Window Advice

We met with a contractor that is willing to do what we want to the house; namely, non-vinyl siding and non-retrofit windows. So now we need help with a few decisions. We are replacing all the back windows entirely, but I need to know if we should replace the old windows in the back bedroom, kitchen, and den with two double hung windows or one big sliding window? Another thought we had was to make the windows in the back bedroom bigger... not wider, but taller (we are in agreement that even if we don't do it in the back bedroom, we are definitely doing it in the front bedroom). But back to slider vs double-hung. Right now I'm thinking slider in the kitchen and double-hungs in the bedroom and den?

We also really need advice as to color of our house. We're going to have to replace all the siding eventually, but we kind of need to decide what color to do before we get going on the back of the house. I'll probably be calling you, Mom. Watch out.