A Greenhouse for a Black Thumbed Gal

For whatever reason, at the time we replaced all the windows in our old house, we decided to keep the big ones. At that time we had no intention of moving, no intention of making anything of them, no real dream in mind, just big ol’ wooden windows that we knew were expensive. So we kept them and they sat… and sat… and sat, for years. Then, when we started to dream of this new lifestyle, one thing led to another {rather quickly!} and we moved and we took those big old windows with us and they sat… and sat… and sat for a few years more. They were quite neglected, surprisingly not broken and gathered dust. Then we renovated the new house, we kept all those old wooden windows too, and they sat… and sat… and sat for a few years. Kind of like a graveyard of old wooden windows amongst all the other piles of #$%*! that took over our back yard. But in all honesty, when you move to the country, just about anything in your yard is acceptable!

After we pushed through the renovation {blood, sweat & tears}, the multiple attempts at fixing our backyard {we’ll discuss the flooding creek, the horrendous hillside and poor drainage another time, ok?}

• 

• 

• 

and got our garden structure in place, we knew we wanted a greenhouse and felt that it was the perfect opportunity to see what kind of shape all those old windows were in. Now, mind you, we had admired pictures of quaint little greenhouses for years… there was always something magical about them… but they came with a price tag {even to build your own} that just wasn’t happening! And did I mention that I have a black thumb {no joke} so why on earth were we even attempting this?

So we pulled out those old windows, measured and took inventory of how many we had of each size and then laid them out on the grass and attempted to create the 4 walls. It was like a jig-saw puzzle, but we didn’t have the box cover to tell us what the finished puzzle looked like!

• 

• 

After playing around with them for a while I declared that maybe, just maybe we should give up, get on www.idontthinkwecanbuildourowngreenhouse.com and just order one! BUT… then we looked around… looked at everything we had built with our bare hands… all the dreams of things that we made come to life… the barn, the chicken coop, the garden, the fire pit… it made us smile because we designed and built it ourselves… together.

• 

• 

• 

We knew if we just ordered something online, not only would it not be nearly as CUTE, but it would take away from what we had created. Goodness, we made it this far and we weren’t going to cave in now, so we got back to the drawing board, literally,

looked through more of what we had from the barn we salvaged and decided to use the tin for the bottom back of the greenhouse {we used it in our laundry room, master bath and kids bath and loved it}…

• 

• 

• 

• 

and low and behold… it looked like it would all fit together and it was time to build this thing and it was going to be the centerpiece of our garden! I figured if my black thumb never turned green, at least we could put a little table & chairs in there and some string lights and have a place to sit and enjoy our garden {which could just end up being beautiful potted plants if I can’t figure out how to make things grow!!!}.

Of course we had some design challenges… we needed a very slim door and we had one section that we didn’t have a window that would fit in it. Challenges tend to be our speciality {not thrilled about that} so we set out in the good old pick-up truck for a day of junkin’! Our first stop at Smith House Antiques en route to Blue Ridge, GA ended up being a jackpot! We found an old door that had been used on a riverboat {do you ever really know if the stories they tell you about said items are true?}… but, it had so much character and it had a door within the door which meant that with a little magic, it could have a screen so we could allow some air in when needed. It cleaned up beautifully and the clear coat really brought out the beautiful wood! This old door just needed someone to love it!

• 

• 

The next challenge was to find a window to fit in the ONE spot we didn’t have one for… but our attempt to find one left us empty-handed SO, good ol’ Home Depot to the rescue. We purchased a few pieces of cut glass and built a frame… d.o.n.e.

The next super fun part {I’M TOTALLY BEING SARCASTIC} was to paint ALL.THE.WINDOWS. 2 coats, not just 1, on both sides, of Rustoleum White High Gloss Exterior Enamel! I was out there from sun rise to sun set for days upon days upon days {Ok, that’s an exaggeration… it was actually 4 days but seemed like forever… probably because I was high on paint fumes}. We enlisted the help of two of our resident teenagers who were more thrilled than you could possibly imagine!

The first step in actually building the structure was to clear the area and LEVEL IT.. now, I didn’t think it needed to be leveled {aka I didn’t really want to have to expend the energy to do that}… I thought it would be “just fine” and said it would be “good for drainage”, but I was not able to convince my totally OCD husband to skip this step. Well, it turned out that it was WAY more un-level than I thought it was so, as usual, he was right {don’t tell him I said that!} when it comes to a “solid, level foundation”… phooey!

Once he had the base just right, it was on to build the back of the greenhouse which consisted of 9 windows of equal size and 1 piece of tin from the barn… all of which would be separated by 2×4’s. The top 3 windows were hinged so that we will be able to let the greenhouse properly vent {we added pulls to those windows and still need to get the thingy’s that hold the windows open… I’m sure there is a technical term for them!}.

• 

• 

• 

Once we got the hang of it, it started to come together waaaay faster than we thought it would and we were super excited {pausing to count our blessings that we didn’t cave in and order one online}! The 2 sides went on next, which consisted of 1 large window and a polycarbonate triangle section each.

• 

• 

• 

Next, we tackled the front which took a bit more ingenuity. It required one large window that was hinged {so we had a way to get a wheelbarrow and shelves and such in and out}… {high-five to me for noticing before it was too late that we had no way to get that stuff in and out because our door was so small!!!}, the thin door, a tall thin stack of windows and our one homemade window. It was the most complicated one to figure out but we nailed it! {no pun intended}

Then the roof which consisted of 2×4’s, polycarbonate panels and 1×4 trim boards. This step wasn’t fun and certainly harder to reach. We didn’t put enough caulk between the panels and covered the seams with trim… hence why it is leaking and hence why we need to wait until warmer weather to try to caulk it further.

• 

• 

So, there she stands… our greenhouse… dreamed up by us…created with our hands and now will be enjoyed by us! Hopefully it will bear the fruits of our labor…hopefully seeds will emerge from little trays in the warmth she provides and delicate plants will be protected within her embrace during the winter. I can tell you already that even in this cold dreary season…this creation is bringing a smile to my face every time I look at her! A few things left to do, of course… build shelving for starts, but also to fix that leak!!!

What’s something you created, big or small, that brings you such joy to see it?

{And thanks for remembering that all content, stories and photography on my blog are created by me and copyrighted unless otherwise noted. Please don’t share without credit. Please don’t use without permission. Thank you!}