The other day TE and I were up at our home renovation project in Malibu looking at the new exterior window trim color we had chosen. Long story…but we ended up changing out all of the windows in the nearly 4000 square foot house we are remodeling. We went with wood framed windows after much back and forth.

I had desperately wanted steel windows…but because of the scale of some of the windows (some of our glass doors are 10-12 feet high) and the cost, steel framed windows were out of the question. As an FYI, steel windows were about triple the cost. Then our contractor recommended aluminum clad windows – these are windows and doors that are wood with an aluminum or metal covering on the exteriors to protect against weathering. Our contractor felt this was a good option as far as long term weathering – being in Malibu, even on the hillside, ocean air could affect the window trim after several years.  We went to several of our contractors projects with aluminum clad windows.  While we liked them, we were told we could not get the scale and openness needed with them.

So we turned to all wood window trim.  The upside is the organic wonderful look of wood trimmed windows and doors.  The downside is the maintenance, every 5-7 years we will have to look at refreshing the trim.

Anyhooooo, with wood windows selected, we then had to decide on an exterior trim color.  All I knew is that I wanted dark, dark, dark trim that would remind me of those steel windows I mentioned and so coveted.  TE’s major concern was to make sure that the trim looked like wood and not some other material – his hope was to add a rustic element to the exterior and honor the Mediterranean feel of the exterior of the house.  Our contractor gave us several options of paint and stain colors.  We ended up going with a very a dark wood stain that shows the grain of the wood but is dark enough for me.  We went with a super high gloss since the painter felt that would protect the wood trim long term.

We love the result.

Here is a little video showing you the exterior window and door trim stain and a little bit about a deck dilemma we are also having!

What do you think? Dark stain? Wood windows? Love your thoughts.

xo
Coco

Photos and video: Coco of COCOCOZY