Monday, May 6, 2013

No More Naked Windows

After 13 years, my windows are naked no more!  My wonderful, talented father-in-law finished them off this week.  Let me back up a bit... Mike and I have been working on the kitchen for the last month or so.  We have updated countertops, installed a backsplash, and added a few accessories.  After pouring over tons of blogs and looking at numerous homes on Houzz, our heads were swimming with possibilities. In fact one Friday night, we spent an hour sitting at the kitchen table just staring at the walls.  "Should we install board and batten?  How would we do it?  It is adorable, but will it stand the test of time or seem dated 10 years from now???"  After much deliberation, we are no closer to a decision on the b&b for the kitchen walls, but we decided to go ahead and add trim to the bay windows.
They were so bare.  When we first moved in, I hung valences, but removed them when I repainted the walls.  I liked the unobstructed view to the lake, so I decided to leave them off.  I am ashamed to admit, we had never even painted inside the sashes and over time the sheet rock began to crumble.  Looking at the picture here, I think it seems so unfinished.  After googling scads of pictures, I decided that I wanted to treat the windows as one unit. Treating the three windows as one seemed to make more of a statement than trimming each window separately   Since we still don't know about the rest of the wall, I figured this might be it and I had better make the trim hefty.
My father-in-law spent about a day and a half working on them.  He trimmed inside each window frame with 1/4" birch plywood  
and then made trim pieces with a router bit (Roman Ogee curve). 
The trim pieces covered up the rough edges of the plywood and butted up to 1"x6" used to fill in between the windows.
He turned a small piece of wood sideways to make a right angle with the 1"x6" boards and then staggered two layers of the molding on the edges.  It made the window look much bigger.
After puttying, caulking, and painting, I think it looks great!  I am loving My House this Monday!  
 Now, only about a gazillion more projects before we finish the kitchen:)  What do you think, should we add board and batten to this wall?  Can you do just one wall or do you have to do the whole room?  Comments and ideas are appreciated!

5 comments:

  1. Your windows look beautiful! Great project!I have a new weekly link party which is live now and I would love if you stop by and link up this wonderful post! Hope to see you there! http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/ Hugs, Maria

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Maria for the invitation. Glad you liked it. It is definitely a work in progress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The windows trimmed out like that are fabulous and do not need further embellishment. I do not see where board and batten would add anything to the room, and might make it appear a little to cluttered, perhaps. If you want more wood trim, personally, I would look up. Add some crown moulding perhaps, or a picture rail. Think about adding decorating moulding on the ceiling, perhaps, and then paint out the sections in complementary colors...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Jann thank you! I appreciate your input. Sometimes when you are living in it, you lose perspective:). I would love to do the ceiling, but I a bit unsure of how to start. I will need to watch lots of videos and search more blogs! Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What great difference! Now the windows get the recognition they deserve. Plus, although bay windows with proper trim look grand, they are actually practical. Adding trim turns windows to having energy-efficient features, which let you enjoy more its attractive finish. Joann@AJC Roofing

    ReplyDelete