Window Wonderland

We have needed new windows ever since the beginning of time. Our old-school windows leak heat in winter like they're paid to do so. But the reality is that I just end up paying for them to do so. Thankfully, our windows were high on the priority list for repairs to the building for this spring/summer! Take a look at these before and after shots of our living room and kitchen windows (the bathroom, entryway, and bedroom windows were replaced as well!):

 Living room: Before

Living room: After 

Kitchen: Before

Kitchen: After

And just to keep things interesting, here are some pictures of the process in between. Which is the more interesting part, right? First of all, I didn't really think through what kind of mess the window removal and installation would involve. Just totally oblivious to that realm of thinking. But when the workers arrived and started in with their drills and saws and bangings, I just, wow. Total mess. My roommate and I hurriedly cut up a bunch of garbage bags and spread them all over the floors. It was helpful, but there was still a massive coating of dust on EV-ER-Y-THING afterwards.

Secondly, we didn't really know how long it would take. Again, in my la-la-land of Never-Having-Construction-in-My-Home-As-An-Adult I didn't really think about the fact that it would be an ongoing process. And this did not give my O.C.D. order-and-cleanliness any time to prepare for the total chaos that was our apartment for almost two weeks. You see, in Romania it seems that companies do one thing. Just one. So, we hired a company to put in our windows. Well, after they did so, there was not only a massive mess to clean up but also entirely exposed walls. Neither of which they dealt with.

So then we had to get someone else to come in and finish all that. Well, not the cleaning up part, my roommate and I did that. So the following week another dude from another company came to finish the windows. Starting at 750am on a Monday morning. Yeehaw! Another thing I did not know- that this would involve styrofoam. If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I have a MASSIVE PROBLEM WITH STYROFOAM. Not of the ethical/environment sort. But of the textures-that-make-my-skin-crawl sort. Or if you just know me and have had to deal with unpacking my new electronic gadget from its styrofoam encasing for me because it's an impossibility for me to touch it and not immediately fall to the floor in writhing discomfort. For instance. So this window finishing involved a lot of styrofoam. A lot of styrofoam that was cut and scraped and pushed and OH MY WORD I CAN'T EVEN WRITE THIS BECAUSE IT MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE. No joke, I had to change my plans for those days and be out of my house entirely. I honestly thought I might have a panic attack, it was sincerely unlike anything I have ever experienced. Just imagine the most irritating noise you can think of and imagine waking up to that very noise on a cold rainy Monday morning. And then having it constantly be a part of your life for 3 days IN YOUR HOME. Now crazy Spangles seems a touch less crazy, no?

So eventually he finished with the styrofoam and got to the spackling (or whatever it would actually be called here), and life was livable in my house again.

After this point I left to go to Ireland, so I didn't get anymore pictures of the process. But I did come home to find it all done and finished and restored to order (BIG THANKS to my dear roommate!), including a fresh coat of paint on the entire wall with windows in the living room. Nevermind that it is a yellow that is similar to the old yellow but not exactly, so it looks slightly strange. It's NEW PAINT! You can kind of see in the before/after shots above that the after has a different color. And in the kitchen it's particularly noticeable because the wall actually wasn't finished, so the new paint is just on part of the wall. And no, it doesn't bother me at all that my kitchen wall has two different colors of yellow on it. Ever. Ahem.

But in all honestly, despite my ridiculousness, I am SO THANKFUL to have new windows! Complete with mosquito screens so we won't be eaten alive this summer! They have already proved to be a huge blessing in keeping the outside sounds actually outside while letting more sunlight in, so I am sure they will continue to be a blessing for many years to come.