Personally I prefer stained wood. It's richer and more warm feeling to me. However I have seen wood casement windows trim painted. Like I said, not my preference, but it has been done. I'm sure someone will have photos to share to help you decide.

Hi everyone and thanks for your input. Green, you are quite right that I need to move my energies onto another aspect of my build. Perfectionism has sure gotten in the way of completing my design decisions. It won't cost 3000 around here for a small new exterior window and frosted bath door, but you are correct that there are many other parts of our build that could use the money instead. Thanks for your advice and perspective. jmc01, thanks ever so much for getting back to me about the distance of the hotel exterior window and interior window -- your news was rather encouraging that an interior window might be worth it. bronwynsmom, nice to get your input again. Thanks for your vote about the interior window -- this would sure be a cheaper option than a new exterior window. Very interesting tidbits on the research about light you shared. Maybe that is why I am obsessing with getting some natural light everywhere I can. chijim, thanks for your thoughts. Yes, I definitely agree that moving the small bath entrance down closer to the laundry room doors would be an improvement. Given the rooms are mainly down to studs it would not be much extra cost. I will think about a swing out door as well. sochi, thanks for your newest ideas and answers to my questions. I will get a quote for the new window and see if we can swing it. We can't rationalize moving the bathroom entirely to the laundry closet, although that would be an awesome location. Currently the small bath is an existing bath, so we are not starting with new plumbing here. lyban, maybe all I need is the right lighting. Natural light is hard to replicate, but I will try the daylight bulbs suggested by Green. To all, at this point I have decided to move the door of the small bath out into hall to increase the bath size/decrease hall size. I will also be punching a hole in the top of the small bath wall to see what kind of light it brings in before getting the trim carpenter to build an interior window (no big deal given all the holes in the bath wall at this point of demo anyway). If I still don't feel the natural light is sufficient, I will go the route of a new exterior window and frosted bath door. Oh yeah, I am going to buy a daylight light bulb as suggested by GreenDesigns to see if that is just as good as real light!! Remaining question: Would it be worth it to do a second interior window between laundry and the larger bath to share the light from the sun tunnel in this bath with the laundy room? Thank you all for helping me reflect on this issue and for giving me your advice. I am so glad I have this forum to toss around ideas and weigh pros and cons!! Carol

+1 Gotta see the application. I am going to guess "no" with some creative install options but a picture of the interior and exterior would put the question to bed.

alexorlando, we have both outside and inside mounts with ours. It just depends on the window style. Your windows look like maybe an outside mount so the louvers have room to move. Regarding the louvers/slats, the larger ones...3 1/2" to 4 1/2" are the way to go IMO. The tilt rods add a more traditional look, and no rods lean toward contemporary. As you probably know, some pro points for shutters, along with looking so nice, are they're easy to clean and add value to the home (unlike other window treatments).