They are finally here! The windows and exterior doors were delivered yesterday. The delivery was 4 weeks out when we placed the order. That’s right, even contractors and designers run into hang ups out of their control that hold up progress on jobs, but they are finally here and I am ecstatic! I absolutely love the choices I’ve made with them, and I cannot wait to see them all in. It’s completely amazing what changing windows does for a home. It’s not a cheap or easy process, but in this case we had old wooden windows that were just a gross mess with way too many windowpanes in them so it was necessary and going to make such a huge difference. Scroll down to see pictures.
So on another note I was asked the other day what I would consider to be my design style. After thinking about that for awhile I decided I think the words traditional, timeless, and neutral describe me best. I am not a huge fan of lots of colors or designs I just like classic neutral colors that don’t have to be really taste specific for someone to be awed by and feel relaxed and at home in a space. I don’t want to ever create a space that can’t be used (see my post on functionality) by a busy active family. That being said I do like some trendy things right now like shiplap and black and white ceramic floor tile, but I think you have to be very careful not to over do those trends especially if you aren’t the DIY type with a lot of money to make decorating changes regularly. That being said I will have some walls of shiplap and some black and white ceramic floor tiles but I will use those things in moderation so that if or when it begins to look dated I can easily change them out and update.
So word of advice to all of you shiplap lovers…. there will be a day that shiplap is thought of like old wood paneling from the 80’s and if you cover 90% of your house in it, you’re going to have a huge job on your hands updating in a few years. The same goes for painting lots of walls specific colors you love right now, so what I’ve learned over my years is that neutral works best for me, and then I can decorate with furniture or bedding and accessories that I like for the moment because those are easy changes that don’t cost a lot of time or money to change. Side note- I also refer to myself as a “realist” and I’m just being real about it. Unless you just love to decorate try to make changes to your house that you aren’t stuck with when you get tired of them.
In my opinion counter tops, cabinets, windows, doors, and most light fixtures should be pretty timeless and neutral because those things aren’t cheap to change out. On that note back to the windows and doors I’ve picked out, I debated and debated on whether to go with black or white windows. Black windows look beautiful on a farmhouse BUT and there’s a huge but for this… Are they timeless, or trendy, and even more importantly, are they worth the extra money they would cost when I’m not sure that I’ll like them in ten years? The black windows are a good bit more expensive and we had 42 windows to order. I just could not justify to myself how it was worth doing that. I love the fact that this house has so many windows! It’s probably one of my favorite things about it with almost every room in the house having about four windows. It’s gorgeous, but they aren’t cheap to replace that’s for sure! So, ultimately I went with white!! I picked white four lite windows because with these big windows that look out to the pond, I wanted as little distraction from the view as possible but this just wouldn’t look right with windows that didn’t have any lites or panes in them.
For the doors I wanted them to be just a little bit different so they would stand out from the windows, so I went with 3/4 panel six lite doors. Here’s another tough decision I had to make… Do I choose all doors wood, or do I just make the front door wood and the other fiberglass. So here are the pros and cons… Wood doors are beautiful, but again they are expensive and realistically they do not hold up well to rain, heat, and sun. As far as fiberglass, they aren’t as pretty and cannot be stained but they are much more durable, and they will last, and they can be painted. So what did I go with? Front doors in wood that will be stained, and all other doors in fiberglass that will be painted. We considered cost and durability and that just made the most sense. I want this house to last, and like I said before replacing lots of windows and doors is not cheap!
Hope you found this post helpful! Please subscribe to follow along or comment below. I’d love to hear how you chose your windows and doors and came up with a style you love.
Southern Charm Designs 