Quote:
I went out into the courtyard and noticed how odd our windows looked. I then envisioned different-colored blinds on every window, purple, blue, yellow, orange...

I think you should go smack your homeowners' association upside the head with a copy of Christopher Alexander's "The Timeless Way Of Building", which explains at some length that architecture where everything is slightly different, is more human and more liveable-in than one where everything is regular and self-similar.

Or just watch (or google) the BBC children's programme "Balamory". The exteriors are not a set. The village of Tobermory is really like that.

Peter