Shutters would be a great solution, especially since you mentioned kiddos sleeping. The larger the individual louver (slat, if you will), the more of your view you will be preserving when they are fully tilted open in the horizontal position. In my experience, most people don't open their shutters except to clean their windows. But of course the option is always there. Shutters can also be magnetized to the frame for some openings that aren't too large. If you choose to go with shutters, you will never have to think about your windows again. Consider it done. I personally love them, especially for windows that are unusually shaped such as yours.

The shutters are the wrong size which makes them look wrong for the house. They are too long and appear to be too wide, leaving no reveal of the house between the windows. There are sites that will explain shutter sizing but I'll try to keep it simple. Imagine the shutters were operational and could open and close. The shutter needs to fit into the window "well" and meet in the center. Yours, if closed would not fit together and would go over the molding on the top and bottom. (hope this makes sense). I think shutters belong on CHC houses but if they're sized wrong, it'll look "off". I think that's where you're at. Color can be determined later. Now here's a thought. If you're thinking about replacing them anyway, I'd take down the ones on the ground floor and trim them down to the correct size, remount in the same holes and see if it doesn't make a huge difference. Then you could play with paint, whatever. Good luck.

We are finalizing our exterior choices and would like some help. The house is a ranch that we're renovating and expanding. We're currently considering the following options: White board and batten siding, charcoal roof, navy front door, white windows White board and batten siding, charcoal roof, black front door, black windows White horizontal siding, charcoal roof, either of the above two color options We may go with a creamy white or an off-white or even a very light gray for the actual siding color but it would "read" white. We are considering either bluestone or whitewashed brick for the porch floor. Any thoughts on the portico design? Any thoughts on which type of siding would look better (board and batten or horizontal)? Any thoughts on which color scheme would look better? Any other ideas for maximizing our curb appeal?

For the record, yes, the shutters should be proportionate to the window size- here's my original drawing of the house with that in mind. However, I'm long past being "over" the fact that the shutters on the lower windows aren't quite as wide as the windows. I understand the "purist" argument- but face it, not everything gets translated perfectly into the final product because of budgets, product choices, etc. The issue here was the choice of standard composite shutters vs. custom wood shutters, and choices in between. The owners here chose the composite shutters that will keep paint and last much longer than the traditional wood ones, the drawback being that at the time they couldn't find 3'4" wide shutters in that product. I don't blame them, and frankly, hardly anyone really notices on this particular house. Although I would conceptually opt for the proportional shutters, there are many factors. I've seen hundreds of eclectic houses that don't have the right size shutters, and they weren't that way when the house was built! We put mullions in windows when we don't really "need" them any more....there's any number of these issues in Traditional home design, and there's much "fakery" that goes on in "Modern" design as well! I really like the way the Ivy Road house turned out- and it's really been one of my most "posted" and "shared" houses on Social Media, so I believe other people like the way it looks as well.