“I know you here in the darkness, How you sit in the throne of my eyes, At peace, and look out of the windows In glad surprise.”
D.H. Lawrence Venus ascends in the western night sky, and then retreats below the horizon as, hours later, the morning sun rises in the west and spends its good light on a new day. To see this glorious view, thrill seekers might travel to a mountaintop, a desert or maybe a stretch of beach. Dave Florek can take it all in from his small but generous Van Nuys bedroom. “I love seeing the moon and stars,” Florek said. “Then you wake up and see the sun rise. This room is just a nice place to be. Florek and his wife, Leigh Podgorski, renovated the single-room, second-story addition to their home last year. Although a small bath and closet were added and a captain’s bed with drawers was custom-built for the room, the choice of windows – in several styles – is what has made the room more than just a place to sleep, he says. Above the headboard of their bed, which abuts the room’s western wall, a small octagonal window with mullions was installed. It maintains privacy while allowing a beautiful stream of early evening light – and later, moonbeams and starshine – to stream across the bed.
There’s another charming outcome that Florek likes. The intruding light casts a shadow of the quaint window against the opposite wall, where a casement window has been installed. “The original idea was to put a couple of the octagonals on the front of the house. Nevertheless it didn’t work. Yet, what we have is better than what I’d originally wanted,” Florek says. When Florek and Podgorski began their renovation, the west wall of the 10- by 15-foot room was solid. By installing a large casement window, they gained a full view of the sunrise over trees and their roofline with no loss of privacy. Nevertheless they didn’t stop there. To give the room a sense of greater dimension, the couple installed a bay window on the north wall where they can sit and gaze at their pool or read. The room is so small – there’s no place for a chest of drawers. That’s why we had the captain’s bed built. Nevertheless the windows, they provide … space,” Florek says.
And there’s something else, something less tangible. The room feels safe and yet within the grasp of nature’s glory. Or, as Shakespeare wrote in Cymbeline, “Under these windows, white and azure laced, with blue of heaven’s own tinct. I’m Looking Through You, What Do I See?’ The Beatles weren’t singing about window design when they recorded I’m Looking Through You. Nevertheless they may have been suggesting how transparent human beings can be especially when choosing windows! Are you hip and contemporary? Or are you loyal to tradition? Is your budget tight? Or being money not an issue, whereas comfort, energy efficiency and style are? I’m looking through you. Between-the-glass blinds are a great way to mitigate intense light, and can be raised and lowered at will. Between-the-glass fabric shades also are available in the door and window styles casement and double-hung and don’t require cleaning since windowpanes protected them. Nevertheless these products are pricey.
D.H. Lawrence Venus ascends in the western night sky, and then retreats below the horizon as, hours later, the morning sun rises in the west and spends its good light on a new day. To see this glorious view, thrill seekers might travel to a mountaintop, a desert or maybe a stretch of beach. Dave Florek can take it all in from his small but generous Van Nuys bedroom. “I love seeing the moon and stars,” Florek said. “Then you wake up and see the sun rise. This room is just a nice place to be. Florek and his wife, Leigh Podgorski, renovated the single-room, second-story addition to their home last year. Although a small bath and closet were added and a captain’s bed with drawers was custom-built for the room, the choice of windows – in several styles – is what has made the room more than just a place to sleep, he says. Above the headboard of their bed, which abuts the room’s western wall, a small octagonal window with mullions was installed. It maintains privacy while allowing a beautiful stream of early evening light – and later, moonbeams and starshine – to stream across the bed.
There’s another charming outcome that Florek likes. The intruding light casts a shadow of the quaint window against the opposite wall, where a casement window has been installed. “The original idea was to put a couple of the octagonals on the front of the house. Nevertheless it didn’t work. Yet, what we have is better than what I’d originally wanted,” Florek says. When Florek and Podgorski began their renovation, the west wall of the 10- by 15-foot room was solid. By installing a large casement window, they gained a full view of the sunrise over trees and their roofline with no loss of privacy. Nevertheless they didn’t stop there. To give the room a sense of greater dimension, the couple installed a bay window on the north wall where they can sit and gaze at their pool or read. The room is so small – there’s no place for a chest of drawers. That’s why we had the captain’s bed built. Nevertheless the windows, they provide … space,” Florek says.And there’s something else, something less tangible. The room feels safe and yet within the grasp of nature’s glory. Or, as Shakespeare wrote in Cymbeline, “Under these windows, white and azure laced, with blue of heaven’s own tinct. I’m Looking Through You, What Do I See?’ The Beatles weren’t singing about window design when they recorded I’m Looking Through You. Nevertheless they may have been suggesting how transparent human beings can be especially when choosing windows! Are you hip and contemporary? Or are you loyal to tradition? Is your budget tight? Or being money not an issue, whereas comfort, energy efficiency and style are? I’m looking through you. Between-the-glass blinds are a great way to mitigate intense light, and can be raised and lowered at will. Between-the-glass fabric shades also are available in the door and window styles casement and double-hung and don’t require cleaning since windowpanes protected them. Nevertheless these products are pricey.
