself. Leave clearance for the mullion or trim next to the window if the trim is proud.
4. The colour on the listing is the colour you get. Four of the five picks are stated as Black on this listing. The Pontiac Trail is paintable, which is the only route to a custom colour in this set.

None of this is a reason to avoid vinyl shutters. It is a reason to read past the product photo before you order.

What more money actually buys in this set

Across the five picks the entry position gets you the 15" x 59" Exterior Solutions Louver with its 20-year warranty. Step up one and you are paying for the Polaris Raised Panel at 63 inches tall, gaining height and a raised-panel style but losing the published warranty. Step up again to the Polaris Louver at mid position and you gain height at 63 inches and the lightest weight at 6.98 lb. The premium positions belong to the Pontiac Trail board and batten and the 67-inch Exterior Solutions raised panel, and what they buy is style specificity and size headroom respectively.

The pattern here is unusual. The cheapest shutter in the set is also the one with the strongest published warranty. That is not the norm in home exterior categories, and it is why the winner's award holds even against the pricier picks: if the 59-inch height fits your window, paying more buys a different look, not a better product.

The verdict

The best exterior shutters in this shortlist are the ExteriorSolutions.com Exterior Solutions Standard Louver at 15"W x 59"H. It is the cheapest pick, it carries the longest published warranty at 20 years against named failure modes, it weighs a manageable 10.1 lb, and its 15-inch width and 59-inch height match the most common window sizes on colonial and ranch fronts.

Two conditions flip that recommendation. First, if your windows measure taller than 59 inches, drop the winner immediately: an undersized shutter looks worse than no shutter. Go to the Polaris Homeside Raised Panel at 14.5" x 63" for a colonial facade, or step up to the Exterior Solutions Standard Raised at 15"x 67" for oversized openings. Second, if your architecture reads farmhouse, modern farmhouse or coastal, no louver or raised panel is going to work on the front elevation. The Pontiac Trail Board & Batten in 14.5" x 59" is the right call, with a limited lifetime warranty on manufacturing defects and a paintable finish that lets you match trim.

For a first-time installer with 63-inch windows, the Polaris Homeside Open Louver at 6.98 lb is the friendliest to hang solo. But for the median buyer of the best exterior shutters, the winner is the default and the winner is right.

FAQ

Are vinyl exterior shutters worth it over wood?

Vinyl exterior shutters are worth it for most homes on a strict maintenance and durability read. Vinyl and polypropylene panels like the ones in this shortlist do not need painting, staining or sealing, and the Exterior Solutions picks carry a 20-year warranty against cracking, splitting, warping and fading. Wood shutters look better up close but demand a repaint cycle. If you never want to touch them again, buy vinyl.

Is the Exterior Solutions Standard Louver worth it at this size?

The Exterior Solutions Standard Louver is worth it if your windows fit its 15"W x 59"H footprint. At the entry price position in this set, it delivers a 20-year manufacturer's warranty covering named failure modes, injection-molded polypropylene construction, embossed wood-grain texture and colour-coordinated fasteners in the box. What you give up is height range. Above 59 inches tall, this shutter is undersized and a different pick wins.

How do I know if my windows need 59, 63 or 67 inch shutters?

To know if your windows need 59, 63 or 67 inch shutters, measure the window opening itself in inches from the top of the trim to the bottom. Match the shutter height to that number as closely as possible: a 59-inch opening takes a 59-inch shutter, a 63-inch opening takes a 63-inch shutter. Never buy shorter than the opening. Undersized shutters read as an installation mistake from the street.

Which is better, the Exterior Solutions Standard Louver or the Polaris Raised Panel?

Better between the Exterior Solutions Standard Louver and the Polaris Raised Panel depends on two things: your window height and the style your home wants. For 59-inch openings on a louver-friendly colonial or ranch, the Exterior Solutions wins on price position and on its 20-year written warranty. For 63-inch openings or a more formal facade that suits a raised panel, the Polaris is the correct shape, with a colour-through finish per the listing.

What is the biggest mistake buyers make with exterior shutters?

The biggest mistake buyers make with exterior shutters is buying by style before they measure the opening. A beautiful board-and-batten shutter that is four inches shorter than the window looks worse than a plain louver that fits. Halve the window width for the shutter width, match the shutter height to the opening height, and only then choose between louver, raised panel and board and batten. Size first, style second.

Measure both of your window openings before you buy anything, then match the shutter height to the taller of the two and let the width follow at 14.5 or 15 inches. For a colonial or ranch with 59-inch windows, the Exterior Solutions Standard Louver is the default and the 20-year warranty is a real reason it holds the top spot over pricier picks. Taller windows send you to Polaris or to the 67-inch Exterior Solutions raised panel. A farmhouse or coastal front sends you to the Pontiac Trail. Get the size right and the rest of the decision is mostly a question of taste.

Last updated: September 30, 2026. Product availability re-checked.

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