Shutters or no shutters?

I think black shutters and trim would look AMAZING! Hope this helps - can't wait to see the finished project!

Black or a deep charcoal gray would be beautiful.

From the photo I see that your windows are taller than they are wider, and the house already has a strong vertical orientation. For this reason I would not recommend putting shutters - as the shutters also being taller than wide, will further contribute to the vertical curb impression.

Having the contrasting black trim around the windows would give them definition and would add visual interest to the exterior. Here are some examples of similar white houses with black trim around the windows. I would also suggest that you get black eves troughs, as their horizontal orientation would help to balance the vertical height referred to above.

I like the black shutters but leave the trim white. Black trim and shutters would look like holes in the house.

Thank you all so much for your input..in the picture I posted, we are already in the process of doing the siding…so the bottom is the white vinyl with white trim. I didn’t know if the black shutters would help or hurt the houses curb appeal..before the house had shutters but no trim so I thought it looked okay but i don’t know how they would look now next to the trim, with it being wider. Also on the first floor, the side windows of the bay would no longer be able to fit the shutters. I will show you a complete before picture of the house.

The additional picture gives another perspective of the house. Thank you for posting it.

I can see now that the house has a more horizontal orientation than appeared to me from just the one picture. What a lovely landscaped property already, and the new white siding looks so refreshing.

Thank you for also sharing that the windows will remain, and the window trim will stay white, as I had not assumed this in my first reply. Since the window trim will not be black, IMO, having the black shutters will not be too much black. Contrast is needed, and black shutters on white is always a timeless classic look.

From the second picture you posted, I can see that there is a considerable amount of (empty) siding space on either side of the second story window on the L side. All three windows directly underneath each other give that side of the house a strong vertical orientation. If budget permits, I would recommend putting in a wider window to visually widen that portion of the house. This would better balance the dimensions of the porch.

Here are two examples of white siding with black shutters.

Thank you! I would consider widening that window if the budget allowed. Right now everything will have to stay as is but a nice thought for the future! And yes, I agree you can’t go wrong with the white and black. But once I saw the new siding and trim go up I loved it as it was and questioned the shutters. I’ve been reading up on shutter etiquette and a lot say it would be wrong to hang them the way we would be which would be next to the 3 1/2 inch trim attached flat to the vinyl, I see this A LOT and it’s almost normalized I feel but I’ve read even with them being decorative which most now are if you were to close them they should be able to cover the whole window…but I don’t know if I’m reading to much into it. I would rather not even put them on if it takes away from the house.

I love the idea of black accents on your beautiful home but feell that you may run into problems with shutters being added to all the windows. It seems that at least one side window is very close to the corner of the home and it would be difficult to have the same size shutters as on the right front of your home. I'd perhaps suggest adding some black accents (perhaps narrow) by painting some portions of the trim. Even a charcoal gray trim paint would be less jarring than black. Also, remember paint can easily be redone.....shutters not so much! You home has a lot of architectural details that might "fight" with additional shutters. I hope you post a picture of what the home looks like after you make your decision.

It is going to look gorgeous! I say no shutters this time :)

Shutters, Shutters , Shutters. but plain not fancy.

you could buy stock shutters at local stores like Home Depot and don't hang them but just look at them against the house to see how they look- many folks are not using shutters now or using wood in a natural or cedar color on their homes and if you don't use the shutters you buy just return them

I vote for shutters.

A dark color, black, navy forest green would look fantastic.

Hello, I think black shutters will look fabulous, it will provide a crisp clean look.

Shutters!

If this is being posted twice, I apologize. For some reason I posted pictures and they are not showing up so I’m trying again. Anyway to start off thank you all SO much for your inpttut. It is helping me tremendously, you are all so kind!! Here are some photos of the day they finished, don’t mind my shrubs, they did a number on them. We are going to be changing out light fixtures, adding a porch swing and fixing up the porch. Pondering a mission style door down the road.

Also, if we were to do the shutters, the two side bay windows would not fit them.

Input*

Think if you extended the lower roof line right across the house, it would take care of the "elevator" appearancce by introducing a strong horizonal line.

No, not the entire porch - just the roof . Don't think it would be too difficult to add as wouldn't be heavy enough to need support of pillars, etc.

I will say I’ve never thought of that…you’ve got my wheels turning..that may be the solution here.

smaller black shutters for sure