If you have ever lived in a big city, chances are high you’ve had to deal with window bars.

However, it’s unlikely that you would have them inside your apartment — especially on the 4th floor. My best guess is a previous tenant had small children and didn’t want them to fall out the window. I don’t have children so I’ll take my chances.

These window bars have bothered me since we moved in but, for some reason, Friday at 11pm I couldn’t stand them anymore. I insisted they be removed at once! The Scientist, being the dear that he is, went upstairs to get the wrench.

The removal took less than 10 minutes. What a nice surprise! Now we had time to watch one more episode of Downton Abbey before bed. BONUS.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. One quick trip to the hardware store and $10 later, we had the only tools we needed: Wood putty and sandpaper.

I got white wood putty because I’d be painting over it with white paint and wanted to minimize the required coats. Then I just put the putty in the holes and sanded it down when it was dry!

Once the puttying and sanding was all done, I used high-gloss white paint to cover up the boo-boos and blend the spots in with the rest of the trim. Tip: Always keep a small can of high-gloss white paint and a paintbrush on hand. Baseboards and trim are always getting scuffed up and it looks so much better when you touch those spots up with a little paint! MAGIC.

You can’t even tell where the holes were! So easy and SO much better. Now I can focus on fun stuff, like curtains (because mini-blinds are the devil). The Scientist will be so excited to find out about his our next project!