Have you given thought to what kind of window treatments you will be doing? That may help you go one way or the other. If you post more info on your house people can give you a more customized opinion.

Previous threads... http://www.gardenweb.com/gardenweb/query/white-or-black-windows

I think the black window look works best with VERY thin profiles on the stiles / frames. And that is both pricey and harder to get in an energy efficient window.... if either of those things is a concern

Keep consistent with black or white in my opinion. Depends on your flooring, exterior material and your furnishings would determine the black or white and what look you are trying to achieve.

Are we allowed to vote for blue or yellow (or another color) instead?

If not then I would suggest white for the windows as I think it will be more versatile should you or future owners decide to change to a darker siding color some day. The doors could be something different if you like.

Good luck, enjoy your new house.

We are building a more traditional farmhouse with blue siding. I went with white SDL windows in a "2 over 1" configuration with a larger muntin (or is it mullion?) at 1 3/4".

I really wanted black windows, BUT as gpeach noted above, window treatments won out. We will most likely have white plantation shutters and I didn't think the contrast would look good from the outside.

i like black windows on the exterior and *some* interior rooms. i'd go with something paintable for flexibility. farmhouse look is a fad. not a bad fad, but it wont be around forever in the ubiquitous way it is now, and when the music stops you dont want to be the one with the house thats all black windows, *unpaintable*, inside and out, when you go to sell.

(my wood windows are painted black on the outside, white inside. its a historic district and the style matches the age of the house)

black and white,,,all day. perfect combo

Some of you made excellent points about the window treatments which I hadn't really thought of. We currently have shutters all over our home and I absolutely love them and we are planning on installing them wherever we think is appropriate again (definitely bedrooms). White shutters on the black windows may not look ideal.

Honestly, my husband is against the black windows now. He was all for it until we realized literally every other new construction in our area is doing the modern farmhouse look with the white/black combination. Its too trendy now in our area. So to differentiate ourselves a bit we thought going all white looked pretty sharp and very clean especially with an all metal roof, which we will have and most homes do not in our neighborhood (just a portion). I'll probably have my pop of color with our front door. I'm not afraid of color... our current home is painting grey with white windows and a lime green door. I just like the minimalist look of all white.

I've seen some photos where larger patio doors are black even when the other windows aren't and I'm thinking I may go that route. Just highlight the door.

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far!!

I am having a similar debate - but decided on black windows in and out. Ours is a bit less 'farmhouse' and hoping to channel a bit more 'georgian' since we are doing the exterior in white brick. But I have to agree, now that I have noticed it, I see black on white everywhere...

The entire black window fad started a couple of years ago when lots of SUPER high-end construction started using steel or bronze windows. They have the advantage, due to their strength, of being able to be enormous - even have the entire back of the house with a door in the huge expanse of window. They have very thin sight lines and are stunning. If the steel ones don't have thermal breaks, they will have indoor condensation like crazy - people talk about old steel windows always have towels on the floor to catch the constant dripping. I'm assuming that these used in recent construction do have thermal breaks. They are outrageously expensive. Many of these entire back of house (usually in NYC or London where light is a much sought after feature), it can cost $100,000 or more for such windows.

So, this moved down the "trendy" scale to doing windows, either vinyl or coated aluminum, in black. They're not fooling anyone who knows what the real thing looks like, and they're being used in totally inappropriate ways.

I really wanted to replace my 33 yr old Pella bay window unit over my sink with bronze windows. I could have done so - it would have cost about $15-20,000. Not happening! So, I painted the inside muntins of the windows black, and left the frames white. These are so old that the muntins are between the outside glass and the removable inside storm unit, so it was very easy to do, and if I tire of this, I can easily repaint them white again. The outside is now aluminum clad (it was rotting and no one wanted to install a new window for me), and it is white just like the rest of the house. I love the black inside as the muntins truly disappear and it brings my garden into the house. I would have NEVER painted the outside black, and would not have used a bronze or steel window on the front as it would have been different than my other windows.

No one wants to paint windows anymore. I adore my Marvin aluminum clad windows (wood inside) - they are traditional white. I just wonder how dated all these black windows in subdivisions are going to look very quickly, and it's not easy painting either aluminum or vinyl, and once it's painted, it will need to be repainted quite often, depending on weather conditions.

This is a very permanent feature that one may quickly regret, and it really dates ones house. If one is putting the real thing in a true custom constructed house, that's one thing, but a subdivision house with faux steel windows is quite another.

Have you considered having white windows with black trim? It may be a more traditional look than you're going for, though.

Ultimately, to stay safe, to stay somewhat less trendy, and to keep future options open for painting the house a different color I think we will go with all white though the black is stunning.

We don't live in a subdivision but many of the new construction homes are using black windows, even those that aren't in the modern farmhouse style. It's like when you get a new car and then you notice the same car everywhere. My husband wants nothing to do with it now. He's bored of the look.

I am worried this white/black combo and style will be a fad that will either be overdone or predictable so though the all white house is more traditional it will allow for more versatility down the line.

I did find a few examples of homes that used the black patio doors even when the rest of the windows were not black and I think it works. If I do that I'll hopefully still get a bit of a wow factor (I love the contrast) for the large double patio door we want in the great room. The second photo shown is basically what we are thinking of doing but a bit larger.

Thank you so much to everyone for their input... this has been very helpful already!

I'll go for black !

Is your elevation to scale? I'm asking because the second floor dormer appears to be the same size as the garage?

I believe it is to scale. I think the second floor dormer is slightly higher than the garage one but not by much.

whenever i choose something 'interesting' i consider how expensive/difficult/messy it is to re-generic it, either through my choice or because i'm getting ready to sell. i think that having just your back patio door being 'interesting' is a great compromise.

I personally love black windows on a white home!

Our thermally broken aluminum windows have the option for dual powder-coated colors. Meaning, one color for the interior and a different color on the exterior --white/interior and black/exterior. This might enable more flexibility since you are concerned with interior window coverings. You could also only do the 16' slider in black as a focal point, assuming your interior furnishings can support such a bold look. Otherwise, I would keep the color uniform for interior windows.

Also, Anglophilia raises a good point on thermal performance. The energy efficiency of your windows can positively or negatively effect the overall performance of your home's envelope. Make sure you are checking thermal insulative values (R-value/U-value) of the windows you are interested in so you are comfortable year round. We suggest R-value 3 or higher / U-value 0.33 or lower.

Hope this helps!

Blanched, those in your picture do have a wow factor as they are steel frame and VERY expensive. Yours would not look like that. You made a good choice.

Love black exterior windows; we considered aluminum and steel then dropped the idea due to condensation issues. Not being keen on vinyl, we went with composite exterior which is great for painting and wood interior; black exterior and white interior.

An example of black interior thermally broken aluminum windows. These are triple pane with a thermal bridge, meaning no condensation and extremely energy efficient. Not to mention, very striking and way more affordable than steel! We have a range of frame thickness to achieve the "steel frame" look without the downside of poor performance.

Black or white? Well...here's the John Chadd house in Chadds Ford, PA, in the beautiful Brandywine Valley, built in the early 1700s:

And to raise a different approach:

Thank you again to everyone for their input. It's much appreciated!

What did you end up doing? Would love to see a photo. I have Andersen Windows and was looking into just replacing the stops of the window that Andersen said you can do. Only $50 or so per window versus the entire window. Then if I ever wanted to go back to wood interior stops I would have them down the road.

love it and with the natural oak red flooring also!!!

Looks amazing!!

We selected Anderson for our entire home. Here’s a view when we enter the living area from the foyer. I’m sure I may have posted this on another thread. The house is still work in progress.

Doors/windows are all white on the inside and black on the outside.

Beautiful home, ceebeezee! I think you made the right choice with the windows.

Wow @Pinebaron.... Looks beautiful, but what do you have to do to support the tributary load [spec left section]?

@BT Great question and not to hijack this thread but since you asked:

The hip roof has long span trusses and girders.

My entire design was a slight overkill since we are also in a siesmic region. I wanted vast open span living and garage spaces with no posts or visible supports. Even though I subsequently enlisted a top local engineering company for their final design and stamp, I upgraded foundation and roofing members. The same design went into our 55' long and deep garages, creating a sense of open and free space.

The foundation was another piece of engineering where I chose a post and pier foundation in the 5' high crawl space, and boy is it solid; it contributes to an extremely solid floor, on slab like foundation feel in the entire home.

Ceebeezee what brand and model of window did you end up going with? We will start construction this spring and I want to have the farmhouse windows but wasn't sure how thick of a grid to order them with. Yours look divine! Also curious about you wire light fixtures. Those are so pretty where did you get them?

Thank you! They are beautiful! One last question did you go with true divided light, simulated divided light or grilled between the glass?

CeeBeezee, The black patio door with the white looks really good. Is the patio door black outside also? If so, do you have a picture of how it looks on the exterior with the white windows? We are in the process of building, and unsure of what color windows to get. I like your solution.

What is the paint color of the siding of this house?

A traditional solution to the black vs white question is white frames with black sash..