They need more weight vertically rather than horizontally which shutters would thwart, so I'd just add trim all around maybe making the pieces under the frames the widest.Lastly, remove anything blocking the light through those downstairs windows and keep anything you put there very low growing.A friend of mine buys this style of house and increases the value substantially by adding suites in the area downstairs.  

I have typically done plain white horizontal mini-blinds, and live with having to replace them every 2 years or so.If pets are allowed, especially dogs, then all blinds are basically need replacing at every turn over. 

Is this the bamboohttp://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/s43207919.htmlCarbonized Horizontal Premium Solid Bamboo

There is typically a maximum horizontal run allowed before turning vertical or something to that effect.

I use a big posterboard with 22 horizontal lines. 

I mean any one of us here in Portland that build communities from the ground up we will spend 100k per house before we buy the land and before we put any bricks and sticks into the air.. now this is new communites I am talking underground or horizontal costs as well.. 

I was cutting out a fitting in a vertical section, I was so shocked at how fast it cuts through, both on top and bottom of the fitting, I though there must have been a badly corroded pipe with super thinned walls, I removed the cut section to have a closer look on both ends...for two seconds, and the top part - obviously unsecured by the previous plumber above the attic, fell down and hit the section below, cracked that section, and I had to cut open the concrete slab to replace all the way down including the horizontal turning elbow.

I've grown to hate the horizontal mini-blinds--and the vertical ones seem so much easier if you need to replace a broken slat.

In one of the units, inspector noted bowing / inward movement, bending movement, and horizontal cracking of front foundation walls.

In addition to what a normal wall takes to build wall rated for sound is typically double rocked with brackets with rubber feet screwed into studs that attach to horizontal track for the drywall, sound dampening insulation, any electrical will need to be reworked into boxes that extend that far, then sound caulk all the way around the edges of the wall and electrical boxes.