Thanks. I may end up with some sort of alarm system anyway, so this was helpful. In the end I went with (single) sliders, which was originally at the bottom of my list, almost out of consideration. Got my ventilation, window treatments, curb appeal and there are actually many more add-on security options for sliders than hoppers or awnings. The awnings were just too pricey. Getting estimates now. Started with Home Depot's @ Home Service and got a quote of $3030 for American Craftsman six sliders and one hopper (my egress in the laundry room.) I know there's a real love 'em or hate 'em thing with HD but I did have some minor kitchen work done a while back and had an excellent installation experience. ~Jacy

From a different perspective: we have a half round awning over a side door that was fabricated and installed by a company several towns over. It was fairly expensive when it was installed in 1999 (by the original owner) but the aluminum construction is still in perfect condition and we replaced the canvas in 2007 for only $300. There was nothing wrong with it, we just wanted to change the color----it was green, and we wanted black.

Congrats on your new home! It will be charming. I think the awning spoils the lines of the house, and doesn't let you see the interesting angles of the brickwork. I would take it down. However, if you think it is really of benefit and you want to keep it, I would paint it the same color as the siding OR the same color as the roof. I would also paint the brown wood the siding color - it makes the front windows feel like they are sitting in a hole, and doesn't really do anything special for the house. I would also love to see you take out those bushes in front of the porch. They really date the house, and exposing that brick and stone would give the front porch more substance. A wider, curved bed in front of that with low plantings would be nice, and then perhaps a larger evergreen on the left corner of the porch. A second curved out bed in front of the left half of the house, perhaps a birdbath in the middle of the bed, and then a small tree of some kind on the left outside corner of the house, but a bit away and in the final curved planting area out even a bit more into the yard there. The ironwork is also a dated look, but I don't know if you want to replace that right now. Personally, I might take out the pieces in between the vertical posts, and open up the front porch even more. I think I would leave it white, like the rest of the trim on the house. Finally, I would think about a strong accent color for the front door. A rich navy would be very pretty, and a good transition between the cool grey tones in the roof and the warmer yellows and oranges of the brick and siding.

Thanks for the additional opinions. You have all given me a lot to think about. Especially with regard to darkening the house. Our house gets a LOT of light. The way it faces allows the most light to get in. In fact both windows that would have awnings, are office windows. My husband and I both have our desks up against those windows looking out. To be honest, the light can be a bit much. Even with the blinds up, sometimes I have to drape a blanket over the window because its too bright. To avoid darkening the room too much, I was planning to have the awning sit above the window. This would lengthen the window. Normally they would sit inside the window frame and block the top half of the window. I also don't want the awning to have sides on it, which will hopefully let in a bit more light. They will also be retractable, so we'll have the option of just having the valance showing to avoid blocking the sunlight. Here are two pictures to show what I was thinking of. Only the awning would be much shorter, by about half, and sit higher up above the window. As far as awnings looking "grandma," I see your point. If they aren't done right, they definitely look dated. When they are done well, they can look really classic and charming. We live in a historic district and many of the shops uptown have awnings (similar to the shop in the picture above). I'm hoping ours will have a similar effect. I will do a little more thinking before putting down a deposit though.