Don't like the couple I've seen, but if house has stone or brick to give some contrast might work. I think Landscaping forum would be more help if you have pic of your house way it is now, some of them can photo shop it or whatever they call it so you can see how it would look with it that way.

Not a big fan here, but I've linked a pic.

Here is a link that might be useful: tone on tone shutters

Thanks sunnyca and pps7 - I appreciate your help. The tone-on-tone look is something I rarely see. The reason I'm interested in it is because my house is small and I have a lot of stone around it - along both sides of the driveway and on the chimney. We're in the process of having it painted and the new color looks great and makes the stone really stand out. I don't want to create another focal point so thought the same or something close in color for the shutters wouldn't compete.

Your house sounds quite charming and your thought about not wanting to compete with the stone now that it is a better focal point makes perfect sense. Would love to see pictures though - you know we really can't be sure you're doing the *right* thing unless we do ;-)

how's that for a sneaky way to ask for pics?

I need to get a camera - we keep saying we need to get one but it always seems to be on the back burner. I know I'm living in the dark ages! As soon as I can post pictures I will. Everyone has been so helpful and I know how hard it is to give advice without any visual help! (I have no idea if I can upload a photo from a throw-away camera?)

I love that look too. There's one near here that stopped people in their tracks when it was redone. Even men! The paint is a creamy beige type color. Just beautiful. Clapboard and warm fieldstone with creams, golds, browns. But from the back, I believe it's all paint and still pretty. There are lots of details and the basic architecture of the house is also interesting. With monochromatic color, you need to bring variety in there somehow. Different textures, sheens, variations on the color. Decorative detailing. Otherwise it will look flat and uninteresting. The beauty is in the details.

I wouldn't do it.

If you are worried the shutter will be "too much" and take the focal point from the new stone you have installed, just take the shutters off. If they are going to be the same color as the house, there's no reason to have them. Unless they are true, old shutters that actually function like a shutter should.

I have to agree with krycek1984. It doesn't make much sense to me to have shutters the same color of the house. As a lover of stone on a house, I'd say don't even use them if it's distracting. Shutters should add something to a home, not distract from it.

You can buy a digital camera that has a memory card that you can take out & slip into any computer & put pics on that computer. They come with the software & it's pretty easy. Then you can get a free Photobucket account & put pics you want to show in there. Cameras are as little as $100. get one with little screen so you can get good look at what your pic looks like before you click it. Once you use 1 you will love it & wonder what took so long. By putting the memory card in computer slot you save the camera batteries, that is most expensive part but you can get the ones that look like AA(digital) & they are much cheaper, just be sure you are turning it off each time you use it so the batteries don't go bad!I put a red mark with paint on mine so if it lines up it is off!

Also agree with sentiment above to remove the shutters if they are detracting from architectural elements of the house. Unless the shutters are operational.

Nops,

I don't have such kind of pic because i don't want to go with the same color. I always try to use different colors and i will like to suggest you that don't go for the same color scheme. You should try some different colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: EPDM Coatings

Totally agree with dlm2000 on all points.

(Monochromatic schemes fall into the realm of personal taste, and I think that they can be harder to pull off without some know-how and experience. I don't care at all for the after house shown in the blog. I don't think it works.)

Also, I took a look at the blog above with the "redid" house in Atlanta. I can't believe how they ruined it! They took off the vinyl, got down to the beautiful original brick...then painted it some horrible cream color. It goes to show that just because you have money...

That picture on that blog makes it even clearer to me that same color shutters just do not work.

I suppose it could work, but I'm still of the opinion that if they are going to be the same color of the house then they shouldn't be on. I look at that and think, "what were they thinking?"

But that house is a poor example. It doesn't work. Although I guess the blogger likes it so it works for her. It probably reads better in person than in a photograph.

The house done around here, I'm not sure that the shutters are the exact same color as the siding, but they are close. Haven't driven by it for a while.

Monochromatic looks vary the shades, textures, sheens for variety and interest.

Here's a house where I think it works. The house color is very similar to the shutter/trim color though they look a bit darker. The door has been taken further down to a darker shade which makes it more prominent. Notice how the different materials, textures and shadows affect the color.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Oh that house is very nice! The shutters aren't the same color as the house at all..just quite a few shades darker. Very nice. Now, could you imagine the shutters on that house being the same color as the stucco?

i agree that it's hard to really say without seeing the house, but i totally disagree that no shutters would be better than same color shutters!! the shutters themselves would add interest, even if they are not a contrasting color!! i often think the 'no shutter look' makes a house look very plain and unfinished.

This is a favorite house of mine in my area. The colors don't come out well in the picture, but the body of the house is a creamy white, and the shutters are either the same color or are a tad creamier. Subtle and so very beautiful. The house has been added on to over the years and rambles in shape. Fabulous house & garden.

dlm2000 is absolutely right about the importance of shadow lines. From what I see in the lovely old historic homes here, the shadow lines from trim & cornices add as much impact as color. Also, squirrelheaven used to prefer low contrast between house & shutter -- she would come up with fantastic designs that didn't rely on shutter colors clamoring for attention.

I agree shutters the same color as the house can be beautiful. I know a large white house where everything is painted a clean, bright white; the entire house is white-the shutters, doors,storms, and trim. It looks very rich with different textures from window boxes or porches. They do put red geraniums in the window boxes and its stunning. Just a matter of taste.
I have the same color shutters at my house-tan-and I like the texture difference on the tan brick behind it. No shutters make my house look naked.

I don't think the House Beautiful home's shutter color is very different from the painted brick. It's the louvers on the shutters that make them stand out as quite different, because they add so much shadow and texture. If you look at shutter frame's flat vertical surfaces, rather than where it changes plane and falls into shadow, it's just a little darker. It's easier to see by enlarging the image. Pressing the control key along with the + or - keys changes the image size.

That house has a lot of added details so it isn't bland and flat. The iron accents add a lot too.

There's another beautiful example awm03 posted above. The shutters do read a little darker but it's hard to tell if they are or not because of all the details, light and shadow at play. The materials are also different so they reflect light differently. Then the working shutters are angled back a bit so change the way the light reflects off of them, compared to the other surfaces.

The picture above that AWM posted is a perfect example of what we are all talking about here.

Those shutters are 100% correct. They are attached to the windows perfectly, their style is perfect, and they are the perfect proportion to the window. Those are made to look (and may actually) be proper shutters and add much to the house, whether through the play of shadows and textures, or simply colors.

98% of shutters today are not like those shutters. They are attached to the house next to the window, and often have no proportion to the window. They don't have much texture to offer, either.

A correctly installed shutter should always be attached to the actual window, as above, and each shutter should be half the size of the window it's covering.

Most shutters today, that are put directly on the house, tend not to look as good when they are the same color as the house due to lack of texture and shading/shadow plays.

Hi - I am the one who wrote the blog post. I posted on this house too early - in the past few weeks, they have completely landscaped and now their shutters are dark - they match the front door! I am going to get a new picture and post the update next week.

Here is a link to a post I did on painted brick houses, which has quite a few examples of tone on tone. I like it when the house color is light, and the shutters contrast but subtly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted brick houses

Hi Thingsthatinspire, I read your blog and enjoy it so much. I notice I catch my breath when I looked at quite a few of those brick house transformations. I love looking at the whitewashed brick and the cream color trim. It looks so elegant. What I wouldn't do to call one of those home. We are in FL now and GA will be home within the next few years and I can't wait to drive around and look. So thanks for the pictures.

Unfortunately, krycek, everyone can't afford real shutters. It would be great if that were the case but those days are gone, really. Maybe in some parts of the country they're still used. But eliminating all shutters just because they're only decorative and lay flat on the house wouldn't make for a pretty landscape, imo. All homes do not look good that way. Nor does that particular style appeal to everyone.

That is a good point on what type of shutters the poster has. Panels laid flat on the house would probably look too flat if done in the same color as the house. Louvers might work better because they're so textured. But without the added dimension of the old-fashioned shutters, like in the examples, it might be best to do a tone on tone rather than the exact or a barely different color. You can still create a beautiful, restrained palette. It also makes a big difference in the outcome whether or not you have the moldings and architectural features or details to make the facade interesting without the use of more pronounced or saturated color. The landscaping, too, can impact the effect. Enhancing your stonework this way is a great idea that could create a very charming and unique property.

Kry, monochromatic isn't just one color. It's all the colors in a hue. So the link of the house posted by Spring is a perfect example of monochromatic. Spring, I loved that house!

The picture above looks like an old house with old wooden shutters. Not sure if the shutters are original to the house but it looks like it because they're a bit crooked.

I love that look and here in New England you see it often.It especially looks great on small houses .I think it adds to making the space look bigger .
My house is small and that is what I have done even painted the storm door the same color, a very light cream beige...and it looks great.
My house is a small garrison colonial 20' wide on a small lot of 40' x 100'.

Here's another monochromatic home done in gold. Here the shutters (functional style again) are quite a bit darker and more saturated with color but they still sit back quietly. Although the house itself is pretty grand with a lot going on! You can cover the upper level to see a simpler version. The rich warm stone is very harmonic with these gold paint colors, so it isn't doing the pop thing. The white trim brings some zip or sparkle in with its high contrast.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monochromatic house

I like the examples in which the shutters are a darker hue of the same colour. Lovely!

SteveLawrance - EPDM Coatings - is this not SPAM?!

Thank you everyone! Wonderful photos and discussion! I was trying to catch up with all the posts and found what appears to be SPAM?!?

I'm not sure how to report this... it stopped me in my tracks so I wanted to highlight it before I continued on with my reading.

somewhat related to this topic is body and trim the same color. I recently was visiting a condo complex that had body and trim the same. It had a very colonial a/l/a williamsburg feel. But I felt it really lacked something. Or maybe strong colonial is just not my style.

{{!gwi}}

I removed my shutters several years ago for a different look. Loved them gone! They had been off-white on a dark beige body. But now I am playing with the idea of putting them back on, but a little darker than the body color. sorta monochromatic but with some depth.

Is that the condo? Personally, I feel what is most lacking above is shutters. Real working shutters, of course, would look fabulous on it, but shutters in general. I do think it would look better (and good) with lighter or darker trimwork to add more detail to the facade. As it is now, it all looks very flat and unfinished. Maybe it also looks better in person than a photograph.

I just posted an update about the house that is testing out tone on tone shutters versus dark shutters. I am kind of liking the dark shutters!

Here is a link that might be useful: shutter update