i'm sort of a purist when it comes to shutters - i think they have to be on single width windows - with hardware that makes them operable - or at least look that way. so, i'd say no. i'd dress up your windows by painting the trim or adding window boxes....

I'd say no. I'm with lovetorenovate...shutters should be operational...or at least LOOK as though they could be operational. Additionally...that looks to be a classic mid-century ranch. Shutters would be architecturally inappropriate.

I love the windowbox idea, I've been after my husband to build some for me, I'd love to have some trailing flowers bursting over the sides!

Another no vote. I'm not a fan of adding shutters just for the sake of adding color. Cheap, inappropriately-sized shutters can make a house look phony and, well, cheap.

Your house has a nice crisp, clean look to it. Frankly, I think better landscaping is all you need to set off your house.

What do you think of these trough style window boxes hanging from your porch railing? (link below) Not only would they add seasonal color (pretty with greenery in winter!), but they would help draw your eye to your door.

Do you really like your storm door? It blocks the view of your pretty door. Your porch light, address numbers, & mail box could be changed to ones with more style, and would be a less expensive than buying shutters.

Here is a link that might be useful: trough style window boxes

Another vote for no. I think you could probably get a bit of color with some variations in the shrubbery.

Climbing roses would look fabulous on your porch posts, especially if you get a type with dark green leaves to play off your crisp, clean white house>

Here is a link that might be useful: climbing rose ideas

I totally agree with awm03. And, yes, they would look odd with the very wide framing around your window. Also, I don't think shutters on glider windows look right either. They have always (to me) looked the best on double-hung windows.

Your house is very quaint and clean in its design. Use the natural colors of landscape (depending on your location) like the red of a Japanese maple or flowering shrubs, plants to make the house pop from the curb.

Can we see a picture of your neighbor's house with the shutters? It looks like they have the same kind of windows except with paned windows, but still sliders.

Our storm door is 99.9% necessary, our cats and our toddler all gather round it and look out. I wish I could've found one that worked without the bar across the middle, but it was the best choice with the roll-up screen for our lifestyle. Most days the front door is wide open, welcoming in the southern sun.

I totally agree about the mailbox needing an update, I've been thinking of painting it and doing some Donna Dewberry one stroke flower painting on it. The numbers are really gross, we've been thinking of getting something different too.

Not sure about the baskets that hang off the railing--we've got landscaping up against that, it's not easy to see in the picture, there's a bulb garden and two clematis climbing up two of the supports.

I vote no on the shutters, but have you considered painting the framing around the windows in a contrasting color?

I think window boxes are a great idea. The first thing I would do is buy some nice black planters, add some red geraniums and put them on either side of your door. A more substantial light fixture would help and would be an inexpensive update.

The wrought iron porch isn't doing the house any favors. I'd love to see some white wood columns and railings. Replacing your concrete walk would help too. It would be a lot of labor but it is a DIY self project. Brick pavers or flagstones would add lots of oomph. For a less labor intensive fix, you could add a row or two of brick pavers on either side of the concrete walk

Some of our resident photoshoppers could probably work wonders on the front of your house. You might start another post and do a shout out to see if anyone would like to help.

Another no vote. The wide framing seems incompatible with shutters, and tho they would add color, it would also create an even stronger horizontal line cutting the house in half on that side.

I would create a planting bed on that side that curves out into the yard, widest at the midpoint between the two end windows. Make sure it comes out further than the line of the porch. Then plant a compact tree or pyramidal yew in that center area, to break up the horizontal window lines and bring some color up to that level. In the rest of the plantings, I would have some taller yet less dense bushes closer to the house, perhaps some with color in their leaves, and some lower plantings toward the front. Edge it in stone as the bed is on the front of the porch.

Down the line I would think about re-doing the porch to eliminate the wrought iron and replace it with wood posts and railings. The iron is dated in feeling, imo, and too delicate to really give interest to the front of the house.

I would NOT paint the trim around the windows in a stronger color - it will only make the windows feel smaller, imo, and again cut the house in half horizontally.

Hi theresas,
I did notice the plants in your flower beds & thought I spotted a clematis starting to climb. The reason I suggested the flower troughs on the railing is because I thought it would give some visual depth to your house as well as color above ground level. Here's an example:

Anyway, just a thought. Looked like you were a decent gardener, & I thought the addition of flower troughs would add more color and give a little architectural oomph to the railing without breaking your bank account.

I still like the idea of roses on the columns. They're fuller than clematis, and you can wind clematis through them for additional color for when the roses aren't in bloom.

OK, I'm going to Lowe's and getting some of the railing planters, but it can't be geraniums, I can't stand the smell of them (super sensitive nose). My mom had me take care of hers when I was younger and that was my least favorite chore! I'll get a nice mix of color for the planters. We really do want to nix the iron railings at some point, but we haven't because it seems like it would cost a fortune. They're ugly, they're rusty, I don't want to sand and paint them and they sag everywhere.

Ooh a flagstone walk! My only concern would be this... will it stand up to the snowblower and will the snowblower stand up to it? I'm a big fan of flagstone! Love the look of it. I want to take out the ugly conglomerate concrete round stepping stones around our deck in the backyard and do it in flagstone with creeping lichens in the spaces, then bring it around the side of the house past my New Dawn rose. It's annoying mowing that small strip of grass and weed eating too.

A nice William Baffin rosebush might go nicely between the two windows in the front flowerbed. I was thinking of finding an arched trellis and painting it the same deep green as the front door and training the rose up it. Blaze Improved is on my to-buy list from the nursery for the corner porch support. That was my solution to the ugly wrought iron, just hide it with flowers! I had stayed away from roses because thorny bushes near the front door are supposed to be bad feng shui. This will be far enough away I think.

No to shutters, and yes to deep windowboxes under the windows, hung well enough below the window to let the plants fill in the space, which will add length to the windows and furnish the front of the house while you wait for landscaping to mature.

On the subject of landscaping, I would make the bed to the right of the porch about three times as wide as it is now, bordered and curved like the one on the left, plant a small specimen tree like a flowering cherry or a dogwood (depending on your zone) right smack in the middle between the two windows and halfway from the house to the far edge of the bed, put in a perennial groundcover, and a mixed shrubbery border along the house, set far enough out from the foundation to let the plants mature naturally.

"deep windowboxes under the windows, hung well enough below the window to let the plants fill in the space, which will add length to the windows"

Oh good idea, bronwynsmom! That's a very useful trick.