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How our kitchen diner window looked previously

When we worked on our kitchen renovation in 2016, there were a lot of details to get right all at the same time. Often, you just don’t have the headspace or budget to complete everything at once. You have to choose your favourite children…

So for us, the only part of our kitchen diner that was left incomplete was our side window. We didn’t really know when we were getting our external windows done so this was put on the back-burner.

As you can see, the old window had glass that would have looked good in 1940s Germany, with a classy quasi-swastika design throughout 😬 Not quite the kitchen diner ideas we see in homes today!

We polished a turd pretty fantastically with this window using this uPVC window cleaner and said to ourselves it looks OK… for now.

Fast forward a few years, we got our upvc windows replaced at the front of the house, and Fi and I decided we were tired of the ‘Third Reich’ stylings. It was time to rip that ugly monster out.

Our new window choice

Our current kitchen window and doors are from Bereco. We worked with them on our kitchen diner makeover and we were thrilled with the result. Take a look…

It was an obvious choice for us to to ‘complete’ our room with a Bereco window in the same style.

We had a pretty good idea about what we wanted to achieve, the colour and style just had to match. We did some design options ourselves using Fi’s design know-how. She measured and drew the window to size, drawing up glazing options on Sketchup.

**An early version of the window that fi drew**

Bereco windows are made from sustainably sourced engineered softwood and hardwood. We have been super happy with quality of our current window and door. With the door for example, you can literally feel the quality and security the door provides, it’s heavy and has a satisfying clunk when closing.

If you’re interested in getting your windows and/or doors supplied by them, quote our order number HS7088 when you make an enquiry and they’ll give you £150 off your order.

Bereco provide their windows and doors painted in a colour of your choice. We love Farrow and Ball’s Bone and since this is in our kitchen currently, this theme would continue here. The finish was perfect.

Measuring the opening

During the height of the pandemic we went via Bereco’s new remote measuring service via Zoom which was much simpler than I had imagined. The Bereco staff were excellent with talking me through the measurements, being very patient with me as a window measuring noob.

In retrospect, I probably should have used a laser measure instead of a tape measure (or a combination of both). It’s generally quicker and easier to get an accurate measurement with a laser measure. This is the one we’ve found handy.

During the call we had a slightly confusing moment when I had measured the gap and it was coming up slightly irregular across the height of the window. It was only when I went outside that I realised that our window is a very slight brick arch! Those 1930s house builders sure had a lovely eye for the tiny details…

The Bereco window design

It’s surprising how many configurations and specifications you can have with a window, and Bereco are highly customisable with each element, everything from window bar type, glass design, glazing choice, handles, direction of opening and so on, can all be specified.

This is how the design looked when it came back from Bereco. We actually decided to go with a portrait orientation for the panes which was a suggestion from Bereco. We thought it looked a little prettier than our original design:

We decided to go pattern-less (for obvious reasons) and couldn’t go for a clear glass as the window backs onto our neighbour’s kitchen window. Frosted glass is inoffensive, lets in loads of light and it gave us the added bonus of disguising our neighbour’s brick wall and down pipe view. Gotta love city life for the remarkable views!

Bereco window delivery and fitting

Having measured this window myself over Zoom, I’m not going to lie, seeing that window all pristine and shiny on the pallet, there was a teeny tiny element of uncertainty in my mind about whether it would fit 😬

Our trusty builder Matt was on hand to help install our window. I really like my builder, nothing seems to phase him and everything just seems like a big, fun challenge (well most of the time anyway).

He quoted 2 days work to rip out and replace (one man, with me helping for various parts).

One thing that might surprise a new renovator is how long a seemingly small job might take. Once you take into account the DIY to complete it which I did, the whole job took 4 man days.

Firstly, we put up a platform outside (our house sits quite high) and the old window was taken out. It was extremely satisfying to get rid of that old thing.

The new window needed to be fitted from the inside and in order to do this, the window recess needed to be trimmed down which would create a lot of dust - boooo!

We had the bright idea to nip down to B&Q and get some plastic dust sheets to create a partition between our dining room and kitchen. We didn’t fancy finding dust in our breakfast for the next 5 years… Been there, done that.

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Because our current sill was higher than the old window, it would need to be trimmed out and a line cut through the existing panelling so that the new window sill could be fitted slightly lower.

We didn’t really like our previous window ledge, it was sort of unceremonious; just a flat piece of wood. So really this was an upgrade for us and Fi would have a bit more space to play with for plant pots and faffy bits!

We tried three times to get the window in until the gap was finally big enough. But when it was in, it was literally and figuratively a weight off our shoulders 😊 We were safe, dry and now we could relax a little.

Finishing the job off

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After the window was put in I had a bit of job on my hands to finish it off. Although our builder left the job very well there was some finishing to do, filling, sanding and painting.

I would say that I am now at the peak of my filling and sanding career having been doing this for many years. I know what works and what doesn't in terms of kit and I’ve had a few tip-offs here and there too.

In my killer filler equipment arsenal I have my secret weapon Toupret filler which is awesome, these Europeans sure know how to make a good filler! It's easy to mix, rapid drying and smoother than a really smooth....thing! I'm also rocking the Pro-Fill filling knife set (I can’t find a link online but you can get this from places like Brewers decorator centres) and I now wouldn't use anything else.

I've been using a Makita BO5041 240 V Random Orbit Sander which makes light work of large wall areas plus a cheap sanding block from Homebase which works great for those smaller detail areas.

Pro tip - Quick Step samples double as great filler trays.

Hope this helps someone else earlier on in their DIY career!

The final result

We’re super happy with the result, it’s made a huge difference to the wow factor of this wall.

One unexpected bonus is that we are certain that the frosted glass has brought more light into our north facing kitchen by diffusing it which means this room feels much brighter at all times of day but most importantly in the afternoon when the sun disappears to the other side of our house.

I’d say the only problem we had was with the locking mechanisms initially not fitting into the metal receipts which was easily resolved via a 5 minute Zoom call and a little bit of easy adjustment by yours truly.

The outside now looks so much better it’s untrue! It’s really enhanced the outside of the house.

It feels amazing to finally ‘complete’ our kitchen and it just shows how you can do things like this after the fact if you need to.

Bereco discount code

We highly rate Bereco and managed to secure our blog readers and students a whopping £150 off their orders. Quote HS7088 when you make a design consultation.