Postcards from Real Life: Glass

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Our home renovation project has taught us that the amount of glass in our house is a quality of life issue.  

I’ve long imagined how amazing this sun room must have been in its heyday. This huge stretch of windows was in a historic cabin at Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I visited it from time to time during my Tremont photography workshops. I’d gaze through the glass into the now-decrepit haven and picture myself there. How amazing must have it have been to sit there immersed in the Smokies and enjoying the view but still have a sanctuary from weather and insects? Glass is an amazing invention that way.

By contrast, in our little shit show of a house we’re renovating, there is a distinct lack of glass. It’s a poorly designed mid-1970s house. And I do mean very fucking poorly designed. To the point of absurdity.

If you’re thinking “Why the hell did you buy it then?” Well that’s a complicated story I’ve only partially addressed so far.

Sometimes I think windows were an after thought in its design. Yet it does have a striking 9-foot wide sliding door. That’s a lot of glass in one spot for this little house. Given our modest square footage it’s ridiculously disproportionate. But at the same time it’s fabulous—and one of the crucial elements that made this house worth taking on.

As for the rest of the house, we’ve enlarged and added windows to get more glass. Our efforts have dramatically increased air flow and natural light. But the basic house design presented limitations to how much we could do.

Those changes we could make though, have improved the livability and enjoyability of this long-abused and unloved little house by leaps and bounds. And it’s good enough under the circumstances.

Even though our view isn’t of the glorious forests of the Smokies, a little more glass does give us a better view of our emerging native garden—the little sanctuary we’re nurturing day by day.

Peace out!

Bluesky Art Show

This post is inspired by the Bluesky Art Show, a challenge to share artwork surrounding a weekly theme each Saturday.