Skylights quadrupled our living room light
When I saw an ad for a Dream Home Giveaway in HGTV Magazine, I swooned over the photos for a moment, but decided not to enter. I’d tried my hand at this competition in the past — actively submitting multiple times per day for a few weeks, only to come up Dream Home-less, along with thousands of other people. “It’s a long shot,” I thought.
When I happened upon a smaller ad for a skylights sweepstakes, I carefully read the instructions: Send us photos of your dark room and tell us why skylights would brighten your life. That, I thought, was more doable, so I went online and uploaded photos of my living room, explaining that my plants and I would be much happier with natural light pouring in.
A couple of months later, as I was making my morning rounds of email deletions, I nearly trashed a message with the subject line: “HGTV Magazine & Velux Skylights Sweepstakes Winner!” I’m so glad I didn’t. The first line of the email read “Congratulations! You have been selected as a potential WINNER of the fifth wall sweepstakes with VELUX Skylights and HGTV Magazine.”
Skeptical but hopeful, I forwarded the message to my husband Martin and wrote, “Holy crap! I think I won a contest,” then cordially replied to the HGTV Magazine Marketing Manager, and within a few weeks, I was following through with all the steps: filling out affidavits, talking with friendly folks at Velux Skylights, and scheduling with installers. Here’s how it all played out…
Before skylights
Our dark living room before skylights.
After skylights!
Solar-powered Velux Skylights
The whole fam, including Janis Joplin the dog.
The skylights and light-diffusing blinds are solar-powered and remote-controlled.
My husband Martin practices classical guitar by skylight.
The skylight installation process
Step 1: Cut holes in the roof
Step 2: Install the solar-powered skylights
Step 3: Install drywall to cover the exposed “guts” of the roof.
Step 4: Patch the ceiling.
Step 5: Paint the ceiling.
Read a more detailed story here on WhySkylights.com.
Amy Cuevas Schroeder is the cofounder and Chief Content Officer of Jumble & Flow, the new lifestyle brand that empowers women to thrive in midlife. She started her first business, Venus Zine, in her dorm room at Michigan State University, and later sold the company. She now lives in the Chicago area, and is raising twin girls with her husband, Martin, a social worker. She’s worked as a content leader for Etsy, Minted, and Abstract, and has written for NYLON, Pitchfork, The Startup, and more.
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