What is the style of your house? Elevation drawing?

Will you ever sell the house? I hate plantation shutters. Why have windows and then cover them with wooden "bars". If I were to purchase your house I would lower the offer to compensate for the "plain" windows once I removed the plantation shutters.

Keep the architectural character and detailing of your house intact! Chances are your appraisal and future resale value will be impacted by the nature of the architecture and the overall consistency of how the house is designed and built.

Shutters are an interior design option and not part of the architecture, IMO--so keep the decisions about architecture and interior design seperate. My $0.02 worth!

Good luck on your project.

OP, I live in the South, so I definitely "get" plantation shutters. When we built, I knew I would be using them in most rooms...but our home is a traditional brick 2-story and our home needed SDL windows. Our architect would have had a fit if we had done plain windows. We used the 3.5" wide slats with just one panel over each window...they don't have a center latch, they latch on the side. The only vertical piece is the tilt bar. So basically, they really don't look "busy" with the SDLs...
Here is an exterior pic...they are hard to see, but if you zoom in you can see them in the 4 upstairs windows (not the arched.)

Here is an interior shot. I love my shutters...they were expensive but in our area they definitely add value. This window is actually a double, so this set DOES latch in the middle, but none of the single windows do...they latch on the side.

kdonaldson12, can't get much sunnier than So CA, but my statement still stands. Windows that do not match the finish and architecture will decrease the sales price if you were ever to sell the house. As Virgil said, shutters are a design choice, and not one that everyone will choose or see any value added.

LOVE shutters and would pay more for a house with them. Yes, I would put them over plain windows.

another one of my inspiration photos

I know this is an old thread. But wanted to throw this out. I've moved 7 times. Each time my home is appraised for a relocation appraisal. Plantation shutters increase the appraisal amount.