New Home, please take a look!

Hey, if you can't make up your mind, save some money.

i wasn't really looking for that kind of response. just wanted to prove a point to the wife . i am open to your opinion, but thanks anyway.

I'm up in the air about the dormers, but I do like the shutters. I think the house would look very plain without the shutters.

If it helps your decision about the shudders, here's a quickly mocked up photo without the shudders.



Personally, the house looks extremely plain without them. It needs the contrast. An alternative might be to paint the window frames a contrasting color instead. But I think I prefer the look of the shudders. If you live in an area with severe storms, you'll be glad to have them. Just be sure they are properly sized and mounted. Incorrectly sized shudders just look comical at best.

Wow! How did you do that? That is exactly how I pictured the house without the shutters and it does look much too plain in my opinion. The shutters make the house richer looking.

wow!!!!! thats fantastic!! i really appreciate this, you're right, it looks a bit plain. Is it possible for you to add dormers too ? BTW, i do not intention to leave it like this. I was thinking of having the frames (borders)a bit wider. (Not the actual window) what do you think?

I'd agree that going with shutters the house looks a bit umm.. "plain". Dormers are nice but more so from the inside than out. If they are just there for appearances sake then skip them. A roof without them is generally stronger and easier to maintain.

One thing I would do though. The main house has a hip roof but that detail isn't carried over to the garage (the garage end-wall where the doors would be is peaked instead). It's something to consider...

I vote yes for shutters and yes for dormers, too. Same reason - the roof looks somewhat plain as is. Just one opinion, of course...

Let us know what you decide!

OK what you guys think? This is what i had in mind. It has the porch and top window we are looking at getting.

Neo
Neo, I find serious architectural design flaws in the house in the photo.

First I would reconsider using an arched window on the second floor. It would be inconsistent with the Federal style and the other window details on the house. They appear to have classic Federal style caps over the windows on the first floor, but the second floor windows are plain and do not have the same caps. I think a center window matching the others would be a better choice. If you really need a larger window for interior needs, the width could be increased.

In addition, the first floor windows appear to have 6 divided lights (window grids) in the upper half of the double-hung windows with clear glass below. The second floor windows appear to have 12 divided lights (window grids) covering the entire window. Good architecture would provide consistency of the window details.

The window materials appears to be white vinyl.

The shutters on all windows would be consistent with the Federal style.

You mentioned an additional front entrance roof cover not seen in the photo. You may want to consider using a flat roof design or one matching the flat peaked design of the house's roof for this small roof, which should extend at least 18 inches on both sides of the front door and side-windows width.

You didn't mention what color the roof will be. If, for example, the roof was a medium or dark gray color, you would want to select a color scheme taking the roof color into consideration.

You also didn't mention whether the front door will be a natural wood color or will be painted.

The wrought iron stair railings to the front door should be black or painted to match the front door color, if it is painted.

The first thing to do is to note the colors of the houses to the left and to the right of your house, and the house across the street. You don't want to repeat colors too similar to those houses.

The Federal style color schemes usually consisted of strongly contrasting colors. For example: dark gray roof, creamy white siding, dark green-black trim and shutters and window caps. The front door would be in a contrasting strong accent color such as burgundy.

Browsing through my Sherwin Williams paint color fan, I considered the following color scheme assuming a dark gray roof:

FOR A MONOCHROMATIC COLOR SCHEME:

Siding: Sagey 6175 (pale gray-green)

Window and door frame trim: Clary Sage 6178 (medium gray green)

Gutters and downspouts (match the house color to which they are attached): Gutters: Clary Sage 6178; downspouts: Sagey 6175.

Window caps and shutters: Secret Garden 6181 (dark green-gray)

Front door (if painted): Jasper 6216 (very dark green-black)

Garage door: Sagey 6175 or Clary Sage 6178 (one color or two color combination depending on the garage door's design)

FOR A CONTRASTING COLOR SCHEME:

Siding: Perfect Greige 6073 (medium warm taupe)

Window and door frame trim: Heron Plume 6070

Gutters: Heron Plume 6070; and downspouts: Perfect Greige 6073

Window caps and shutters: Retreat 6207 (medium-dark green-gray)

Front door (if painted): Turkish Coffee 6076 or Jasper 6216

Garage Door: Perfect Greige 6073 or Heron Plum 6070

These color schemes, based on a gray roof color, are offered as an example of how to approach choosing attractive colors consistent with the design of your house. I hope these suggestions give you some ideas. Good luck with your new house project.

---BumbleBeeBoogie

That house is nice too Neo, but I think it would look better with shutters as well.

Much much much better without the shutters.

And agree with BBB -- chuck that arch.

BBB, that is a great post. very nice, thanks for taking the time to do that. Although it makes my job a bit harder. thanks alot it's very helpful. neo

please, take the time out and cast your vote!!!

Neo if you can post a photo of the dormers/style you have in mind, I can see what I can do about using my photo editor to make a greater mockery of that house for you.

By the way, your poll is giving you some very faulty results. The poll mechanism only allows us to vote once. Your poll contains two separate questions, so if we vote on the shutters and then on the dormers, the shutter answer is removed.

I like your idea for a front door overhang and am a sucker for arched windows. I looked around a little (see below) and if you are going for a Federal style, then you just about have to have the shutters. The flat front dormer on the photo below looks pretty nice to me.

BTW - Remember to "wet the bush" when the highest roof beam is set. This is an old carpenter tradition. You nail a branch to the top of the beam and wet it with alcohol, sort of like christening a ship. OK, You don't believe me, do you? Here's a quote from cadsmith.com:



And here's some info on Federal Style houses...

I like the idea of the shutters although not on the arched window and I think dormer on the roof of the garage would be nice, especially if when looking at the garage from the side there were small paned windows there as well.
Agree with the consitancy of the panes, 6 or 9, I prefer 9 for the style of that house, and I would also consider federal blue and grays for colors...that yellow does nothing for me. OH..I see a great deal of color information for you above...very very nice choices.
Also, I like a larger front step area with a flat topped porch, without the rails in the one you picture and with heavier columns than that.
This is however only my opinion and Im not voting cuz its not broken up enough for me to vote correctly .... both shutters and dormer
Good Luck whatever you do!