White Vinyl Windows

11 years ago

Replacing 6 large double hung windows in a living room, country style with brick fireplace and natural finished wood.. including wood frame windows (30 yo Andersen) with pull of grids also finished natural wood.

Planning to replace windows with vinyl windows and can get with white outside with white outside in-glass grid, and wood-like vinyl inside with wood-like frame and in-glass grid. The windows are the 60/40 double hung.

The current design has the window sill and frame inside stained the same color as other wood work in the room, including cabinets.

One plan is to get a wood tone inside vinyl window to try to match as close as possible the wood in the room, including window sill and trim.

I am also considering installing the same windows with white both inside and out while living the sill and trim stained wood to match wood elsewhere in the room, and in adjoining rooms which connect through wide archways with broad wood work in the said stain color. I think the white window and grid showing inside will brighten up the room, and given there are country curtain window treatment covering most of the window inside trim across the top and sides of the window, the white window grid will be most of what shows and will look better than a dark wood tone grid because it will brighten up the window..

Does white window/grids with wood stain trim violate some "rule" of decorating? Maybe it is just "whatever you like"... okay but I have to sell someday.

From the street I see house after house (constructed in the last 20 years, many only 10 years old) with white outside window frames and white grids. Hard to believe all of these houses have other than white inside too.

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Comments (8)

lascatx
11 years ago
Homes here haven't been built with wood windows for decades -- they are high maintenance and IRL tend to leak and rot in the sub-tropcs and with our temperature extremes. We have painted trim inside, but the homes I can remember with stained trim still have windows that are white on the interior becauase that is what was available when the homes were built. The trim around the windows, if any, and sills would still be stained. What you are describing would be found in a lot of homes here regardless of what anyone might think "the rules" say.
User
11 years ago
It is really hard for me to picture any of the scenarios. But I think white vinyl windows, generally, would look better than wood-look vinyl windows, regardless of the trim elsewhere in the room.
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lascatx
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I tried to find some photos by going to local real estate listings -- everything I looked at had white trim. It is more popular here. And I would be more leary of wood loke vinyl too.
Michael
11 years ago
Some manufacturers offer multi color muntins. White or tan exterior and woodgrain interior. You can also order vinyl exterior with natural (poplar or oak) wood interior (expensive) but widely available.
jerry_nj
Original Author
11 years ago
Here are two pictures of my foyer, the subject living room windows are off the foyer with a wide 5' doorway arch. One is a picture of the coat closet and a chest, the other looking toward the stair case and seeing the basement access door. Lots of white with natural wood trim. While the windows (didn't photograph as too much contrast to really show wood windows but standing in foyer surrounded with white and white wood trimmed in window wood tone (throughout living and dining rooms, in fact same stain on kitchen cabinets not visible form foyer) are not in photo one can stand where the pictures were taken and took toward the living room and see at least three windows. The curtains will cover all but the window frame, grid, and sill. With White inside vinyl the sill will be the shown wood color and the grid will be white. Seems a nice combination in the photos.. but that's me, and I post here because I'm about as far from being an interior designer as I am from Mars.
rockybird
11 years ago
I would be scared that wood like vinyl wont look natural and also that it wont match the house trim. I put white vinyl pella windows in a home I rent out and they look great. Very clean and crisp. I think I ordered them through HD or Lowes and hired someone to install them.
jerry_nj
Original Author
11 years ago
Lowes guy is coming on Monday they have Pella, Home Depot was here last week and gave a price in Andersen wood windows which is what I now have. The price was too high for me, expect the same will come on Pella. HD introduced me to the wood tone vinyl, Simonton I think the supplier is, about 40% less $$ I next got a bit using Enviro-Star model, top end for Okna windows. They were even lower cost and the display looked great. But in wood tone vinyl.. I'm now in the process of convincing myself white both sides would be best and at another 10% reduction in cost. Sitting here as the sun sets with full cloud cover and think white in the windows would look more cheerful and bright. Since my wood work is, well, wood someone buying the house could always paint the wood white at minimum cost. I think the new windows will outlast the rest of the house, and me for sure..
rockybird
11 years ago
I think white would be the best choice. Like you point out, it might be too much dark trim with the addition of the windows, plus someone else might prefer white trim someday. I was lucky in that I got the windows on sale. I think I may even have applied for the HD card also to get 10% more off. I found someone cheaper than their contractors to install them.