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Can anyone tell me where the American trend of decorative non-functional shutters came from? It annoys me to put fake shutters on windows because they look fak

Can anyone tell me where the American trend of decorative non-functional shutters came from? It annoys me to put fake shutters on windows because they look fake, which makes them look odd. Especially ones that are too small to actually cover the window. That is soon weird and I can't imagine how you can make that mistake! Why not just real shutters? Now on topic, I bought a beige couch because it was cheap, wasn't thinking about design. I have now learned beige is the worst color for a couch because it shows the stains from when I inevitable spill something on it.

ryandrake 10y ago
A lot of houses nowadays are full of fake and/or non-functional features. The faux brick facades slapped over top of cheaper materials (plus the ultra-tacky "faux brick on only the front of the house" trick). Columns that support nothing. Faux-finished surfaces and fake wall treatments to give the illusion of age. Faux sandblasted wood beams. Faux stone panels (even entire fake fireplaces). I've seen fake chandeliers. They all exist so customers can have a "style" without paying for substance.
- hx87 10y ago
  And the weird thing is, you can immediately tell a "premium" house (e.g. a Passive House) from a mass market one by the simplicity and lack of pretense.
  - internaut 10y ago
    Yes, the same thing is true of the real traditional buildings. They are not overdone, they just are.
- SerLava 10y ago
  > (plus the ultra-tacky "faux brick on only the front of the house" trick). A nightmare. Even worse are the fake cobblestones on one side of the house, and then vinyl. It looks like a giant photo decal.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  So I was under the impression that most non-functional fireplaces were once functional. But I also am used to older houses, I grew up in a town with a lot of older construction.
sliverstorm 10y ago
I'm guessing the days before window glass, and/or parts of the country (e.g. northeast) where shutters can protect your window glass from the debris of a nasty gale. Many parts of design are inherited from since-abandoned functionality. We have a notion of "how a house is supposed to look", and we were taught that shutters are part of that.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  There is no reason that I can think of to make shutters non-functional. No reason to "abandon" their functionality; functional ones can't be that much more expensive. It makes no sense, like pants with fake pockets. I had shutters when I lived in Europe and they are nice to have. I live in the Northeast and shutters here are almost exclusively fake around here and many make no sense. (like tiny shutters on the side of a large bay window).
  - Anasufovic 10y ago
    It just provides an accent to an otherwise uniform surface. The fake ones cost much less than real ones. Why wear belts with dresses? Why do cars have racing stripes?
internaut 10y ago
I feel like I'm having a stroke when I see those shutters. You're not the only one.

ryandrake 10y ago

A lot of houses nowadays are full of fake and/or non-functional features. The faux brick facades slapped over top of cheaper materials (plus the ultra-tacky "faux brick on only the front of the house" trick). Columns that support nothing. Faux-finished surfaces and fake wall treatments to give the illusion of age. Faux sandblasted wood beams. Faux stone panels (even entire fake fireplaces). I've seen fake chandeliers. They all exist so customers can have a "style" without paying for substance.

hx87 10y ago
And the weird thing is, you can immediately tell a "premium" house (e.g. a Passive House) from a mass market one by the simplicity and lack of pretense.
- internaut 10y ago
  Yes, the same thing is true of the real traditional buildings. They are not overdone, they just are.
SerLava 10y ago
> (plus the ultra-tacky "faux brick on only the front of the house" trick). A nightmare. Even worse are the fake cobblestones on one side of the house, and then vinyl. It looks like a giant photo decal.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
So I was under the impression that most non-functional fireplaces were once functional. But I also am used to older houses, I grew up in a town with a lot of older construction.

sliverstorm 10y ago

I'm guessing the days before window glass, and/or parts of the country (e.g. northeast) where shutters can protect your window glass from the debris of a nasty gale. Many parts of design are inherited from since-abandoned functionality. We have a notion of "how a house is supposed to look", and we were taught that shutters are part of that.

nommm-nommm 10y ago
There is no reason that I can think of to make shutters non-functional. No reason to "abandon" their functionality; functional ones can't be that much more expensive. It makes no sense, like pants with fake pockets. I had shutters when I lived in Europe and they are nice to have. I live in the Northeast and shutters here are almost exclusively fake around here and many make no sense. (like tiny shutters on the side of a large bay window).
- Anasufovic 10y ago
  It just provides an accent to an otherwise uniform surface. The fake ones cost much less than real ones. Why wear belts with dresses? Why do cars have racing stripes?

internaut 10y ago

I feel like I'm having a stroke when I see those shutters. You're not the only one.