LETTING THE LIGHT IN

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen

TIDES OF TIME

I have a love for natural materials, and can get a bit upset when people throw away good quality materials in exchange for new and often poorer materials.  For a long time I had dreamed of  rescuing beautiful old windows to build a small house like the one I wrote about as the first story on this page.  I really wanted windows of the old sort, you know those who are a little wavy and let the light soak through so beautifully.

Hence I waited.
In the spring of 2016 I was lucky and got my hand on of windows from old handmade glass. Finally I could start planning my project based on this wonderful find. I wanted to use as little new materials as possible for this project and did spent quite a lot of time collecting materials from far and near.

The floor is made of sturdy floorboards that have previously carried horses in a stable. The beautiful doors in teak had a previous life in a house on the other side of town.  I have also filled  our garden house with furniture and discoveries from Loppis or friends and families` cellars and lofts ...

Around the windows are surplus materials from an interior project in carbonated wood. The roofing panels are not old though, but surplus materials from the garage we built a few years ago. We have also installed a small wood stove so we can warm up the cold evenings. The firewall is refurbished with environmentally friendly Kalei from Kalklitir. The back wall of rupanel was painted with lime paint from the same supplier.

Our little glass house has become just as nice as I dreamed about. A giant lantern that adorns the garden. Extending the outdoor season.

It is a place that drives the imagination and feeds my soul. It is as wonderful to sit here and watch the sunshine like it is to listen to the rain drum against the roof.  Every crack and notch is like a short visual poem, telling stories and puzzles about the tides of time. It reminds me that things does not have to be perfect in order to be beautiful. 

That makes me grateful. 

The Norwegian Interior magazine "Vakre Hjem & Interior"  has published an article about our glass house. I am very grateful that they promote things like this, which are not necessarily about things that can be bought in stores or are trendy right now. You can read the whole article here (in Norwegian)