Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A New Look Through An Old Window

I mentioned towards the end of my Super Spray Paint Sunday post that we had something fun planned for another antique window (see the chalkboard we made with another here).  Back when we landed on a plan for the room, we knew we had to come up with a way to divide the space.  One side would be my dressing room/ closet and the other a sitting room (for a complete run down on this never ending room project check this link).  Originally Alex planned on building in a shelving unit to split the space, but we think we have a MUCH better idea now thanks to our good friend Amber

She asked if we had anymore of the original windows to our house in the basement and I said we had plenty.  She suggested we divide up the space by hanging one of those windows...Brillant!!! We love repurposing anything that's original to the house so we can give it new life and enjoy it everyday (just like that chalkboard).  Here's a look at some of our inspiration and the first DIY steps!

This inspiration photo is one from our own blog!  I remembered I had first seen a hanging antique window at Bachman's Idea House in December. It was hung to divide the stairwell and landing.

I found this one on The Stories of A2Z. I love the washed out wood on the frame.
This one is a little on the crazy side, but I thought the image was so cool!  This was on Curbly , you can make a whole wall out of vintage windows!
Ready, set, DIY! When we got one of the windows out of the basement, we noticed that the glue like substance on the inside of the glass panes was worn, and cracking pretty badly. Some of the panes were even loose and rattly.  We decided that it would be best to cut out the old concrete like glue and use caulk to make sure the glass panes were secure.  Here Alex is using a razor blade to remove that weird brittle glue.
Once that mess was complete Alex caulked all edges of the glass panes (sorry I don't have a picture- we ran out of space for photos!  No worries though, we bought some more space and should be back in business tomorrow).  Then, I used my trusty blue painters tape to prep for painting.
What are we painting exactly?  The glass!  Since this is going to hang and divide the space, we wanted to make sure it wasn't transparent.  For this we picked up Rust-Oleum's Frosted Glass spray paint (about $4 a can at the ol' HD). Side note: I still have to share a little bit of my Valentine's decor, I totally forgot!
 Alex had some real skills with this paint.  If I had done it, it would be a stripe-y streaky mess!  He did a great job using a continuous back and forth motion to make sure it was coating evenly and didn't look like total junk.  As of now this baby is drying in the basement!
Our goal is to get this repurposed piece of 1924 hung this weekend if not sooner.  I anticipate the event will be filled with lots of adult language (courtesy of Alex) since any 'Alex vs Gravity' project usually requires a dash of this special ingredient.  Wish us luck!

PS- I found out my crates shipped yesterday!  I hope I get them soon, super excited!

6 comments:

  1. Looks like the frosted glass came out nicely. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

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  2. can't wait to see the finished product!

    http://nauticalwheelerjewelry.blogspot.com/

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  3. i *love* the hanging window as a divider!! can't wait to see it hung & so excited for you to get your crates! :)

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  4. Very nice! Can't wait to see how this turns out. We have some old windows that we hope to incorporate into our wedding decor this summer. Any advice on how you get your man excited about doing these projects? I think it's great...however, I don't think I will have a partner in DIY crime...unless I can some how incorporate baseball and/or food into the projects. ;)

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  5. Sweet! We have a couple old windows we got for free but haven't made any projects yet. We keep going back and forth on what to do with them! That glue stuff is called glazing. At first I was like, "Oh no, caulk won't work" but then I realized it's just hanging indoors, it's not like it's going to get rained on. You're good :) Oh, and gravity/overhead projects are the worst. Swear away.

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