this part stressed me out more than any of it soley from the fact that the option of windows felt endless and I have zero interest in learning about windows right now. don't get me wrong I love having choices but when there are too many options decision fatigue starts to set in and everything gets a little blurry and I get grumpy real quick.
the situation
the situation with the windows was that one, we needed to pick what kind we wanted and they had to be black...all black everything. two, we needed to decide on location without really knowing how we are going to use most of the barn. and lastly we needed to make sure the cost of our barn didn't go sky high. out of the three I nailed two of them, the last one is debateable lol.
picking what kind of barn windows
turns out, shopping for windows has a very important parameter hidden. because there are so many different things to get on a window the price isn't fixed or even easily discrenable when scrolling online.
me shopping for design elements with no ability to see cost difference is not a healthy spot for my marriage. been there and don't want to go through that again.
I called my brother who is very knowledgable in building things [who's currently building their bigger than life dream house] and asked him what windows I wanted. I did zero research. thanks Kyle.
deciding on location of windows
July 2024 is when we were going on our 10 year wedding anniversary trip, congrats to us, we cute. I used the four hour car ride to Charlevoit, MI to decide how I wanted the barn to look from the outside while also trying to make sure the windows were in a functional spot for how we might use the barn...which is being made up as we go.
I threw my graph paper and pencil in my bag to sketch out some ideas. I had already created a vision of how I wanted the windows to be placed as I was doing my initial barn of our dreams planning.
I knew the back of the barn will be our workshop one day so of course we will want windows there. Bob is really pumped for 'racking'...or storage shelves as the rest of the world calls it. that meant I needed to make sure there was a decent amount of unincumbered wall space that we could use for shelving. too many windows would mess up Bob's 'racking' excitement.
I also knew that I definitely did not want the windows spaced evenly the whole length of the barn. I get the ease of this typical configuration but I'm not a symmetrical kind of girl and I'm definitely not typical.
details of the kitchen windows
I loved, loved, loved getting on a call with Bre and having her show me what the windows would actually look like in our space.
with her rendering software she can change the size and location so I could visualize what the options would be. since she had already drawn up our kitchen layout adjusting the windows was super quick and easy. thanks Bre.
like the plumbing we were planning where the windows would go before using the space in real time. we were having to envision how the space would flow functionally vs actually getting to experience it. this is what I'm good at but I also don't know it all [don't tell Bob that] so it was so great to have Bre giving her input as well.
moving the windows
Joey + Austin installed the window frames making everything the same height as the door frames. I get this and yet the windows would have been too low to have functional height counter space under neath of them. not the end of the world but also not the most effective use of space for me.
utilizing both wall and counter space as much as possible is gonna be crucial for keeping this future workspace organized.
our builders were so helpful in mathing backwards to help me figure out where our luxurious floors would come up to and how high a typical counter is and how much space to put between the counter and the windows. they gladly moved the window frames and Bob and I were really happy with the new height.
deciding instead of thinking
honestly the struggle of deciding on windows wasn't as bad as I would have said it was in the moment. it was the time constraints to get the windows ordered so there wasn't a hold on our build plus finding the best size without spending too much money but also not settling. I could have easily gotten stuck in analysis paralysis however the constraint of time didn't allow for this. thank goodness.
I think the biggest thing I learned from this is that knowing what I don't want is as beneficial as knowing what I do want.
not having a definite 'yes' doesn't make me less than. it's just a different way of getting there and it takes a lot of trust.
being confident in saying I don't know what I want, actively reaching out to those who can help me and trusting the process are what I'll be taking from this phase of building the barn of our dreams as we add the doors.
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