Swampwiz- Thanks so much for the info on Monarch. Will check them out. Energy rater la- Thanks again. A couple more questions if you don't mind. My DH and I had our apppointment with the building supply co that carries Windsor in our area yesterday. After seeing the windows & hearing the info on all 3 lines, the aluminum clad with wood interior & GBG sounds like the way to go for us if we do Windsor. They also had some Andersen displays in vinyl with wood interior. This is probably one of the very few vinyl exterior windows that I liked. What are your thoughts on Andersen? They recommended the 200 series & I brought up the 400 series. (Haven't done alot of research on Andersen--name is popular but just about everyone we've talked to has volunteered the info to stay away from Andersen without us even asking.) As far as the white vinyl clad wood windows vs. white aluminum clad wood windows, have you seen or heard of yellowing, sagging or warping at the level of quality we are using? The wood on the interior will be painted white as well. I plan on this being the last house (we're in our 30's) and I really want to minimize the chance that we will have to replace windows during that time. Lastly, hoping you could clarify something for me: low e2 is high solar gain (use in predominately cold climates), low e3 is moderate solar gain (use in climates that are pretty equal with hot & cold months), and low e4 is low solar gain (use in hot climates)-I know I probably have 2&4 mixed up, please correct me if I do. Considering that the front of our house (formal living room & dining room & kids rooms) faces south, rear (family room & kitchen & bonus) faces north, master and garage faces west and outlaw suite faces east, should I use a variety of low e2 & e3 or would you just triple pane the north & maybe west sides? (Keeping in mind that the rear of the house has a 16' covered porch & is almost completely windows on both levels to take advantage of the awesome views & the front of the house also has a 10'covered porch). Thanks again for all your help! Mythreesons- Our Pella Arch quote was $55K for SDL, $43K for GBG with similar # of windows. Jeld-Wen was $44K SDL & $37K GBG. We're waiting on the quote from Windsor. None of our quotes included the front door system either, but they did include 2 sets of double operating aluminum clad french doors & 1 single aluminum clad french door. We're building in northern Randolph county about an hour or so from Charlotte. We plan to break ground as soon as another property we own sells (know anyone interested in 46 acres in central NC?). I'm excited but I'm also scared to death! If you see the owner of the house like mine, please ask about the windows. If you wouldn't mind, would you please let him know I'd love to talk with him about any changes he made to the original floor plan and what he has found works really well about the house & what he would change. My email is lroberts72@triad.rr.com. Thanks for offering to talk with him if you see him! Anyone else out there with opinions on windows, please post. Thanks!

I would like to know also. They have tiny blue flowers at the base of the leaves. I am in Iowa but brought them down here from western MN. Anyone, please? Jake, you might want to post on the Plant ID forum.

Since the vast majority of people who post here are in the United States, this is difficult. But I Googled "blind/window covering company that offers inexpensive options in lower mainland of British Columbia" and came up with one hit - http://www.fraservalleywindowcoverings.com/ I know nothing about them, but perhaps Cindy could contact them.

I'm not a designer... But, I kind of like your roller blinds. Are you thinking about replacing them all because you feel like they aren't good quality (because they've been breaking), or are you just not liking them, in general? If it were me, I'd leave the roller blinds and add drapes, which would be a way to add color. Or, I think you can put up roman blinds (outside mount) over the inside mount roller blinds. I'm not a designer, though, so.... I've had faux wood blinds and they do gather dust and the slats are a bit time consuming to dust. I used to occasionally wash mine over the bathtub. I didn't really like all the strings in them, either (and they aren't exactly the most child or pet-safe choice so far as window coverings). But, most people, around here at least, seem to have them. They seem to be very common. It's just my opinion, but I think they're not the best thing if you want to be able to raise/lower something on a daily basis. It's pretty easy to open up the slats and close them, but raising and lowering is another thing.