Ooooo...I never really thought about that. I have wood blinds throughout downstairs and white upstairs. I had to run outside and take a look of how it really looks...here is a picture of the front. My home is located in a country setting and hardly anyone passes by, but I still want it to look ok. I don't have a picture of the back of the house, but when I went outside to look, I did notice it more.

That looks great, fmrroberts - and thanks for the pic! What color woodwork/trim do you have on the inside?

My dilemma is whether or not wood toned on the bottom windows and white blinds on the top level windows would look ok from outside - the reason I don't think I want to do white in every window (as you have) is that I think wood looks better on my first floor from the INSIDE as I have some wood trim on the first floor, and I feel like white blinds would clash with the wood trim.

Another small factor is budget - a few windows on the first floor already have decent quality wooden blinds, so it would be a relief to not have to replace them also. Hope this makes sense.

Colorblind - your blinds all look white to me! LOL You'd have to close them to really notice, I think. I'm glad to at least know this has been done before! (All wood toned blind on bottom and white on top)

I just want to clarify - when I say "wood blinds" I mean wood COLORED in a medium oak tone, and white as in white colored.

I think it is nice if it is all matching, however, I don't think you will be arrested by the "wood blind" police if you mix and match. I think if they are all blinds like colorblind's house for example, I think you should be ok.
I think what would look awkward is blinds on one window, a shade on another etc.

Mine are "wood colored" on the first floor and "white" upstairs just to clarify. They don't look so noticeably different to me from the front, but for some reason the color difference sticks out more when I look at the back of the house. Here's a better pic. of the "wood colored" blinds downstairs: (don't mind the lack of drapes...I was deciding on which ones to choose)

colorblinds house is so pretty no one is noticing the difference in her blinds. Her/His wood blinds are a light wood tone so barely noticeable. The front of my home has all white faux wood blinds. My personal pet peeve is seeing vivid colored drapes without a lining in a front window.

Yes, colorblinds house is very lovely! I love the brick work.

Mine is a simple L - shaped farmhouse - plain white exterior with black shutters, red door. I am hoping to paint the red door black in the spring as I said. I guess because of my simple design, I am afraid the different colors of blinds (from top to bottom) will clash, but I am probably worried about nothing.

I'm just sitting here wondering - should I consider doing wood colored blinds in ALL the windows instead of wood on bottom/white on top? Thank you - hope I'm not over-posting.

homestylelisa

All of our interior trim is white. Photos of the various rooms are viewable from the link on "My Page"

homestylelisa - since you have some nice existing wood blinds now, how do they look from the outside? Can you detect wood tones or do you just see blinds in general like colorblinds house? Window screens can mask colors and all you'll see is a similar window treatment.

I think it will be o.k. to have wood downstairs and white upstairs. As someone else replied, the fact that they're all blinds will unify it all.

I totally understand wanting to keep wood blinds that are still in good condition. I just replaced small metal blinds with the faux white 2" blinds and it was expensive for multiple rooms. I assume wood is more $$$. I didn't even price them as my painter advised that white wood blinds can yellow and warp. That may not be true, but I liked the Bali faux wood and the white shade was a perfect match to my trim.

Boysrus - yes, I am also partial to the faux woods - easier to clean, and no warping, to be sure!

To answer your question: Yes, you can see the wood tones of my wood blinds from outside. I don't dislike it at all - it sort of warm and inviting in fact, IMO.

Well, this is interesting - homestylelisa, I was planning to ask the same question today as you just did. Like you do, I have an old house that is el-shaped. Like you, I need blinds or shades for rooms in different parts of the house. Like you, I'm wondering whether it matters whether these things are the same, are similar, or can be completely different based on the rooms' function and decor and, more important, based on how they look from the outside. So I guess I'll sit back and see what if anything other people here have to say to you. :)

I hope we get lots of responses, lynxe - I am hoping to tackle the project this weekend! :)

I personally don't see any reason why you couldn't do both, without it being that apparent from drive by traffic. If the blinds were all closed shut every day, then the differences might be more visible, but if they are open, it's hard for me to even determine that some are wood and some are white. I wouldn't worry about it!! Just the fact that there are blinds on all the windows is unifying enough. I think it looks fine to me to use both.

I can't believe that no one has said it yet, but I don't care if my window treatments match from the outside as long as they are hanging straight and in good repair--drapes here, blinds there, etc. That being said, I don't think you can tell the difference from the outside if some are white and some are wood colored. When you look at the house you see "blinds, blinds, blinds" -- with no blaring awareness of differing colors. Do the wood and white. It will look great!

I thought the different colors would show more obviously until I saw Colorblinds pictures. Changing colors from the 1st floor to the 2nd isn't really distracting to me. I think it will look fine.

It is my understanding that as long as the back of the window treatments are all the same color, the style does not matter.

I think having white and natural wood on seperate floors should be fine since they are all the same blind.