Ways To Use Antique-Style Windows When You're Upgrading To New Windows
When you buy an old home, one of your earliest priorities when renovating it is likely to replace the windows. Hiring a contractor to take out the old windows and replace them with those that are more energy efficient and easy to operate is an important project, but you shouldn't just toss the old windows in the garbage. Traditional windows with wooden frames around a series of small panels of glass are worth saving, as they can be useful in a number of different ways. Your renovation contractor can easily remove these windows without causing damage to them, which could leave you with a stack of antique-style windows to deal with. Here are some ways to deal with them:
Make A Small Greenhouse
If you live where the winters are chilly and you're an avid gardener, you might be entertaining the idea of keeping a greenhouse in your backyard. Instead of paying a significant amount of money to buy a greenhouse, you can use the old windows to construct one. A greenhouse structure doesn't have to be complicated — it essentially just needs to be a box full of windows that will allow plants to grow. You can build it yourself by looking for plans online or even hire a local craftsman to build it for you, and you'll save the cost of buying the glass.
Hang Some Indoors
Another way to use one or more of your old windows is to clean them up and hang them on your interior walls with some photos or artwork behind each of the glass panels. If you're going to be decorating your home in a rustic style, you don't even necessarily need to clean up the old windows. Missing paint, dents, and even some gaps between the various pieces of wood all help to give this makeshift photo frame a shabby-chic appearance that can be highly appealing.
Turn One Into A Chalkboard
With a can of chalkboard paint and a roller or brush, you can carefully apply paint to the window panels, hang the entire window enclosure on your wall, and have a homemade chalkboard. The multiple panels — perhaps four to eight, depending on the style of the window — serve as natural dividers. You can use one panel for a shopping list, another for a household to-do list, and other panels for individual to-do lists for your children. The functionality of this project, coupled with the sentimental quality of knowing that you're using a window from your house, can be ideal.
For more information and assistance, contact a contractor to help you with your replacement windows.