When we purchased our home back in 2003, we felt very fortunate to still have five out of ten original 120 year old windows. Unfortunately ugly triple track aluminum storm windows had been installed over top of this original feature in an attempt to make the windows more energy efficient.

Actually, though they were unattractive, we're thankful the storm windows had been installed because without them I doubt the old windows would have survived. Our house's twin next door had its original windows were replaced in the last 20 years with energy efficient Marvin windows because the originals hadn't fared as well as ours. They look nice and keep the cold out, but they aren't the real deal -- true divided light wavy glass two over two windows.

When we finally decided to take the plunge and paint the house back in 2005, we had to make a decision about the storms. They had done their job but had outlived their useful lives. Pieces were broken, panes of glass fractured, screens torn in places, and several wouldn't close all the way. And worst of all, the front window weep holes has been painted over so many times that water would collect each time it rained. The decision was made to put the windows out of their misery and remove them from the house so we could strip the molding around the windows and get a good quality paint job. Here's what our house looked like mid-project. (And what a nice reminder this photo is of how fugly our old front stairs were! More on that project here.)

Now let me say this. In order to get Wendy to agree to toss the storm windows, I may have suggested (okay, so I flat out promised) that I would build new storm windows before that winter. Yeah, the winter we had six years ago. (I'm hiding behind a chair while writing this to avoid getting smacked.) Well, I'm finally making good on my long overdue promise of building storm widows for our home. Better late than never, right?

With this blog post I am hereby commiting that I will build, complete, and install working storm windows on our master bedroom, master bathroom, and living room windows. Count 'em, that's four functional storms on windows that belong to some of the coldest rooms of the house with the draftiest windows. I'll be chronicling the process here in the coming weeks. And if you're interested in building wooden storms for your house, or if you've already built them, I hope you periodically chime in with some comments and encouragement.

Drats. Wendy just noticed I didn't include a deadline in my pledge. Okay, okay. I will complete this task by (scratching head, doing calculations...hrm) January 31, 2012! There, I said it. (Walks away from the table.)