Creative Decorating Ideas Using Old Windows

Tip! A small personal development secret that I know is when you have cleaned your windows you'd feel fantastic.

A Room With A View

Have you ever wished you had a great view right outside your bedroom window but all you see when you wake up in the morning is the wall of the next-door neighbor's house? Well then follow these easy steps to create your own window with a great view.

What You Will Need for This Decorating Project:

1. An old window preferably with the glass still intact. You can find these at flea markets or salvage yards.

2. Poster or picture with a pretty view large enough to put behind the window.

3. 2 mug hooks

4. 1 nail

5. Wire

6. 10 thumbtacks

7. Hammer

If you want to paint the window, do this before moving on to the first step. You should consider though that sometimes the weathered, antique look adds a lot of charm.

How to Get This Look:

- Put the window on the floor and put the poster or picture on it so that the front is facing down.

- Use the thumbtacks to attach the picture or poster to the window.

- Make sure the picture is right side up.

- Lean the window against the wall so that you are looking at the back.

- Put the 2 mug hooks on the back of your window in the top corners.

- Make sure the opening for the mug hooks is facing down.

- Use the wire to create a "hanger" for the window. Secure the two ends of the wire on the mug hooks. Make sure there is a lot of excess wire so that when you hang the window the wire creates a triangle with 4-inch sides.

- Hammer the nail into the wall where you want your window.

- You can now add window treatments to it just as you would a normal window or wrap silk flower garlands around the wire.

Tip! If you've ever doubted the power of the sun, the glare and heat generated in a home with large windows will change your mind. Boiled down to its basic elements, the sun is a nuclear reactor that sends more energy in the form of sunlight to the earth in one day than the entire world uses in one year.

Old windows can be used in a variety of ways. Here are just a few more creative ideas for the old window and a plain wall.

Decoupage pressed flowers on the different panes of glass. Try using whole flowers or just petals for an interesting country garden look.

Decoupage postcards from around the world into the panes or pictures of a favorite city, like Paris.

Paint the frame to match your child's room. Attach clothespins (also painted in a coordinated color) all around the outside of the window. As you child grows attach school pictures to the panes and let them use the clothespins to showcase their drawings, report cards and other mementos. When the child graduates you have a ready-made decoration.

Make etched glass designs in the panes or make faux stained glass out of the windowpanes. Your local craft store should have everything you need to do this, from instructions to materials.

Use the window to create a fun decorative piece in the kitchen. Get a shelf the same width as the window and paint it the same color. Put the shelf on the wall just above the window so they look like one piece. Put mug hooks evenly spaced along the bottom of the window frame and use them to hold cute mugs, wire whisks, ladles, potholders or other items. Put recipe books along with a few decorative items that match your kitchen on the shelf, such as a vase of flowers, decorative plates or a nice clock.

Tip! Greenhouse windows that come piecemeal are for those who wish to customize or build their own greenhouse, or for those who need to replace an individual window that has broken or otherwise ceased to perform. Be sure that the manufacturer specifications match the measurements of the fittings in which you will have the windows installed.

© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard. This article is provided courtesy of The Do It Yourself Home Decorating Network - http://www.diyhomedecorating.com - a large and growing decorating and decor website featuring articles, tips, advice, and popular decor shopping. This article may be freely published on any website, as long as the author, copyright, website address and link, and this notice are left intact.

Serving Massachusetts and the Greater Boston Area including the towns of:
Essex County
Northern Essex
Eastern Essex
Southern Essex
Western Essex
Amesbury
Beverly
Danvers
Andover
Groveland
Essex
Lynn
Boxford
Haverhill
Gloucester
Marblehead
Byfield
Merrimac
Hamilton
Nahant
Georgetown
Newbury
Ipswich
Peabody
Lawrence
Newburyport
Manchester
Salem
Grace
Bliss
Smith
Lynnfield
Rowley
Rockport
Salem
Methuen
Salisbury
Topsfield
Saugus
Middleton
West Newbury
Wenham
Swampscott
North Andover

Middlesex County
Acton
Arlington
Arlington Heights
Ashby
Ashland
Auburndale
Ayer
Bedford
Belmont
Billerica
Boston College
Boxboro
Boxborough
Burlington
Cambridge
Cambridgeport
Carlisle
Chelmsford
Cherry Brook
Chestnut Hill
Cochituate
Concord
Devens
Dracut
Dunstable
East Arlington
East Cambridge
East Pepperell
East Somerville
East Watertown
Everett
Farm Hill
Forge Village
Fort Devens
Framingham
Framingham Center
Framingham So
Groton
Hanscom Air Force Base
Harvard Square
Harwood Station
Hastings

Holliston
Hopkinton
Hudson
Inman Square
Kendal Green
Kendall Square
Lexington
Lincoln
Lincoln Center
Lindenwood
Littleton
Lowell
Malden
Maplewood
Marlboro
Marlborough
Maynard
Medford
Medford
Melrose
Nabnasset
Natick
New Town
Newton
Newton Center
Newton Highlands
Newton Lower Falls
Newton Upper Falls
Newtonville
Nonantum
North Billerica
North Cambridge
North Chelmsford
North Natick
North Reading
North Sudbury
North Waltham
North Waltham
Nutting Lake
Nuttings Lake
Oak Grove
Pepperell
Pinehurst
Pingryville
Porter Square
Reading
Riverside
Saxonville
Sherborn
Shirley
Shirley Center
Silver Hill
Somerville
South Chelmsford
South Natick
South Waltham
Stewartville
Stoneham
Stony Brook
Stow
Sudbury
Tewksbury
Townsend
Tufts University
Tyngsboro
Tyngsborough
Village of Nagog Woods
Waban
Wakefield
Waltham
Waltham
Watertown
Watertown
Waverley
Wayland
West Acton
West Concord
West Groton
West Medford
West Newton
West Somerville
West Townsend
Westford
Weston
Wilmington
Winchester
Winter Hill
Woburn
Woodville
 © 2006 US Home Improvement Site Design MediaRight Technologies