Couple Leave Their Home to Build a Love Nest Out Of Recycled Windows
The title of this post is a little bit of a mouthful, we know. But we think that it sounds like just about the cutest thing in the entire world – and actually, building a love nest in the middle of the forest from old window frames is probably the very definition of upcycling.
Armed with planning permission (we hope) and a gorgeous spot in the middle of the woods overlooking a lake, the romantic duo decided that they wanted to really take in the view. And what better way to take in the view than to build the entire facade of your home from windows? Not only do we think this is a really cool idea – of course we do, it’s gorgeous, but it’s also incredibly thrifty. Glazing is ridiculously expensive and is often the second most expensive part of any new home build, if not the most expensive if you’ve chosen fancy triple glazing or an energy-efficient unit. Creating the facade using old windows is a lovely way to glaze your home, not to mention it’s as cheap as chips and super energy-efficient – you’d be surprised at just how much energy goes into making glazing units. We also love the patchwork-quilt effect of placing together tons of old windows and turning them into one large window – you’d never get exactly the same outcome twice, so it’s really unique, which is actually a unique thing to say about glazing!
Another particularly lovely thing about this story is that the couple embarked on a road trip to source everything they needed for their home, going to antique dealers and garage sales to grab windows, recycled wood, second-hand furniture and even an old stove to keep their little love nest cosy through the winter. Each and every piece of furniture in that house – and each and every window – was picked up from somewhere that has meaning to these guys, meaning that each part of the building has its own story. It’s rare to be able to say that each part of your house has its own story, which is part of what makes this little love nest so appealing.
Well, we say little, but it’s actually gigantic. It’s a towering building with one wall made entirely from windows – which means that the whole place is flooded with light, which vastly reduces the need for artificial light sources and therefore energy sources. They use the old stove to light up the building at night – and to provide heat – which gives off a gorgeous orange glow when viewed from the woods, looking like it belongs in a fairytale.
