Whether you are building a new home, or considering some form of remodeling to bring your home into the 21st century, odds are you may be considering adding some flair to your windows with the assistance of vinyl exterior shutters. Once used to protect a home's windows from storms and other bad weather, shutters are now used solely as a design element on the exterior of your home. They are permanently attached to the side of your home, and choosing the right color to fit your home's style as well as your neighborhood can be considered easier said than done. Here are some simple tips to choosing the right color of vinyl exterior shutters for your home so you can finally obtain the curb appeal you have always dreamed of.
First, avoid standing out from the crowd. Unless your home is located on a large plot of land with few to no neighbors around, you will want to make sure you choose a color that complements your home without making it look tacky. While you may like the color, unusually bright colors will make your home stick out like a sore thumb in your neighborhood, and could really hurt you when it comes time to sell. Your neighbors will probably not be too fond of your color selection which can also have a negative effect on their homes value because no one will want to live near the home with the hot pink window treatments.
The great practical difference between the word, written or spoken, and the visual image is that we cannot read the former unless we have been initiated into the mystery of language, whereas visual images can be made intelligible to all men who have eyes.... The spiritual difference between the written word and the visual image is equally great. Precise though a word is, evocative though it be, the actual machinery of visual perception is not engaged. All that takes place, takes place now within the mind; the retina and the neurons sleep; we are in a world which has been created by old, long-stored stimuli; the accidents of energy exterior to ourselves have been totally excluded from it. Even the spoken word is further from this spiritual purity than the word upon the page, for sounds have at least a sensual immediacy of a sort, but the written word is only the ghost of a sound. We have entered now into a realm not of images but of substitutes.
— Derek Clifford. “ The Call of the Image,” Art and Understanding, New York Graphic Society (1968)
Second, consider choosing from a color family similar to the color of your home. When it comes to choosing the right color of vinyl exterior shutters for your home, you may want to think about choosing one that is either a few shades lighter or darker than your home's main color. If your home happens to be adorned with a neutral shade like grey or something similar, consider choosing a tint that is either a few shades lighter or even darker than your base color. This color choice for window treatments can help make a statement, without overpowering the style of your home.
Lastly, determine the level of difficulty of choosing accent colors. While you probably already put a lot of time and effort into choosing your home's main color, choosing accent colors like the window shutters and even the color of your porch can be just as difficult. Before you settle on a color, think about how hard it will be to choose a color for your porch, or other outdoor accents that help give your home its style. If you choose a color that has no complements, you may find yourself stuck with accents in the same color which can potentially have a negative effect on the look of your home.
This idoll which you terme Virginitie,
Is neither essence subject to the eie,
No, nor to any one exterior sence,
Nor hath it any place of residence,
Nor is’t of earth or mold celestiall,
Or capable of any forme at all.
— Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
These are just a few of the simple tips to choosing the right color of vinyl exterior shutters for your home. Avoid choosing loud colors, and look for ones that make it easy to choose accent colors, and you are sure to find the right color of window treatments that can give your home the style you have been looking for.