The black and white decisions in my life have always been the easiest to make. When in doubt, I always throw on a little black dress.  When uncertain about family beach picture attire, white is always an amazing choice.  When it comes to dinnerware, I adore white dishes!  My fingernails and toenails are painted black or white over half of the time. When deciding what color of Hunter boots I wanted, the glossy black was my obvious choice.  And wearing my favorite white jeans after Labor Day undeniably makes me feel as if I’m on top of the world.  Life in black and white is just always easier!  Am I right?

So you can imagine what happened when I was forced to decide between the TWO- BLACK OR WHITE? AHHHHHHHhhhhh!!!  This is the dilemma I was faced with as I had to decide whether I wanted to use BLACK or WHITE window frames in our new construction.  #thelaydenlegacy

Windows.  Windows.  and Windows.  If you’ve ever built a custom home or plan to build someday, there is no amount of preparation that could prepare you for all the decisions one must make regarding the window decisions for a new home.  The windows and doors made up approximately 15 percent of our new construction costs, so this was not a decision I wanted to make lightly!  Our new house has about  23 large windows!  I lost sleep- actually nights of sleep laboring over the windows.  Maybe a few months of sleep.  Ha.  How did I arrive at my decision?  I’m about to spill all the details.

Unless you are living on another planet,  it’s not a secret that black window frames have been all the rage over the last few years in new custom home construction.  Just take one look on Instagram, search Pinterest for home inspiration, or watch your favorite home shows– and you’ll see that most designers and architects are quick to use black window frames in every level of new construction!  My biggest question when I made my decision regarding black vs white window frames was this– ARE BLACK WINDOW FRAMES JUST A TREND?  and MORE IMPORTANTLY, WILL THEY GO OUT OF STYLE IN A HOT MINUTE?

I did a little research and found out that black window frames have actually been used since the 19th century by architects- mainly for industrial design in factories and warehouses, and  were also used some in high end construction.  I admit I became very obsessed with observing window frames everywhere I went.  I did indeed notice immediately that black window frames have been used for years and are timeless and classic– as long as they fit the architectural style.

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As with any decision in the home building process- one  must chose what she loves– regardless of the trends.  I really love black window frames, but I also love white window frames. Ugh!   I was on the window frame merry go round for months.  It wouldn’t stop! LOL!  Can you feel my pain?  My interior designer proposed two exterior designs.  I revealed those in this post.  Of course, one had white frames and the other black window frames.  How would I ever decide?  I had already made up my mind that I wanted a white exterior.  I have always loved white homes and I feel that they never go out of style.  With that decision already being made, I then had four more questions I needed to answer in regards to the window frames!

What is the overall feel and look I’m trying to achieve?   

Working with a designer for our new home construction has been such a wonderful experience for me, and I’ve learned so much!  Since I’ve never had any formal education in architecture or design, I had a lot to learn- as up until this process I never really realized why some homes just look amazing and pulled together while others just fall flat!  The designer is the key!

I’ve been dreaming of building our house for years, and I have learned I love the elements of a few different types of design!  I  love some modern elements, and I love some french elements….   I shared some of my home Exterior Inspiration in this post.  I really have always dreamed of a Legacy style home, thus why my hashtag is called #thelaydenlegacy !

The look and feel I’m trying to achieve for our home is a transitional style home!  What is a transitional style home exactly?   A transitional home is basically the marriage of traditional and contemporary furniture, finishes, materials, and fabrics equating to a classic, timeless design.  The lines are simple, yet sophisticated, featuring either straight lines or round profiles.   Sounds easy to achieve, right? Lol!

The direction of the design depends on the architectural style of your home.  Overall, it determines the look and feel of the new construction project, and this is where my interior designer has been a tremendous help!

Should I use black window frames or white window frame for the home exterior?

The question you’ve been waiting for!  I’ve always loved neutrals, but what I didn’t know until recently is that BLACK is a neutral! Gosh!  No wonder I own 50 Black Dresses!  It’s the safest choice in my wardrobe, surely it could be a safe choice for my new home!  By definition, in the context of interior design, neutral means without color.  Neutrals appear without color and include beige, ivory, taupe, black, gray, and shades of white.

Since we decided on a white limestone color of stucco for our home exterior- the black windows would pop and add major curb appeal.  Black windows just make a statement!  Since our house sits on a hill, the black frames would add drama and elegance, stand out and provide contrast.  Black frames would add that modern element to a classic design.  Because of our home’s position on the hill, the black window frames could fade over time.  Black frames are also considerably more expensive than white.  White frames probably show dirt easier, but are also cheaper and seem like a safer choice overall.  Would white frames blend seamlessly with a white exterior?  Would black window frames be able to softened so the home didn’t have an industrial or too modern of a feel?  These are all the thoughts I pondered while trying to arrive at a decision!

Should I use black window frames or white window frames for the home interior?

I never knew when choosing a window frame color, that one must choose window frames for the interior and the exterior!  As if making one decision wasn’t hard enough.  One of my biggest concerns when building a home was the transition of the home from the exterior to the interior.  I wanted everything to be pulled together and the home to have a cohesive and uniform look.

I’m about to share a designer secret- but one I so strongly agree with!  Ooops!  When building a home, I think it almost always works best to use the same color on the exterior as the interior- as in 99 percent of the time!  It just pulls the entire home together- especially if you chose black windows on the exterior.  Using white on the interior would not pull the entire home together.  Again, this is just my opinion.  This was one of my major concerns when building because I wanted everything to look cohesive!  The windows being the same color on the inside and outside is a major factor in achieving this goal!

I’ll be honest though.  I was really worried if I chose black exterior windows on the outside of my home, that the interior could  feel cold.  I learned though that black can be softened.  Also, it’s proven that black interior window frames provide a shadow to the naked eye, so the frame actually disappears and in turn provides an uninterrupted view.  Our home overlooks a gorgeous pond and sits on a hill!  Would the black interior frame open up the entire home to the outside view?

Obviously if you built a home and didn’t use uniform frames on the inside and outside there’s nothing you can do now!  I’m just saying that I probably would never make that choice in a home I would build.  After examining every single home online with an eagle eye, I have only seen a few instances where it works well to use different colors on the interior and the exterior.  I strongly feel that using the same color on the interior and exterior does indeed make the design seamless- so keep this in mind when choosing window frames for your own home!

How will the window frame choice translate to the doors in our home?

When I was thinking about the color of interior and exterior windows, what I never imagined was that I would also have to consider another huge decision!  DOOR COLORS!  Our home has one main entry door, 5 sets of French doors, 2 side doors, and 3 garage doors!  The windows all must blend with all the doors in our home so deciding this was no easy feat!

The window frame color I chose, ultimately determined the direction I would go with the doors.  At times, I couldn’t imagine so much black in my home. Would it pull too modern? Are black doors more expensive?  Would they fade over time?  These are all things I drove myself crazy over when deciding on the color of  window frames!

As you can see- I DID IT! The verdict is in!

BLACK WINDOW FRAMES IT IS- on both the interior and the exterior!  I’m so excited that I arrived at a decision after months.  I am beyond excited with my decision, and now that the windows have arrived I honestly can’t believe this was a dilemma!  I labored and labored over the decision for months, and as soon as the windows arrived in our new home, I was certain I made the right decision!

I remember I stumbled across a blog post in my research on windows where a famous interior design blogger posed the question to her 1 million followers whether they would chose black or white windows in new home construction.  I read through every comment on that post, and had my husband do the math. About 98 percent of readers said black windows are definitely the way to go.  There were 1000’s of comments on the thread, and I went through each one.  I added this to my post, just in case you are concerned about the resale value of your home and wonder what other people feel about black windows.  I found the answer to be an overwhelming YES!  I also wanted to say that after seeing my windows arrive I’m so happy I chose black for both the interior and the exterior.  I had tossed around the idea of doing white on the interior, and I am so happy my designer advised me not to do that!  I am 1 million percent confident in the decision I made, and I can hardly wait to show you the windows once they are installed!   I hope this post helps you if you find yourself in the same predicament I was in!  Feel free to email me at anytime with your comments or questions!

What I didn’t know was that after I chose Black Window frames- I would be forced with a host of a thousand other questions to answer about windows!  Grille or no grilles?  Casement or double hungs?  What brand of windows?  What kind of window frame profile?  Which direction should each window open?  What color of hardware should the windows have?  Should the windows have screens?  Oh– the decisions one must make when building their dream home!  It’s not an easy process but I’ve loved every minute of it… does that sound odd?

As always, thanks so much for following along and I hope you all come back soon to see our new home unfold!

Thanks so much for following along and be sure to visit my other new custom home construction blog posts below!

We’re Building Our Dream Home!

I’m Starting a Home Blog Series!

Part 1 – The Architect/House Designer

Part 2 – The Excavator 

Part 3 – The General Contractor

Part 4 – The Interior Designer

Production Built Homes vs Custom Built Homes

Exterior Design Concepts for #thelaydenlegacy

Exterior Design Reveal