Do not paint the shutters red! It would give you too much of a red checker-board look or the old rural farm house look where every roof and piece of trim is painted red. I don't mean that in a bad way, because I love that look - sometimes - in the right setting. Your house has an older, established country estate look with the beautiful grounds and surroundings. I like the darker look of the shutters, but on my monitor, I can't tell what color they are - are they black, brown, charcoal, the color of the roof??? If the red door works for you, I would add lots of red in your landscaping. I can pots of red geraniums on your steps and big colorful pots of flowers flanking the doors. You have a beautiful home.

Sorry for letting this thread drop, we had to make a bit of an emergency trip out of state. I don't want any of you who responded to think that I just didn't read through your responses. :) I'm not sure why the lined bamboo shades would be so heavy (I've not felt them myself, but the rep said they'd be "ugodly heavy." We have babmoo shades outside and they're surprisingly light. Maybe a different quality of materials is used? I'm really not sure. The existing panels & sheers, once we have a privacy treatment, would stay open - pushed to either side (not swagged). The panels & sheers are on a double rod and I like to have the sheers just barely poking out from behind. No idea why, it's just a look I really like. I'm not deeply in love with either, but it took me a LONG time to find panels in that color that were long enough so I'm not in a hurry to get rid of them. I don't have a great pic showing the windows/current treatments, and never did get one taken before we had to take off. Here are some that I've taken to show other things, in which you can see partially what I have: These are the actual windows: You can see part of the panels/sheers here. The sheers can go if need be. There's just something I like about them paired. This is a very rare picture of them closed. We normally leave them pulled open. The panels aren't quite that dark, nor shiny, in person (and we now have a different rug in there).

Oh, I think I know what you mean. Do you want shutters for cottage style 40/60 double hung windows? You can choose a panel style shown in the photo I posted above, and the shutter manufacturer might offer a 40/60 split.

Some great suggestions, but not based on a realistic budget which you have not said anything about. I'm in the no shutters and no balconies camp. Both are out of scale and the balusters on the balcony look more like interior country style ones than classic exterior ones. Can't really imagine what your husband is suggesting. Be sure you don't end up with a jumped up look where nothing relates to any classic style.