20: Dark Green Window Sashes

I didn't have a lot of color options for the exterior cladding on the Andersen windows I chose for the house. Fortunately, the dark green option looked substantial (not a flimsy aluminum-like color), so I color matched it in Sherwin-Williams paint.

In the way that one decision is built on the next in process of designing a house from scratch, Cascades SW7623 became the color I used for the inside of the window sashes. I knew I wanted a dark color, because I'd seen it used in this way on older homes. I'd also taken pictures a few years ago of windows painted like this in a showhouse in Bridgehampton, NY. (Don't forget to tear and take pictures of details and things you like long before you start designing. They'll make the design process so much easier.)

The dark color here is crisp and tends to disappear (except in winter) against the landscape seen through the windows. At night the sashes are virtually invisible, which makes the windows appear larger and more open to the outside. It's a handsome vintage look that I think most people never consider.