Window shutter wood choices

Q: How should shutters be constructed? My old shutters are falling apart and don't seem to have been made with very high standards.

A: In my opinion, the best wood to use when making an interior shutter is Northern Basswood. For exterior shutters, Incense Cedar is the way to go.

Here is my reasoning for each type of wood for each type of shutter:

Interior shutters - Basswood: A very straight wood that finishes extremely well when done properly (paint or stain). It does not warp and is of furniture grade quality, so the shutters will look top quality when installed and finished with proper methods.

To top of the pros of Basswood, it is a lighweight, yet strong wood. This characteristic is very important when making indoor window shutters because if the shutter wood is too heavy it will eventually cause the shutters to sag terribly and possibly even bend the hinges over time.

External shutters - Incense Cedar: Also a very straight wood that finshes/paints well. IC is decay resistant, suffers very low shrinkage in moist environments and the natural oil in IC called tannin deters bugs because they hate the scent.