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I hope to see you there!

~Jenni



Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Painted kitchen window



If you can't replace it, paint it!
This has become my motto...well, one of them anyway! :)
When we first moved into our fixer-upper home eight years ago, we immediately brought out the paint brushes. As many of you know, paint is truly one of the most affordable ways to update an old, neglected home, second only to a complete scrubbing! :) I have come to believe that there is very little that cannot be painted! Walls, floors, fireplaces, windows...yes, windows. Think very ugly, old aluminum windows.
Windows like this:


This was our sad garden window, last fall. We realized we weren't going to be able to replace it as soon as we'd hoped.

As you can see, I was in the process of putting the bead board up, and I knew with all of that painted white, that dark window frame would stick out like a sore thumb!


See what I mean? It was driving me crazy! BUT...when my husband half-jokingly suggested I paint it, I gave it some serious thought...and decided why not? I had never heard of doing it before, but that didn't mean it couldn't be done successfully, right? At least, that's what I hoped...
So I started with the bottom "shelf" of the garden window, figuring it it started going badly, I could stop with that and it wouldn't look too strange! :) I primed it twice and painted it, and all went well. So I taped around the window frame so I wouldn't get paint on the glass, and primed and painted until it looked like this...


I was pleased with the results, after all was said and done!
Now, a few weeks ago, I noticed there were some spots on the window that I needed to touch up. And one thing led to another, and I kind of ended up touching up the whole thing...
{But if you are thinking of trying this, don't worry, you won't have to repaint it every year! That is just me being a total perfectionist!}

{In this picture, versus the previous one, you can see the window and cabinets are trimmed out now.}

But now I am DONE. For real. And to celebrate, I even sewed a curtain valance!
And it turned out almost how I'd imagined. I didn't want a seam on the bottom, but I couldn't figure out a way to avoid it, so there it is. And this I am not touching up! ;)


{The ribbons are easy enough to remove if I want a different color at some point.}


Now I am almost done with this project...this one I have had half done since January! (This is a picture from then.)


I hope to show you the "after" picture next week! I think it's a success, but this was much more tricky than the window, so I am going to breathe a sigh of relief when it's done!
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and a great weekend!

Blessings,
Jenni

Linking to the following blog parties:

21 comments:

Beth said...

So, I'm interested in knowing the process for painting the doors. I have HIDEOUS sliders to our deck, that I can't replace anytime soon. I'm hoping to paint the faux golden oak trim, but could use some pointers. Thanks. And love your blog.
Beth

Erin said...

This is absolutely gorgeous Jenni! I love what you have done and the valance is beautiful! Fantabulous Job!!

Jessica said...

Your window turned out beautiful! And I love the beadboard. Can't wait to see your magic on the sliding door!

Julie said...

It looks absolutely gorgeous! No need for a new one!

Samantha@yearofhomeandhealth said...

What a great use of paint! Now you don't have to replace it - it looks really good!

Robin Beck said...

Love how it turned out so much!
By the way...Your backyard greenbelt looks much like mine! :)

Have a great weekend!

Robin~♥

Home as Hobby said...

Jenni, it looks amazing! It is wonderful what a little paint can do. :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful, Jenni! What kind of paint did you use? Was it a vinyl paint? Metal paint? I have older wooden windows that were painted the pretty shade of pale mustard back in the day but repainted them will involve removing the sills, etc. Love your valance.

Did you get my email reply about how to respond to comment via email?

Also, I have a Sunday Sparkle party going on if you have anything sparkly to link up.

Oh, and I found the perfect shade of grayish white (with a neutral base). Intense White by Ben Moore. LOVE it. It's actually a creamy white base with gray undertones.

I guess I had some catching up to do, huh?

Hugs,
Jami

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

Jenni - This is an amazing transformation. Your kitchen is simply gorgeous and I love the white. Fantastic job! I'll be featuring this tomorrow - Stop by and grab a featured button if you like. Thanks for linking to The Sunday Showcase - I greatly appreciate it! Hope you have a fabulous week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

Genius!!! I love this transformation...I would have never thought about painting aluminum windows...you did a wonderful job!!!

Life In The Thrifty Lane said...

Looks great an I really like your curtain valance too!!! Visiting from Under the Tableand Dreaming

Unknown said...

what a transformation.
we have lots of windows in our house that don't match and have often thought of painting them- maybe I should give it a go!

Brandi said...

great job on the window! i love your kitchen and the touches of red.

Jamie said...

I just found your blog & think it's wonderful! You're home is really beautiful! I'm off to check out the rest of your blog now. Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

I love the valance! So cute!

Susan said...

What a great transformation. I love your valance. Trying to do something like that in my living room/dining room. Would love if you did a tutorial showing how you made them?

Kitty Deschanel said...

What a huge difference! If you get a chance, I'd love for you to stop by & post this on Not "Baaad" Sundays with LambAround. The Linky should be up this evening :)

(You may also want to check out my post titled "Is It Dead?" - suddenly the view out your window is going to seem top-notch!)

Unknown said...

What a great idea to paint the window frame. I'm sure it will inspire others. I love the little curtain and the beadboard too. I just did a post about NOT having a window above my kitchen sink. I really like the beadboard and the light from your window.

Anonymous said...

Love the changes that you have made here. It's just perfect. I think we have very similar taste. I did the same window treatment in our dining room, just recently.

Looks amazing! Fun to look around your blog!

Blessings,
Michelle

Brook said...

Does your garden window leak or why do you not want to keep it?

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