Our den was almost a cave. It was an addition put on by the previous owners, but they failed to add good light. They installed these two tiny windows that are kind of on the high side of the wall.
PLEASE pardon the mess….
We are fortunate enough to have a big, beautiful backyard, but the only way you can look out the window to enjoy it, is if you’re in an upstairs bathroom. So, one of my missions was to add a window to the den.
And so the post begins..
Last winter, we had an ice damn on the roof above the den. The sun doesn’t really hit that part of the roof, and when the ice finally started to thaw, we had a mess on our hands. We didn’t realize how bad it was, until the picture that was on the wall fell because the sheet rock was soaked. (insert a bastion of expletives here.)
Sean and I started taking down the sheet rock, and uncovered mold underneath. Mess. And stress. We took down all damaged areas and had the mold professionally removed. We called insurance too. Filed a claim.
While thinking about having to clean all this up, my wheels started turning about giving this dark room a nice face lift. Hey, while we’re at it, right?!! There was a door in the room that we never used. It leaked too. It was dumb. It was on my nerves and the door had to go. Bye bye. And I started thinking again about a huge window. And being the dreamer that I am, I so wanted a big window to look out and see our back yard.
I set out to find a window, and I did. Exact window that I had in mind. It came from an old post office in the area. Needed a lot of love. I scraped the paint. I removed all the old glaze and applied new glaze. Not easy for a first-timer. Then I primed and painted both sides. And I touched up the paint. And touched up the paint some more.
Fresh from the salvage store.. 
Ready for its new home
Finally, the day came to install the window. We ordered a 1 inch thick tempered glass to be installed on the outside of the window to protect the window and provide some insulation.
Good bye dumb door and HELLO BACK YARD! It is such a pleasure to spend time in the den now. Being able to look out at the back yard + great show on T.V. = Happy Brooke. And it’s not just me. Everyone in the family enjoys the light. I’m so happy I insisted on installing a big window.
Do you have any rooms in your house that desperately need more light?
Tibby says
Great idea. Was this a window you had? I do love to use any old windows, more charming, I think–if you have any.
Sure made a difference in the room. If you have a view, nice to see it.
Brooke Fedigan says
Hi Tibby.
I found the window at Rosie’s Old Country Store in Red Hook. The window came out of the old Red Hook Post Office. It was exactly what I was looking for, and feel it was very serendipitous that I found it. I’m glad you think it made a difference in the room. We are really enjoying the view of our back yard looking through that window.
Best,
Brooke