BIG news

New Windows!

February 26, 2008 /

window guys

I know I have some unfinished business to blog about but guess what!!! Today is a big news day! So the other stuff will have to wait while I fill you in on the latest installment of OUR NEW WINDOWS!!!!!

checking out the view

Remember how the window fell out in the middle of the night more than a month ago? We’ve been living with a carefully taped up plastic tarp over that window all this time and it has been FRIGID!!!

We got used to it though. We’ve been trudging around the house in sweats and socks and a hoodies in the early mornings and night. I put an extra blanket on my shoulders if I sat on the couch near the window. And the noise, well what difference does it make? We live on the highway. You can’t hear yourself think for all the harleys, sirens, leaf blowers, wheezing buses, and that pesky noisy air conditioner on the roof of the restaurant in front of us anyway. It’s just part of urban living.

they are almost art they are so beautiful to me

WELL NOT ANYMORE!!!! It is as peaceful as a cottage in the country here now!

I’m sitting by the window and I can see the cars going by on the highway out of my peripheral vision. I see them whizzing past but I do not hear them! I hear nothing! It’s soooooo weird. You know what I hear instead? Crickets. The crickets living in our house are putting on quite a concert. I guess I never really noticed them before because the constant buzz of road noise blocked them out. It’s surreal what a difference real windows that actually fit make.

I’m in love with them!

new windows make the whole place look newer!

Everything is just brighter and cleaner and quieter and warmer. Better better better all around. Although the newness does make the rest of the house look like it’s falling down even more. I guess I’m going to have to break down and make a new couch cover after all. The one we have now looks like bird puke next to our new white windows.

The guys who installed the windows said this would happen. They said, first you fix the windows and then you have to repaint and next thing you know you’re fixing up your whole place. We’ll see. We don’t own this place so it’s hard to justify investing a lot of money into it and our landlord certainly isn’t interested.

looking west

We paid for these windows to be put in ourselves with a spectacular agreement with our landlord: that she won’t raise the rent for two years. This is really cool since we used to live under the constant threat of eviction. She’s a crazy old lady and we know the property value is more than we pay in rent. We knew our days were numbered. But with our new agreement (on paper! in ink!) we’re good for two more years. It’s kind of nice to know that one thing is not going to change for two years when the rest of your future is up in the air.

cleaning the smudges

Of course getting the smudges off them is a whole other story. That just might take two years of elbow grease.

More photos here.

38 Comments

  • Gingermog

    February 27, 2008 at 12:41 am

    Eek had forgotten about your window! You’ve been living without it for all this time! I always think your appartment looks lovely from your photos. But I know what you mean, when you get one household job accomplished the rest can look a bit dowdy. At the moment I’m holding out for a bathroom door, we’ve been using a curtain since the old one fell off. Very Bohemian.

  • Aimee

    February 27, 2008 at 12:45 am

    Those are quite possibly the prettiest windows I’ve seen! They are so big! What wonderful light you must have.

    That last photo of BB cleaning the window is so cute!

  • familymclean

    February 27, 2008 at 12:48 am

    Ohh B!!!!! They are beautiful!!!!
    Now I want now ones, ones that don’t have papertowels shoved in the cracks to stop the leaks……they are just so pretty!
    No rotten wood, no leaks, sigh, I am actually drooling!

  • Kuky

    February 27, 2008 at 1:13 am

    Wow very nice. Are you going to put the blinds back up? I am compelled to ask because I’m freaked out about looking outside when it’s dark. I’ve actually had bad dreams about that, seeing scary stuff out there. I don’t mind looking out there when I turn the lights on but if it’s dark, yeeps. So yeah…blinds? Please?

    Just kidding…not really.

  • Nix

    February 27, 2008 at 4:33 am

    Yay for new windows. When we moved in here the landlord had just put in new windows. They are a big improvement from our last place where the windows had this thick plastic stuff instead of glass. Your place looks lovely.

  • Uncle George

    February 27, 2008 at 5:42 am

    Yipeeeee! Quiet, warmth, and SAJ left out how hot that apt. gets in summer. Those are the schnizzle, it will be much more liveable in there this August.

    Toby, the “Master Negotiator” Great stuff locking down the rent. My bro is the best!

  • DeeJay

    February 27, 2008 at 6:34 am

    Wow! Those are so beautiful that I’d be tempted not to put any curtains up at all. Congrats!

    Did the last windows not keep any noise out either?

  • ginger

    February 27, 2008 at 9:43 am

    Ah, the window-cleaning gene! Finally, there’s someone else with a kid who says, “Mom, those windows need to be cleaned” before trotting off with some Windex and a roll of paper towels. . . .

  • kathryn

    February 27, 2008 at 9:57 am

    Okay, windows are exciting…

    but not as exciting as your awesome illos up at alphamom.com. (well, at least in my world). Imagine my excitement when I read my daily dose of amalah’s blog, and recognized the artist of her cool banner for her new pregnancy calendar, and followed the links to some more of your delightful designs!

    Kudos to you, busy lady!

  • Lisa

    February 27, 2008 at 10:05 am

    wow, your place looks fantastic. i am having serious window envy…we have 30+ year old windows and i want your quiet country cottage ones! and Bug looks so cute sitting at the bitg table eating dinner!

  • bethany v

    February 27, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    yay!! so lovely :) and the quiet has to be wonderful. we got some new windows in our ancient drafty apartment 2 years ago, and the ones that weren’t replace now really stick out. so glad, and the light is wonderful. i have to say yay to urban living, even thought i miss many things. it’s wonderful, even with kids :)

  • barnmouse

    February 27, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    Oh wow! Do they slide open? They look like they slide! I’m so jealous! I hate our old crappy windows. They do not slide. Anyway, lovely windows! And also lovely that you’re safe for another two years from crazy landlady!

  • ninabi

    February 27, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    My goodness! I had no idea you were living with broken windows for so long. They are really pretty windows and now I’m wondering, How do you fill the bird feeder outside? It looks like quite a reach from the photos.

    And Pounce is better! I’m so glad.

    Funny you posted about windows. I was outside pruning trees at my place and the pruning pole slipped and went straight through my son’s bedroom window. Charming!

    Now WE need to get the window people out here!

    Enjoy the quiet and the safety. Did you ever find out what was wrong with Pounce?

  • BeachMama

    February 27, 2008 at 6:23 pm

    Hooray for shiny new windows. They look fantastic. And what I deal you made with the landlady.

    I love the fourth photo. The one of BB sitting at the table in the early evening. It makes your place look like one of the cottages we rent at our favorite beach (maybe because you live near a beach?) so cozy and warm. I just love it.

  • margalit

    February 27, 2008 at 7:46 pm

    Your landlady is a crook. A crazy crook, but a crook nevertheless. She isn’t going to throw you out. And even with the agreement you have on paper, she can sell the house out from under you. That ticks me off no end. I HATE landlords.

    As for the windows, they look double glazed (2 panes with gas in between them) and those really DO cut down on the noise. Congrats. It’s better to have nice safe windows than a tarp. And I can’t believe how long she let you go with a tarp over your windows. You gotta learn to call the health department on her. The crook!