PHGafterwindow
Our home has beautiful dormer windows.

dormeroutside

I love the little recessed ledges inside each dormer. But, the window in our hallway always looked so sad.

BeforeWindow

Then one day it hit me! This poor window has been neglected and has no character, jewelry or bling! For whatever reason (maybe because I was sleep deprived?) it took me a year to realize that the window itself had not been painted white like the other windows in our home.

The first thing I did was grab a paint brush and paint the muntin bars (or grille), the bars that separate and hold the panes of glass. Don’t say I never taught you anything on this blog! Want to learn more about the anatomy of a window? Look on Pella’s website.

It looked better, but there was too much white, so I painted the recessed area a sunny yellow.

whitegrille

Wow, that looks better! But, the window still looked a little stark. That lonely plant just wasn’t pulling its own decorative weight.

So, I ran up to the attic where all the original shutters from our home are stored. I pulled two out of the attic and painted them with a pretty aqua blue oops paint.

Next, I took a sand paper and roughed up the edges and distressed them until you could see the dark green peeking through.

I bought four gate hinges at Lowe’s and mounted them on the bottom and middle rails. I knew that there were studs on the edges of the window well, so I drove my screws into those corner studs.

ShuttersUP

The tops of the shutters protruded over the window well, so I couldn’t use a gate hinge there. I painted a faux hinge on the shutters instead.

FauxHinge

I also painted a little sign over the dormer to fill up the visual blank space between the tops of the shutters. The board was just piece of scrap cabinet toe kick. And, yes, those are simple upholstery tacks holding it to the wall.

HereComestheSun

To create this little sign, I found a font I liked, then typed out the phrase on the computer. I was able to tile two sheets together to span the width of the board. I rubbed pencil on the backside of my paper. Then traced the letters on the front of the paper. By pushing hard with the pencil, my type was transferred on the wood. This allowed me to paint over the pencil marked letters: “Here Comes the Sun…” one of my favorite Beatles songs.

birdsinnest
 Sweet little birds waking up in their nest.

I dressed up the shutters by adding little keyhole drawer pulls.

keypull

I accessorized and put a little $5 Goodwill chair in the corner.

chairview
doggystop
flowersincorner

Around Christmas time I hung the star light for decoration, but it puts off the perfect amount of light for those darn night wakers. (Anyone else have those in your home?) So, it now hangs year round.

nightlight
I think this window is very happy now!
PHGafterwindow

What do you think? Does it need anything else? Maybe paint the chair or distress it? Or maybe that chair just needs a colorful cushion.

PHGFancySign

 

40 replies
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  1. K'sKronicles
    K'sKronicles says:

    I love your window…! A window seat perhaps would add a more comfy invitation to the lower part of the window, it looks amazing!!

    Reply
  2. Gloria (The Little Red House with the White Porch)
    Gloria (The Little Red House with the White Porch) says:

    Wow, did you do a great job on this! You have very wonderful ideas. PLUS, where did you get that little dog holding up the books??? SO ADORABLE!! I want him!!!!! 🙂
    Best,
    Gloria

    Reply
  3. Handy Man, Crafty Woman
    Handy Man, Crafty Woman says:

    Love this!!! I *might* add a cushion to the chair, but that's it, probably.

    Recently found your blog and I love it! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Entertaining Women
    Entertaining Women says:

    Your amendments to the dormer have made a valuable impact to your landing. I can imagine that you will tweak the area periodically, and whatever you add or edit will be wonderful! Thank you for sharing your charming renovation. Cherry Kay

    Reply
  5. The Pennington Point
    The Pennington Point says:

    I'm telling you, I am SO crazy about those faux gate hinges! That's the kind of thing I would do and my mother would look at me like I had lost my mind. Thanks for being a kindred spirit. 🙂 Lisa~

    Reply

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