Growing up in Michigan, I know what cold weather feels like. Being cooped up inside for half the year is never fun. Now that I live in Utah, the ratio has shifted to about only 4 months of being stuck inside. For people who like to garden, and enjoy tending to their plants the winter can be a horribly long wait in some areas of the country. A greenhouse is the perfect way to extend your growing season however. This guy found some reclaimed windows on Craigslist, and was searching for a project to use them in. That’s when it came to him. A greenhouse would be absolutely perfect.
These are the windows he was able to snag off of Craigslist. They seem to be in decent shape.
He sketched out this design and got to work.
The main wall was designed in a grid layout, with 4 windows across and three windows high.
There is actually a formula for getting the perfect angle for your southern facing wall. You take the latitude of location, and add 10 degrees.
The rest of the frame was constructed after.
This portion will be covered with clear plastic for insulation.
Every greenhouse needs some little accents to give it some character.
These pieces will line the roof of the greenhouse adding some much needed character.
It was time for the windows to be installed!
Some screws and silicone caulk were all that was needed.
He wanted this place to be as simple as possible, so he went with a vibrant white for the paint color.
It’s coming together nicely.
They were finally ready to bring some dirt in.
Simple pieces of plywood were used to fill the holes that weren’t covered by windows.
The accents were then put on top, and everything that wasn’t painted white was given a fresh coat.
Now it was time to focus on the interior. They started by laying down stone.
The flagstone he used will help the greenhouse retain heat even better.
Shelving units were added to maximize the available space for growing.
The results were a complete success!
Chairs make this a fun place for the family to hang out together.
This was a great way to reuse these old, reclaimed windows. They probably would have just sat in someone’s garage collecting dust if this guy hadn’t come along. He was able to put them to good use though, and create a fun space for his whole family to hang out and enjoy a hobby they love. If you are looking to create your own greenhouse, you could probably easily find windows on Craigslist and do exactly what this guy did.