Unless you live in a neighborhood where you have an architectural review committee that has to approve of your color choices (or even worse, live in a community where every exterior color choice has to be selected from a pre-approoved list) is is OK to do anything you want with color. Your neighbors will thank you for not going tooooo wild... but I really don't think you need to worry about that. LOL! The trick is to figure out what YOU like best. May I suggest you go to houzz.com and run some searches for grey and blue houses and look at the photos that come up. (Since your siding color choice is a bluish gray, some people would describe it as gray and others as blue so you should look at both.) Even tho it is unlikely that there will be very many houses where the siding color is identical to yours, you'll at least get an idea of the kinds of color combinations that appeal to you. You do have to ignore the house styles when you do this and concentrate only on the color combinations but it does help. Here are a few to get you started: Gray siding, white trim, and darker gray window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/exteriors-traditional-exterior-minneapolis-phvw-vp~97944 Blue gray siding, white trim, and light gray window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/certainteed-traditional-exterior-phvw-vp~516318- Gray siding, off-white trim, slightly darker off white window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/woodlawn-residence-traditional-exterior-new-york-phvw-vp~70449 Dark grey siding, white trim, red window cladding (lower floor of house only) - https://www.houzz.com/photos/crown-hill-remodel-traditional-exterior-seattle-phvw-vp~25016 Gray siding, white trim, gray window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/green-lake-classic-craftsman-craftsman-exterior-seattle-phvw-vp~334232 AND https://www.houzz.com/photos/laurelhurst-traditional-traditional-exterior-seattle-phvw-vp~334452 Gray siding, gray trim, red window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/boston-architects-eck-macneely-architects-inc-contemporary-patio-boston-phvw-vp~33475 Gray siding, white trim, white window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-traditional-exterior-houston-phvw-vp~437497 Dark gray siding, white and taupe trim, red window cladding - https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-traditional-exterior-seattle-phvw-vp~92382 Also, when picking out colors, it helps a whole lot if you can get a large piece of the siding you've chosen, and a sample boards with all the available window cladding colors, plus a bunch of paint chip cards in colors that you think you might want to paint the rest of the trim. Stack these together so that you see only a thin line of the window cladding color and an appropriate percentage of the siding and trim colors. Look at them all together in bright daylight and in shaded daylight. You'll quickly decide which combinations YOU like best. This will work even better if you can get a small piece of stained walnut to represent your door color, a few small pieces of the stone you will use, and a sample of your roofing shingles and have those stacked with the other colors as well. It was using this method that DH talked me into a color combination (including my red windows) that I would NEVER have chosen otherwise. And I'm so glad he did because I absolutely LOVE my house colors. After almost two years, I still crane forward for that first glimpse of my house thru the trees as I'm coming home and smile when I see it.

Here is another blog post by build that may give you some more information about your window choices. http://blog.buildllc.com/2015/05/a-modern-guide-to-windows/ We used gerkin (aluminium) windows and they were significantly less than fleetwood, with the added benefit of being delivered on time (we combined them with some sliding doors/windows from fleetwood which came a few weeks late). I think the main advantage of fleetwood windows is that for the really large spans and door window combo units, they have the mullions figured out to be pretty minimal. Gerkin doesnt do doors, and their mullions are bulkier. This blog post should give you an idea - http://mattrisinger.com/gerkin-aluminum-windows-vs-storefront-for-a-modern-new-home/. You may need triple glazing (especially on operable windows) to meet code with aluminium windows, but if done judicially you can minimize how much you notice them. This blog post, also by build, may help. http://blog.buildllc.com/2013/11/meeting-the-energy-code/. We also have one corner window. Fleetwood can do these, but the mullion at the corner is pretty big. We got an aluminium clad wood window from Marvin. It may be a little different in appearance, but no one is going to notice unless you point it out to them. I would also check out Almuniiom clad wood windows from Marvin, though they are pricey. It may be that you use a combo of Marvin integrity (fiberglass) windows for most places, and combine them with al clad wood windows from the full marvin line. They can build pretty much anything. Plus they do have a fiberglass/wood option as well. They were too expensive for us, but from everything i have heard Marvin is one of the best window manufacturers out there. Finally, we also looked at Inline windows. They make fiberglass windows, but can apply a wood veneer on the inside to give you that warm look. This will probably be cheaper than the full marvins. Hope this helps.

We are building in a historic district, and we have to do an aluminum clad wood window OR fiberglass. I would definitely consider fiberglass, but based on my research, most companies do not do a prefinished black interior. They are usually different shades of white or primed. That is true for aluminum clad wood and fiberglass. For instance, neither the Marvin Ultimate nor the Integrity line comes prefinished black in the interior. Pella Impervia does a prefinished black interior and exterior, as does the Milguard Ultra.

Thanks millworkman - I will bring both quotes to another place and see if I can reconcile the difference. Or perhaps the Marvin one includes something the Andersen one doesn't? WoW - U factor is from the city, state, and architect (SoCal is, let's just say, energy conscious). I'm not sure if that's something that can be adjusted by the architect? I'm assuming it's calculated based on number of fenestrations and size? That's the hang up, though, as the all-aluminum windows struggle to meet that, as far as my (and lc's) research seems to indicate. I think I have it down to Kolbe (can't figure out the difference between Ultra and Vistalux as both seem to be aluminum clad but maybe it's just a design thing, traditional vs modern), Marvin Ultimate (aluminum clad), Andersen E (aluminum clad) or Fleetwood (all aluminum but $$$$!). Will look at the Milgard all aluminum because it exists but I feel like it won't meet up to the quality I'm hoping to get. Just being able to list a few brands is somewhat reassuring but I'm not feeling that comfortable yet. Can't thank you all enough for your graciousness with your time and knowledge.