Winter makes me crazy. If I'm stuck inside, I want more than anything to be outside working in the yard. I get cold when the temperature drops under 72 degrees so I usually don't head out during this time of the year. Instead, I prep for those days when the ground isn't frozen and the sun hovers in the sky for longer, warmer days. One of my 'prep' projects is a Vintage Window Mini Greenhouse.
Much smaller than a typical greenhouse, the Vintage Window Mini Greenhouse takes up much less space and is perfect for pretty little container planters. Once set up, it provides an unexpected focal point to an area you may otherwise have no idea what to do with. And best of all, it's light enough to move around to your heart's content. Build one inside (or in a heated garage) during the winter when it's cold and cart it outside later!
You'll need:
* Six vintage windows. They need to be the same size. I'm using some old 6-sectioned windows that my awesome neighbor found for me at an estate sale. Yard sales, Facebook for sale groups, Craigslist, and your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (my favorite!) are also great places to find old windows.
* Ten screws. 8 of the screws should be long enough to be able to go through the width of one window and anchor into another. The last 2 will need to be long enough to go through your molding/trim into a window frame.
* Five hinges.
* A length of molding or trim, cut to the same length of a window. This length will dependent on how you set your windows up - in 'landscape' or 'portrait' orientation.
First, create a square box with four of the windows. I set my four windows with their longer sides down (in 'landscape' orientation) and used two screws per corner at top and bottom to connect one window to the next at a 90 degree angle.
Next, take a fifth window and stand it on top of one of your square box windows in the same orientation. For example, if you set up your box up with each in a 'landscape' orientation, make sure you hold the fifth one in the same landscape orientation. If you went with the 'portrait' orientation, stay with portrait on your fifth window.
Use a helper to hold this window up and in place while you use two of the hinges to connect this fifth window to the window below it. Make sure the hinges are attached on the inner side of the box and not the outside.
Place your last window the same way but directly across from your fifth window and connect it with hinges to the window underneath, again on the inner side of the box. When these last two windows have been attached, they can be folded inward at the hinges to make the 'roof' peak of the greenhouse.
Use the last hinge to connect the two 'roof' windows to each other. If you attach the hinge underneath where they meet (inside the apex), the hinge won't show from the outside.
Place your piece of molding / trim along the top of your roof apex and attach with the two remaining screws at both ends.
All done! When it finally warms up and you start to venture outside, simply use the openings at both ends to insert or remove containers and for watering. For added interest, make a floor out of old bricks for your containers to sit on inside the greenhouse!
