Shutters sound like they would be a great addition to your new almost at the beach house. Is it an open concept? If so while you can change things up a bit you'll want to repeat some element and ensure that everything looks great together. Even the rooms you're thinking of putting drapes in might benefit from shutters or wood blinds for both looks and light/privacy control. Also be aware of how these windows will look from the outside. When choosing fabrics look at your existing furniture for inspiration or a piece of existing art or if buying new furniture think about the windows as you do. Everything in the room ties into each other. Ideally you would have swatches and samples of every finish in the room from flooring to window coverings and everything in between including wall colour, area rugs, bedding ect to help make your final decisions easier.

Nothing will affect the feel of your house as much as the quality of the light. If you can at all swing it, keep your divided lights. Looking at your photo, those windows are gorgeous. Can you place glass on the exterior? I have some lead light windows in 2 locations. I made new frames with the leaded old glass on the inside and plain glass on the outside. While not as weather-tight, it's much better than single glass. While not as neat as your present windows, the new windows that have the interior and exterior lights with the spacers between the glass also look great and are at the present standards for energy efficient. We live in the PNW and used Milgard; less expensive than Anderson and Marvin, but so far I'm very happy with them.

Thank you so much for your comment after all this time. The colour you have suggested brightens the front door area beautifully and if the two red pots were painted in a tone to match, we think it would look great. Not sure if you can get Crestview doors in New Zealand but there must be something similar. We like the idea of going away from another cedar door - mainly because it would stand out too much while it was weathering. I don't know whether we would have been that brave but the tangerine works so well with the jade green of the joinery. I have re-laid all the stones and put a new wider front step in. The timber colour will soften down in time. I put a big pot in the garden to draw visitors to the front door and have added some colourful bromeliads to the garden alongside the house to make the area a bit more cheerful. We can't make a decision about what to do with a larger 'overhang' to protect the front porch yet - it is a project in progress. Thanks again for your post.

Any rod will work that does not have decorative finials. A U shaped rod. I would prefer sheers and drapery that go to the floor. But you can use what you have also. A roman shade can take the place of the sheers and mounted inside the frame. You can use ring clips for the drapes for easy opening and closing. Thank you for the new photos.