Rethink your windows, as leafs and dust are going to accumulate once the breeze gets up. You need one fire rated and something like sun tough, therefore a dark frame would be ok.

I think white with black trim would look amazing inside and out. But you’re right the Monument will look orphaned if the only exterior place it is used is the windows. You need to see what else you can incorporate in Monument or even black.

Agree with black windows. External lights, pots etc in black can be added for balance.

I'm sure I've seen people posting about windows that are different colours on the inside and outside.

We’ve just built our place, painted exterior cladding in Surfmist, window frames in Monument, and a few features in Western Myall.

We’ve had a lot of compliments on the combination, people being surprised when inside how well the Monument frames help frame the view.

I think it's nice 🤠

That's nice

From the 2 choices , I'd go monument for the windows . But here's a thought -- have you priced actual wooden windows , maybe in a cedar or cedar stain ? You said about the warmth of natural wood ( I assume mainly the interior ? ) , you have the terrace there , you could even do a timber batten 'windbreak' one side or the other of the terrace , or even 6 or 8 battens vertically at the 'right hand' end of the house , to create interest and balance ?

I'm assuming it would be more ( maybe $5-10k for the whole house ) to go to timber windows instead of aluminium , but the look and the warmth would be worth considering IMO , and would really set off your place , especially from your description of the environment .

If house externally is going to be light then go dark windows

I am just changing the cedar windows to paint after 15 years. Upkeep is not realistic anymore. The cedar will stay on the inside. If you are in a fire zone you cannot have timber windows. You can get aluminium outside and cedar inside. Should have done this with all our doors. Question: semi gloss or gloss for windows?

@suzhoo. For exterior semi gloss vs gloss won’t be an aesthetic choice as you’d hardly notice the difference. So it will be a wearability choice - I’d get some advice from a proper paint store but I’d lean towards semi. Same protection for the timber but easier to apply and less likely to show dirt and chips.