FRAMING A WINDOW

This was my first experience with framing and I was extremely nervous! Framing AND working on an exterior wall were intimidating, but it ended up not being as scary as I anticipated. I took it slow, one step at a time, and was able to figure it out with the help of some Internet searches and Youtube videos. Here's how it went:

The Plan:

As you can see in the original floor plan, there's a bay window with a breakfast nook just left of the kitchen. Since we included a large island in our kitchen remodel and already had a formal dining space, I didn't think this breakfast nook was the best use of the space. In addition, the door to the backyard made the living room layout feel awkward and limited furniture placement.

I decided that replacing the bay window with French doors to the backyard and framing in the little door would be the perfect solution. The space for the French doors was just about 1'' smaller than standard ones, so we had to order a custom set. This was a bit pricey, but the end result was worth it. Since we spent more on the French doors, I decided to tackle the window situation myself.

I took off the casing around the door to asses the door jam situation. It didn't look too complicated, so i removed the door and jam:

The studs were accessible on either side, so all I had to do was build a small frame to support the bottom of the window:

Thankfully I was able to find a window at a construction salvage store that was the perfect height and width.

I installed the sides of the window to the studs and added plywood to the exterior side of my frame.

Next I added insulation and drywall to the inside wall and around the window.

Finally, I just needed to tape and mud the drywall and paint the window sill.

Here it is after fresh paint!