What does the house look like? Elevation drawings?

Casements or Double Hungs? Grids or Clear Glass? Roof Shingle color? No rendering or elevation from the drawing set? It is tough to tell and from the rough sketch I am not feeling your siding choices either

Sorry . . . had to convert the designers files to jpeg.

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Oh . . . and windows will be double hung.

I open to any other thoughts. I'm not married to my selections.

Honestly this looks nothing like your inspiration picture. I'm concerned that you have 2 different types of columns right in front, including the craftsman stuff going on at the gable, and none of it works together. You also have a contemporary vibe but then are putting shutters on the windows? Sorry but this house doesn't know what style it wants to be.

What style were you looking for?

Windows aside, cpartist is correct, shutters, stucco, stone and that elevation do not go together. Nothing like your inspiration.

I understood that to be a COLOR inspiration only, not a design inspiration.

Jennifer, might I suggest a terrific book called What Not to Build?

I wasn't so much going for the design look of the inspiration pics . . it was just the colors that I like. Honestly, I am considering changing the entry to be just an archway (no truss or columns). My husband wanted the truss initially but I think he's starting to come around to my thoughts. If we end up leaving the truss, all the columns will be the same material/color. That's why I had the first drawing I posted . . . to take away all the inconsistent materials in the rendering so I could look at it as a blank slate. I would say if anything, I'm leaning toward more of a transitional look.

What would be a good alternative to the shutters? The house looks kind of bare without something.

Fire away with suggestions. The shape of the house is what it is but I'd like to make the most of the material selections.

I think white is your safest choice. I do like the look of black exterior Windows with gray and white houses, though. i would search Houzz for photos of gray and white houses and pay attention to what color the windows are and see if that helps your decision.

Jennifer for some reason I can't download the elevation. Message me and I'll give you my email to send it to.

I think we are going with a Jen Weld product.

I believe its called the Brickmould series. The options are limited . . . . I think it's white, almond or a kind of grayish brown color.

The Brickmold series means the windows have a vinyl brickmold casing / j channel the siding fits into if I am not mistaken. Again, something else that in my opinion does not fit with the style of house you are attempting to build. The entire elevation in my opinion is a bit all over the place. Not 100% sure how to offer suggestions as I am getting mixed signals on what you are looking for in a elevation. Are you locked into Jeldwen? Is this a development or tract type home or are you able to pick your own products?

I would avoid JeldWen like a plague.

I concur Brian but I was looking for reason why they chose them. Sometimes there is no choice.

What about Plygem?

We can select whatever we want but we are constrained by the budget.

This is one of the original drawings we got from the designer. We had to make a few changes (garages to the front, primarily) due to lot issues. My DH didn't want the windows separated like in the pic so we took the gaps out. He was also concerned about possible water issues with the small roof overhangs over the two gable windows. The truss that is in the picture above is no more. We are going back to an entry like in this picture (but a little narrower).

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Plygem would be laying on the bottom of the barrel at the same level as Jeldwen anything in my honest opinion.

Any cost effective options that aren't totally crappy?

Don't skimp on windows. That would be penny wise and pound foolish as they are the envelope to your home. If you need to skimp, skimp on things that won't compromise the exterior of the house.

I don't want to necessarily skimp but I want to get the most bang for my buck.

Then definitely put the money into those unglamorous things that we don't see but will make the house so much more livable. Things like HVAC, windows, insulation, etc. The bling, things like counters, or even floors can be changed out later when finances are improved. Molding can be added later, things like that.

Jennifer, maybe ask in the window forum.

I built a new house, moved in about 4 years ago now. Windows were not high on my list of considerations at that time, unfortunately. I chose Ply Gem. I would not chose them again. I'd poke around on the windows forum if I were you. They are a major part of your new home, and while I "get" why they aren't really a fun part of the project, please be smarter than I was... :)

Jennifer if you narrow that entry too much it's going to look like a tall skinny entry to a closet. That's an important feature on the face of your house, the visual invitation to your front door for guests. I know this is tough when people start picking at your plans and suggestions are coming at you from many directions on different issues. I'm no window expert but we chose Hurd windows which is now owned by Sierra Pacific, aluminum clad exterior, wood interior, casements. Honestly I don't know where they fall in the cost spectrum compared to other brands but I agree with the others, cut costs in other areas if necessary to get good windows.

I spent a lot if time about two years ago trying to wrap my head around window options. Everyone has their favorites (window people have strong opinions!), but it I recall the majority of forum comments said to avoid Jeldwen and plygem.

I live in Oregon and at the time it was pretty frustrating because the highly recommended windows were east coast and not available here. We ended up with Milgard. They're local, have a great warranty and from a practical perspective, I simply love the ease of their opening/closing mechanism. Good luck!

I do believe I was one of said people benjesbride, and Hurd/Sierra Pacific would be in the same section of the barrel as Jeldwen and Plygems in my opinion.

What do you know about Thermal Windows out of Tulsa? Since we live here, it would be nice to support a local company if they have a decent product.

"Thermal Windows out of Tulsa"

No better than the others you mention, although in fairness I have only dealt whit their aluminum products but there were borderline terrible and I cannot see their vinyl being any better. As posted above, post this in the window forum section there real pros there that will know your area better than I and what is available. If your GC is installing I would go no lower than Simonton and would realistically avoid framers installing windows but that is just me. I have seen many a window install where the framers have completely screwed the pooch.

" Hurd/Sierra Pacific would be in the same section of the barrel as Jeldwen and Plygems in my opinion."

That's what I mean, Jennifer. I have the utmost confidence in our selection (and the installation which is key) and could chase my tail into next week trying to get a consensus! All I can do is make recommendations on our experience which has been great - millworkman has had a different experience. Good luck - you'll get there.

My suggestion would be to visit retailers and test out the windows and look at the numbers. People reccomended softlite and Marvin to us and we looked at a couple of others. We ended up choosing Marvin even though they were pricier. As cpartist said, spend the money on the structural things that are hard to change at a later date. You don't want to be dealing with replacing windows in 10 years (or sooner).

I installed all PlyGem Mira thinking they were a solid product. I was wrong, less than 1 year, front door and two casements leaking bad. It blows my mind that a company can sell products that are this flawed. Spend more and get Anderson or Marvin it'll be worth it, I wish I did!