To answer your question regarding shutters: For shutters to look authentic they need to be large enough to look as if they could close over the windows. The shutters on the window to the left of the front door look OK but the shutters on the bay window are extraneous as they could not functionally close. Authentic wood shutters and hardware would be more attractive than vinyl shutters (can't tell from the posted image what you have). If you add a window planter box under the window to the left make it wider than the window and as deep s the base of the bay window and paint it the same color. If you do make a wood handrail, paint it white or the dark gray of the shutters.

So glad to discover this article! Since marrying at 20 I have amassed a large collection of Christmas tree ornaments, each with its own story. They were the first thing we rescued from the basement when our neighborhood was hit by a 500-year storm and everything flooded. Probably the oldest are a few small blown glass pinecones that came from Germany with my paternal Grandma's family - then some small cardboard and glitter birds and a house - those were on my parent's trees as I grew up. My mother told me that during WWII, there were many cardboard ornaments, because no one imported the lovely blown glass ones then. It would have been unpatriotic. Every year we allow our "grands" to pick one ornament from our heavily-decorated tree. Of course, they will eventually inherit the whole lot, to divvy up as they please. But for now, it is great fun to watch them look over the entire tree and try to decide which one is "the one" to take home to their own Christmas tree...

I believe every room in the house needs a walk-in closet and the bathroom is no exception. I want places for towels and big packs of toilet paper and Kleenex boxes and cleaning supplies and plungers and grout cleaning gadgets and so that the guests don't open my medicine cabinet and find every product I have.

We lost electricity for 6 days over Christmas. No power, no internet, and in the rural area, no power means no water from the well, either. Neither did we have propane. Got really annoyed at radio stations saying to tune into their websites for updates. hello!!! Wore multiple layers. Closed up some of our rooms, moved mattress into the living room; had some methyl hydrate for boiling water for tea/coffee, heating soup. Filled jugs w/water from local store - kind owner let us do it for free. After 3 days & down to 3c/ 37f in the house & it being apparent we weren't going to get power back on anytime soon, we were able to buy a generator - let there be light! Had to buy gas daily for the generator but at least we could use our portable heaters. Got the house up to 14c/57f. by the time the power came back on. One memorable Christmas!