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How to improve the front exterior of our home?

Equanimity
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

Hello All,

We recently built a new construction home in a mature neighborhood in New Jersey.

We think that the front elevation looks a bit "plain" and "uninspiring". We intended to build a "traditional colonial". However, we feel that our home looks more like a "farm house". (of course, opinions might vary on this)

Here is a photo of the front of the house:



(there will be a 12" lantern hanging from a chain on the front entry portico)

We were thinking about installing high-quality western red cedar shingles in a black color and shutter tiebacks ("shutter dogs"), similar to the following "inspiration" photo:



Here is what our house might look like with shutters:



(note: shutters will be on all windows)

Here are the important measurements on our house:

Width of the windows: 34.5"

(which means that we would need a shutter that is approximately 17" wide in order to be "architecturally correct")

Distance between the windows: 29.5" (as measured from the outer edge of the casing of each window)

Width of the window casing: 3.5"

Distance between the window casing and the corner pilaster: 12" (as measured from the outer edge of the window casing)

Here's what it looks like:



And, in close up detail:



Key Consideration:

There is limited space between the outer edge of the window casing and the edge of the corner pilaster (12"). In order to maximize the space in which to install the shutter, we would need to mount the shutters near the inner edge of the window casing. Mounting the shutter toward the inner edge of the window casing means that we can use most of the 3.5" width of the casing and the 12" space between the outer edge of the casing and the pilaster -- total of approximately 15" -- and have about 1" of space between the outer edge of the shutter and the edge of the corner pilaster.

Here is an example of a shutter mounted toward the outer edge of the window casing (which looks better in my opinion):



And, here is an example of a shutter mounted toward the inner edge of the window casing (you don't see very much of the window casing):



Some people have said that there will not be enough room. Here is a home in our neighborhood with shutters that are nearly touching each other:



I would be fine if our house looked like this.

Questions:

1) Will the house "look good" with shutters?

2) If the answer to question #1 is "yes", then what are your thoughts on using a 14" wide shutter?

3) If the answer to question #1 is "no", then is there anything else we can do to improve the look of the front of the home?

And now for the poll:

Thanks in advance!!

Don't do anything. The house looks good "as is".
The house is too plain. Install the shutters.

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