You definitely want the outside to be aligned! Windows in the rooms are rarely in the center of the wall.

Every design project involves balancing the exterior elevations with how the space works on the inside......You want your house to be beautiful on the outside as well as functioning in the inside...............

Did you look at your interior floor plan before the house was framed? It would be quite evident on the plan, happens all the time.

*...my husband and ME."

Hello,. Revisiting this (very helpful!) old thread. My previous understanding is that pro's recommend windows ideally be symmetric on some exterior feature(s), recognizing it's ultimately a matter of preference.

My follow-up for those who feel strongly about exterior symmetry is whether any of the following might sway that perspective:

--if just one of two windows--paired with another set of two windows in the same-sized adjacent room that completes the exterior wall--would be out of symmetry.

--if this is on the side of the house (though visible, as it's a corner lot)

--if the one window was also only slightly off-center (about 6" on about a 35' exterior run

--if the entire set of four windows is also beneath the roofline of a 6' deep wraparound porch

Related question which may make this moot: The affected dining room--or alternatively a hearth room--is 15'6 by 12'6, which cannot be adjusted. If the windows were symmetric on the outside, the center light fixture could be moved slightly off-center in the room, so a dining room table would center on 15' instead of the 15'6, and would also allow for one side corner wall to be 2' instead of 1'6 without covering the window, allowing for a deeper buffet/side table or maybe a desk (and I think desks are often 24" deep; not sure about buffets). The effective dining area would then be 15' instead of 15'6 and line up with the windows but not the room. I was thinking the 15'6 was already pretty long already for a dining or hearth room, especially relative to the 12'6. Anybody have any thoughts about that thinking? (i.e., 15' being plenty long for a dining/hearth room already, and relative to the 12'6 dimension; and the light fixture being centered with the windows instead of the interior room, but only off by a little.)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.