Old Windows Greenhouse

A photo of my completed greenhouse.

So, this is what I started out with, not bad but not too good either. I had no plans just a vision of what I wanted to do. I wanted a better home for my Tomato 🍅 plants. It was a little challenging but I’m happy with the results. I will explain the steps further but before you begin, look at photos that can inspire your vision.

I was lucky, I found someone that sold old windows for $5 a piece. I used 12 windows for this greenhouse and picked similar sizes to keep it less complicated for myself.

I used hinges to attach the windows to each other. I used 2 hinges per every 2 windows; one for the upper part and a second for the lower part of the windows. I felt this would provide more stability. It was very easy and just a matter of screwing them in place.

In my before photo above, I showed a photo that included the base for my previous tomato cover. I won’t call it a greenhouse lol Anway, it was one of those pre-fab garden beds. You can either choose to purchase that or simply get wood and build a base for your greenhouse. I think I’d do that if I hadn’t already had a base. All I did after I attached the windows to the hinges, was screw them into the base at the bottom. I did this all around the base except at the front, where I planned to build mini doors using windows. You will see what I mean later but just picture 2 windows attached by hinges and those windows then screwed into place at the base to secure them in place, did that make sense 🙆🏻‍♀️ You would do this to both sides of the house and also to the back, leaving the front open to attach the doors.

Originally I thought I could just attach the windows/roof on top to the sides of the windows BUT that didn’t work lol so, I decided to drill three 1x4s on top of the windows from one end to the other. I drilled one towards the back of the house, in the center and towards the front. They’re each 6ft long, I wanted them to extend over the sides of the house for decor. I then placed the windows on top of them and leaned the tops towards each other like a roof, triangle shape. I hope that makes sense too 🤦🏻‍♀️

Here’s another view of the roof and the 1x4s extending over the sides of the house.

I also used windows for the doors and attached them also using hinges. Each window was attached at one only side and onto the windows that I used for the sides of the house, leaving the front of the windows open so I can access my tomatoes. I purchased little glass door knobs from Hobby Lobby and attached them to the windows to make them look more like doors.

A close up photo of the knobs, I really think they look like those old glass door knobs 😍

I added some decorative pieces like the wrought iron you see in the top front of the roof, chandeliers and the rooster on top of the roof. I also decided to staple chicken wire to the windows that didn’t have glass to prevent critters from getting to my tomatoes.

Here’s a front view of the greenhouse. I think it was a fairly easy project and we love it. Now, if I can convince my husband to let me build a huge one 😉 I hope I was able to explain the process with clarity and I hope you like it! 🍅🌿🍅🌿Happy DIYing and if you want to see more of what I do, please come visit me on Instagram at   https://www.instagram.com/mycreativekneads/