Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Vintage Window Weekend

This past weekend, I decided to give in to my urge (it's a terribly persistent urge) to start another home improvement project.  But since my condo is for sale, I needed to make sure it was something we could take with us.  It didn't take long for me to start thinking about our living room- over the sofa, we have been using a set of Chinese watercolors (my first real art purchase, from a gallery in Shanghai) but I've been using them there for about 6 years, and I'm a little bored with them.  So I decided to swap them out.  But with what?

I recalled seeing a giant barn window in a friend's house a few years back, and that is when things started clicking.  I called my Dad, who is the best person I know for tracking down budget-friendly antiques (after all, he scored my vintage steamer trunks)...

Hey Dad, do you happen to have any old windows lying around?

Of course I do!  How many do you want?  Actually, I'll just send you them all...


And that's how I became the proud owner of five antique paned glass windows!!  Turns out our family friends had recently redone their farmhouse and had gotten rid of a slew of windows- I love knowing where they're from!  They arrived in great shape, but filthy, so the first thing I did was clean them up.  But even post-cleaning, the paint was chipping and peeling all over the place, and I was worried about lead.  I tested them and they tested negative, but given the condition of the windows (and just to be safe) I decided to give them a coat of paint anyways.

[caption id="attachment_2756" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="These are the two I didn't use yet- you can see that they are clean but need some work."]These are the two I didn't use, in their clean but original state.[/caption]

Some of the windows are from the house, and others are from old kitchen cabinets.  I selected one house, and two cabinets, and got to work.  First, one super-thick coat Zinser primer, leftover from when we redid our kitchen cabinets.  This stuff is pretty thick so it seals, covers stains, and also because of the thickness, it shows brush strokes- which was perfect here.  I went for a very rustic paint job- imperfections were ok because once finished, I took sandpaper all over the windows to distress the finish.  I further distressed the finish using watered-down antique white and brown paint (the white was leftover from a wedding project, the brown was a sample size from Home Depot).  Then I screwed eye hooks into the tops of the frames, along with 8-inch strands of chain (also from Home Depot).  It took me about two afternoons (not counting dry time) to get this project done from start to finish and I'm in LOVE!

[caption id="attachment_2757" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The finished project over my sofa!"]The finished product over my sofa![/caption]

Best part?  The cost!  Here's how I came out:


Windows: free (thanks Dad!)


Primer: free (leftover from past project)


Paint: $2.99 for tester of Behr paint from home depot


Lead paint test kit: $9.99


Eye hooks: free (leftovers from a past project)


Chain: $2.00 for 6 8-inch lengths of chain


30-Lb wall hangers: $.99


TOTAL SPENT:  $15.97


Ok I know what you're thinking: that's nice Sarah, but what does this have to do with weddings? Well, doing this project made me think... wouldn't it be awesome to use old windows like this at a wedding?  Old windows could be used to make a  folding screen to hold escort cards, a frame for old family wedding photos, or they could even be painted with chalkboard paint  to use as a menu like this bride did:




[caption id="attachment_2758" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="DIY Window Chalkboard Menu, from Ruffled Blog!"][/caption]

Or maybe you could have guests use permanent ink to sign your window as a creative guest book, one you could hang in your home later?  Or simply use a window to welcome guests into your space.  Oh how I love antique windows.

[caption id="attachment_2759" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This may be a Christmas vignette, but you could definitely do this to coordinate with your wedding too!"][/caption]

What uses can you think of for vintage windows?  Any ideas for what I should do with my remaining two?

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