Making a take-out window

How to modify screens for easy opening 

By Penny Caldwell

Tired of running back and forth from the deck to the nearest door when you need the ketchup, another cold drink, sunscreen, your book, or other essentials from inside the cottage? If your screens are the kind that are held in place with hooks and eyes, here's an easy renovation to turn your window into a takeout counter.

First, determine which side of the screen you want to be hinged (remember that it will always open outwards). Remove the hooks and eyes from that side. To keep the screen from becoming hinge-bound or scuffing on the bottom, fit it loosely into the window opening before you install the hinges. Then slide two putty knives or other thin spacers between the sill and the bottom of the window to maintain a narrow gap while you mark the placement of the hinges, which should be about a quarter of the way from the top and bottom of the screen. Put a handle on each side of the screen for easy opening and closing and, voilà , you're done. You can latch the screen closed by doing up the remaining hooks and eyes. 

—Penny Caldwell

Published in the March 2002 issue of Cottage Life magazine.

Copyright © 2002 by Cottage Life. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, photograph, or artwork, for other than personal use, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden.