What color are you planning on painting the hardi? If you are going bold with a red, med gray or any other bold colonial color then you may not need shutters. If you are going for a pale gray or white hardi, Shutters will break up the mass of paleness. We have a Charleston Plantation style house. We have white Hardi with a Black/gray roof. We used authentic salvaged shutters which really make a difference. Here is a photo with the shutters. The bay windows do not have shutters and all that white is really bothering me. I am thinking of trimming out the windows in black or Charleston green just to have more contrast.

Thanks folks -- great advice. Yes, they do fold up but they DO NOT stay folded so I had stuff propped up against them (a wine rack on one side and an antique chair on the other). About resale -- this house is a country ranch and I want an upscale cottage look on a budget. I just don't want to deviate too much from the original design elements as most houses in our small sub are really, really country. There are no interior shutters anywhere else and this is the only bay window. Actually, I think the glass or windows on this bay need upgrading too. I'll tackle that later. I'll definitely store/save them. I wanted everyone's advice now because it will determine if I take all the hardware down now too (clasps, magnets, etc.). Love the point My3Dogs made about my 5 negatives. LOL. Thanks folks -- I'll be needing more advice on this room and the adjacent Living Room as I make progress.

I was about to agree with you that white looks better, Beverly, but I think the roof may be brown rather than gray. It looks gray in the first picture, but brownish in the second. If it's actually brown then I think I see why the homeowner chose brown for the garage doors and posts. White would still look good, but if the roof is brown it probably all looks better in person than it does in the pic.

Nice home and really great yard. Not a pro -- just some thoughts. Agree with others: Wouldn't keep or add shutters. If what you're doing is painting existing siding, consider using a darker siding color but keep the white fascia and window trim. A MCM garage door and MCM trim around the front entry door -- perhaps also used as gates -- driveway/patio gates -- could be a great look with darker siding. You might consider a medium / dark gray with the MCM wood look. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/638526053395559546/ One way to add the wood boards -- horizontal or vertical -- that you like that give you an MCM vibe -- without replacing a lot of the existing siding of your home -- is to add horizontal boards as swinging doors that are gates, either to the driveway and/or to a patio, particularly a front yard patio. https://www.losangelesfencebuilders.com/horizontal-fencing-in-los-angeles/ https://www.northgatesinmotioninc.com/3-design-tips-to-match-your-home-and-driveway-gate https://www.tkostructure.com/redwood-entry https://blog.advantagelumber.com/2019/01/09/best-wood-for-a-horizontal-fence/ Beautiful front yard beyond the shrubs alongside the house. Don't clutter it with "stuff" unnecessarily. If you want a path to the road, build it alongside the driveway to the mailbox rather than cut through the front lawn. Would remove (and, if possible, move it to another location) that shrub that extends beyond the front right corner of that left wing of the house -- that shrub is in front of the front door. Do some checking on the appropriate way and time of year to trim the shrubs you have and consider trimming them for a level look and all underneath window sill height. Would remove/move all the shrubs that are directly in front of the front entry door and the exterior wall beside it between the front entry door and the window to the right of it -- perhaps even in front of the three windows to the right of the door if you are interested in creating a front yard patio. Since you don't have a front porch on which to sit, consider creating a short landscaping wall from the front of the house toward the road in order to create a small level patio to the right of the sidewalk that enters the house. The retaining wall should be to the right of the existing front sidewalk -- a level step or two to the right of it -- and be one comfortable step down from the sidewalk level. A small level area created in front of the three windows immediately to the right of the front door could make a great place for a front yard patio (maybe about 16'x16') immediately beside the house/front door and, aside from a walk path to the you can create a MCM and green privacy screen fully around the right and front side of the patio. Aside from an opening for a walk path, you could also add a privacy screen between sidewalk and patio -- (?perhaps made / as and with the MCM look horizontal board feature you want to add?). if you the two (or more) shutters pictured, you can hang them on horizontal boards between posts to use them as a privacy screen for that front of that patio directly across from the front sidewalk as it approaches the house -- and/or you could even have the two shutters double as eye level privacy wall by hanging them as a pair of "saloon" swinging doors on posts of the ground level set between the sections of green privacy hedge -- doors thru which you enter your front yard patio. You could reuse your existing shutters, perhaps repainted black or your new house color, as the wall between your house and the gate to your patio. You can reuse any shrubs you removed, moving them to create the front and right side privacy screen. Good luck on your project; let us know how it turns out.