Plantation shutters are pretty neutral and go with many styles so if you can afford them its an excellent choice for starters and great for privacy. If you cant swing them on all windows you can use those blinds that are super reasonable like from Lowes the ones that have that wood look and are white would be my choice, but if you like wood go for it. They will be ok alone if thats your taste or be a good backdrop for the curtains as you get each room tackled. Take your time dont rush as far as your curtain and decor choices go, and have a great time with it.

Get the pleated temporary blinds at HD/Lowes. They even make them in a room darkening version now. Less than $10 each. We rented a house last year before buying and some of the rooms didn't have window coverings. I wasn't about to spend money on a rental. The temporary blinds were great. They are even better made than the last time I had bought some about 12 years ago.

do they all need to be covered? if you have privacy, you may not need to cover windows in the kitchen or family room etc. i like roman shades for bedrooms.

We chose to build in a subdivision, so we do have neighbors nearby, nobody next door on either side yet. I am mostly concerned for the Bedrooms and Bathrooms. Of all the minute details I did think of to have in my contract I overlooked privacy glass in the Master Bath!

I wanted to build on acreage but my DH was wounded in Iraq and is now disabled, the thought of having to maintain acreage all by myself was enough to drive me to agree to a subdivision!

Amielynn: First of all, a huge thank you to you and your husband for your service!! I hope his disability doesn't prevent him from enjoying his life and family. My DH retired in 1985 (yup! we're old), so I know all the struggles of military life you've been through. He was a pilot in Viet Nam, shot down, but no permanent disability. He did go through prostate cancer treatments (agent orange).

Now to your windows. My biggest advice if this is your long term home, is to not rush into anything. I like the idea of those temporary shades in areas where you need privacy .. bedrooms and baths. I had Sherwood Shutters in a previous home, and loved them. They were so much better made than the ones in the store. They were like a piece of furniture. We did the entire house, a little at a time. A lot easier to clean than wood blinds, although I love wood blinds, too. I liked the fact that the entire shutter could be opened all the way when I chose.

Good luck in your new home! And, again, many thanks!

If you know you want plantation shutters/wood blinds, then go for it. Are you going to match them to the trim paint color?

When I was having a house built, I had a good idea of what I wanted in certain rooms. For those rooms, I was able to measure as soon as the drywall went up and ordered the blinds to have them arrive right after we moved in.

Other windows got temporary treatments, such as pressure mounted rods and inexpensive cotton sheers. I'm embarrassed to admit how long we lived with wax paper taped over the bathroom window.

Joyce-Thank you! My DH has been able to deal with his disability in the most graceful and humorous fashion a person could manage. I am super proud of him, and of all the service members :^)

graywings- I thought about doing shutters cause the front windows are arched windows.

Do they make Shutters for these kind of windows? Cause I am trying to figure those ones out and I am stumped!

You can have custom shutters made in any shape but they are going to be even more costly.

We are building and will have the same privacy issue with a huge window right over the tub and directly across from the shower in our master bath. I've been doing some research and found some good reviews about window film. You can buy it plain or even with some design to it. I think this is the route we'll go for our master bath window. It's quite inexpensive too!