The Saga of the Window

So in August, 2009, while still living in Iowa, Jeremy and I went out on a limb and bought a house in Minnesota. Northern Minnesota at that-pretty much the end of the world to a lot of people. Anyhow, it is an area of mostly very small, very old houses that really do not have a lot of thought or imagination put into them-of one of these, we became proud owners of. We knew before we bought it that one of the first things that would have to go was the windows. They were definately antiques, in various stages of decomposition. One thin pane of glass, rotting wooden sills, and about five coats of varying colors of paint. Obviously the previous owners had survived winters with these windows but we didn't really feel like paying to heat the outside as well as the inside this winter. So our hunt for the perfect window began, which is a story in itself, one that I do not have the time for now....but we did end up with about eight windows before we moved which we knew was not enough but would be a start. As the cold started creeping in, Jeremy was blessed with some time off work and he started tearing out old windows and patching holes, trying to get as many new windows in as possible, leaving a pile of old windows sitting outside and needing a new home. This is one of the ways I recycled one of the kitchen windows and there are more that are being worked on.

I sanded the frame, all the while trying not to think about all the lead paint I was probably disturbing, until I got the desired smoothness and look. Then I sprayed everything with a clear spray paint, since I didn't really want paint chips falling into my food. Added the hardware (chain and hooks) and I was good to go. The corner where I put it was kind of a boring corner in my kitchen, with just the stove and a chest of drawers to make up for my lack of drawers on the other side of the kitchen. This really adds the warm, homey touch I was looking for and also makes a great place to store my pots! Just one of the ways I will be reusing the old windows!