....and then there were windows.

For Puff Daddy, it was "all about the Benjamins, baby". For us, it's all about the windows, baby.


The crown jewel of our windows was installed this week, and we couldn't be happier with the result. Which, is good, because getting to that point wasn't easy.  The rest of our windows have been in for quite some time. These last few have taken what seemed like forever to be delivered to the company we ordered them from.

I get it, they were super special order. However, a company should in theory have more than one person in charge of helping customers place special orders and in turn have more than one person that can give you answers about said windows.

But, I digress...  that's all behind us now.

The original plan for this back wall called for three pairs of sliding glass doors.  The night before the framing started, I kept looking at pictures of what I wanted our living room to look like, and decided on the picture below.

There are 12 separate windows (and 2 doors) here.  The larger ones on the top are casement windows, and the smaller ones are transits. We decided on a reverse transit and were going to leave it at that. Then we decide to add more.

As a result we went from this look :

To this.

To say the least, we love it.  I am so happy that we decided to do the reverse transit and as a result able to add these trapezoids at the top. We talked about putting two more windows in the corners. We could probably make it happen, but at this point it would be another special order, which means more time waiting. More time rearranging siding on the outside, and it would ultimately delay our drywall from being finished in this area. Oh yeah, and more money.

Because of all of our special orders and the sheer amount of glass, we spent around $20,000 for windows.  Yeah...   Also because of the window changes we spent more than the original quote for lumber as well, as each window needs about 3-4 boards worth of support.

We are going to have to be on a tight budget from here on out, but neither one of us foresees wanting or needing to re-do windows - so we decided to dream big....  and eat Ramen noodles until we're 50.

The idea of a trapezoid on the top of the other windows was Jeff's idea.  The idea of a half round in the loft was my idea - so Jeff calls this "my window".  He didn't think he would like it because it takes up a lot of wall space.

Sure, it does...  but the view is amazing.  Well, right now the view is partially blocked by a tree - but we can remedy that.

Our front door was also installed this week.  No, it's not crooked, just some bad photography on my part. Sorry!

I am a little torn about how I feel about the glass.  I love the design, but we (I) opted for chorded glass. Which, essentially means that you can't see through it. The idea of not having someone be able to see in was appealing to me. However, you can't see a darn thing out of it.  As a result, I'm a bit torn - I like the privacy aspect, especially since the other side of the house is a wall of glass, but ultimately  am not crazy about having glass that I can't see out of.  We could, of course, get a screen door and just keep the door open. Perhaps, but it would have to be the "right" kind of door so that we don't lose the look of the door.


So what's on tap for the future?  The last two weekends Jeff's uncle has been installing our HVAC system - which isn't too much to look at, so no pics. But, it's the top of the line system and we will have three separate units.  One for the old part of the house, one for the kitchen and great room, and a third for the loft.

We're also busy designing our dream kitchen with my uncle. He designed a fantastic kitchen space for us, and we went to pick out cabinets this week. Plus we are picking out vanities and lights for the rooms.  The plumber starts today, so we had to finalize our bathroom wants/needs.  Oh yes, and floors!  We are in floor hell - why oh why are there SO MANY choices??