In my personal opinion I think your house may have a better look without the grids. I feel your house has enough character and lines that the grids make it look to busy in my opinion.

Thanks, Millworkman, I appreciate the feedback. How about the brown trim around the windows? Would all white windows look too bland?

Btw, I want to paint the garage door more the color of the siding. It is too yellowish imo now. I guess it was painted this color to match the yellowish-beige color on the current windows.

White windows with brown trim would look fine in my opinion and i would agree on the garage doors. Although it is tough to tell in the picture buy yes the same color as the siding would look good.

I think the grids go perfectly with the style of your home. In my opinion, I think gridless ones can look like "black holes" in certain situations.

Pfmastin, thanks so much for your input! Was hoping to get more feedback here. Guess this is not a very riveting issue, but it is an important (& expensive) detail that could make or break the look of my house!

I agree that at times the grid-less windows can look like card-board cut outs rather than real windows!! I hear what you are saying!

Go grids on the front and none on the back of the home. That is how I would do it.

Thanks, WonW. That's an idea I hadn't thought of!

Keep the grids. No grids is a very contemporary look and you have a very traditional home. You could do front and back differently, but personally I don't like that look either.

Hi Dgmarie! Nice to see you! Thanks for sharing your insight. I didn't get much feedback over on Home Dec, so I came over here. Guess windows are not as interesting as paint and bedding!

I hate grids. Real windows with small panes and the frames that go with them are ok, but those grids are stupid.

They don't fool anyone. Unfortunately builders/developers et al did an about turn from the '50's and '60's when they attempted to use new design, and went back to some sort of fake old.

Admittedly, not all stuff from that era was good, but at least it wasn't pretending to be something else. Unless you have a lot of money and hire an architect, you're pretty much stuck in the dark ages these days.

Who's trying to fool anyone? You don't think 99.9% people are paying for individual lights on windows? It's all about the look and style of the house.

If you ask +90% of the people, they can't tell the difference from 10 feet away.

Get what you want.

"Real windows with small panes and the frames that go with them are ok, but those grids are stupid. "

And painfully expensive and thick if you have sealed glass units.

The grids are an attempt to preserve the divided lite look while using a single larger sealed glass unit for better performance.

They do tend to stop the eye and avoid the black hole look on the house from large windows with no dividers.

I think they look cheap and cheesy. That's my opinion, anyway.

You say 'black hole look' - I say "clean."

That is certainly one opinion but you are in the minority.

I would be willing to bet that most people, including you, can't tell the difference from 30 feet away.

+1 on windows comments, although my opinion was this house could stand on its own and be fine with out the grids. Simulated Divided Lites are a wonderful addition to the window industry as an affordable option to true divided light. I feel the most authentic is the 5/8" Putty Glazed profile.

Windowsonwashington, that is one bet you'd lose. I guarantee I'd spot the difference.

You are one of a very small number and certainly not representative of the greater population.

+1 with Windows, simulated divided lites look awesome and at a fraction of the cost for true divided!!

"+1 with Windows, simulated divided lites look awesome and at a fraction of the cost for true divided!!"

True divided light windows with sealed units are also very thick and many are than made with larger muntins to keep scale.

Nothing looks worse than a classically styled house with huge black holes for the windows.

I think window dividers look tacky. It's not an indication of traditional or contemporary but rather an indication of fake. I'd ditch them for sure!

Just my opinion but the combo of white vinyl and window dividers has an artificial cheap look. I would go "gridless". Or perhaps get the more expensive grids that are raised. The "between the glass" grids are the ones that look cheesy.

IMHO, white windows, vinyl or otherwise, would be rather stark given the beige/tan coloring of the siding and the brownish tone of the roof.

I feel your pain as I am struggling with the same issue on house. I am one of those who can tell the differnece between grills between the glass (GBG) is simulated divided lites (SDL). I made the decison to pay the extra money to retian the original achitectural integrity of the home. In the scheme of the things, the windows are a small percentage of the value of the home, yet make a huge impact on curb appeal when done right. At the end this comes down to taste as shown by the divided opinions on the matter. My advice is to buy something you will be happy to look at everyday. In my case, I chose the better looking window over the more energy efficient window because looks were my top priority.

I feel your pain as I am struggling with the same issue on house. I am one of those who can tell the differnece between grills between the glass (GBG) is simulated divided lites (SDL). I made the decison to pay the extra money to retian the original achitectural integrity of the home. In the scheme of the things, the windows are a small percentage of the value of the home, yet make a huge impact on curb appeal when done right. At the end this comes down to taste as shown by the divided opinions on the matter. My advice is to buy something you will be happy to look at everyday. In my case, I chose the better looking window over the more energy efficient window because looks were my top priority.

Hi Stinky, you have a lovely large home with lovely landscaping! That is the first thing I noticed about your house.

I have a question: Why are you replacing the windows? i.e. do these leak a lot of heat, or you don't like the look?

Secondly, what does your house look like on the inside? Having a single large pane or a divided look can affect your feeling when in the room?

Either way, I think you will be fine, but if your current windows perform well, I would not change them only to achieve a different aesthetic.