I have always been kind of an "anything but white" (as one poster here has called it) person but as we gradually replace our cheap (and dark) aluminum replacement windows with wood windows, I'm working with colour around the windows and beginning to appreciate white or cream. The reason is that when looking out the window during the day, if the frame is dark the window looks like a hole - the framing is so dark in contrast that it is not visible. Of course, if you look at the window frame when lights are on in the room and the curtains closed, it looks fine. White frames, whether it's the actual window box or the moulding around it, pick up the light that is coming in and play with it, illuminating the room better and also allowing the trim, and its detail, to be better seen. I think in Daniaadele's lovely photo, above, you can imagine that if the windowboxes were not white, you would not be able to see any detail of the inside wall or window. So while I like coloured windows in theory, in reality they are maybe not the best idea, and maybe it is a good thing you have white mullions! BUT I am also a big fan of doing what you like, or at least trying it, otherwise you end up staring at it for the rest of your life wondering what it would have looked like. Can you pre-try the painted moulding concept by painting some boards in sage and propping them up in front of the window? Karin L

Thanks ckinkopf for your ideas and thoughts. Glad you think it will look okay when we are all done. I think you are the first poster to mention we should have done darker windows, although I have thought that. Ignoring the windows for now is likely what we will do as I am out of ideas for repeating the white. Most of our windows are fiberglass which can certainly be painted. The basement windows and two others on the house are vinyl which I would be more reluctant to paint. The vinyl windows were bought 5 years ago and won't last as long as the fiberglass, so maybe in 10-15 years if they need replacing, we will swap them out for fiberglass and then paint them all a grey to match the window trim. At that point we would need to repaint the siding anyway so we would need scaffolding. Yikes, I hope we finish this reno by the time we need to repaint it all!!!

We closed on our house today wahoooo! I only got to spend about an hour there but looked quickly at the samples for trim/doors/ceilings. I think I've narrowed it down to three possibilities: BM Simply White, SW Extra White and BM Super White. I thought about BM Chantilly Lace too. Basically, looking at the finishings, my first gut is that BM Simply White looks the best. I just worry it may look too yellow once up on everything. At least that's what I read (and you know how reliable the internet is). First question: has anyone had experience with BM Simply White? Does it just read warm or do you see the yellow in it when it's one trim/doors/ceilings? So I may go that direction, or wonder if I should go with a cleaner white but something close. Something still a little warm... As for the runners up, from what I can see SW Extra White and BM Super White are very similar but Extra White maybe looks a little warmer? Maybe because it has more chroma? Is this understanding accurate, Lori A. Sawaya?? And it seems to me that the order of warmth would go SW Extra White, BM Super White, BM Chantilly Lace... is that a correct reading? Again for context - East/West exposures with a lot of shade. Wall colors aren't chosen but would likely be something along the lines of BM Edgecomb Gray, BM Ballet White, BM Chelsea Gray, BM Natural Cream. Daughter's room will be BM Opal. I'll try to take some pics of the finishings tomorrow but would love any thoughts on this. Thanks!

Hi Beth, I do like shakes on the gable end of some of the houses around here. Our pitch is very low, and I wonder if it would look funny with such a small section having shakes. At this point, we are sticking with the t1-11 until in a few years we can stucco. By that time, the house will have another room off the lower floor and also a porch, so it will look like a totally different house. Thank you so much for the color palettes!