MAKING A TRANSOM WINDOW FOR $10 AND A LIVING ROOM UPDATE

allie • Sep 10, 2016

I did a project quite a while back that I have never showed you guys yet, and thought it was finally time…because it’s one that I am super happy with how it turned out:)  When we bought the farmhouse I was super happy with all of the tall windows it had.  It let in sooo much light.  I especially liked this HUGE window they had put in the living room area.

Throwing it waaaaaayyy back to when we first moved it! But you can see the window the best here:)  It’s a great window though.  It’s about 8 feet wide by 6 feet tall.  The kids love it, so do the babies.  Everyone can see out this window.

When we moved in we painted the trim white (surprise!) and it looked like this..

ahhh….much better:)  And as much as I love love love that window, I did mention to Ryan that it would really be a show stopper if someday we got a window or bank of windows that had some character to them.  I mean, you see this spot from almost every angle of our house.  He wasn’t buying it.  Why fix something when it’s not broken.

I.Get.It.

He’s no fun:)

So I decided to try a little something on my own to add just a bit of character to the window.  I decided to add some mdf to it to make it “appear” that it had a transom over it, therefore breaking up all of the glass. I went to Menards and bought 2- 1×2 inch primed mdf 8 foot boards.  I then ripped one board down to 1 1/2″ for the horiztonal board on the window, and 6 small boards ripped down to 1″ for the grids in the transom.  I painted them the white of my trim and figured out my spacing.  This would be different depending on the size of your window.  Once I had it how I like I glued and nailed the small vertical mdf pieces to the large horizontal trim piece.  I’m sure it sounds confusing right now, but a picture is coming soon;)  One sidenote, you want to cut the horizontal board so it fits snug inside your window frame, so I would start a little big and cut down if needed, and even use a hammer to pound it down and tight into your space.

Once I put the boards in the window I used a finish nailer to nail it to the sides.  Another huge note…do not do this! haha..the hubs told me I could have broken the seal on the window after I had it all done.  Yep, there’s that.  I can’t think of everything;)  So, if I were to do it again, I would have just glued the sides and used another wood board to brace it until it was dry.  So here’s how it turned out..

Windows are so hard to photograph, but see my little faux transom? For $10 bucks! I think it’s worth $10 for the character it adds:)

Here’s a darker pic to see it better.  I just caulked the top of the vertical boards to keep them in place and they haven’t budged yet…going on almost a year!

You can see here how I nailed the corner into the window frame…but again..do not do this!  If you would have just added some gorilla glue and a board to support it til it was dry I’m sure it would stay just fine:)

So since I took a few pics of the window, I thought I’d show you a few more of the updated space….

I also made this DIY farm house sign after seeing a lake house sign my sister created for Whimsy. I bought the chip board letters from hobby lobby, sprayed them, distressed them, and then glued and nailed them on to some painted plywood I had. I love how big of a statement it is for how inexpensive it was to make;)

I was channeling my inner “jo-jo” :)

And this is for all the people who don’t think kids live here.  There are toys hiding everywhere.  “hiding” is the key word.

I also added these awesome wall sconces on this side of the room.  I scored them off of ebay for $30 each…what a steal!  They are originally meant to be hard wired, but you can buy plug in wire kits and convert them to wall lamps.  I just covered the cord with cord cover and put them on a remote so they come on at the same time with one click!

and as soon as the addition is done this tv will be going as well…which I’m quite excited about!  It will open up that window again and turn this area in a more formal living room.  aka..the place for mommas to hear themselves talk during a play date. (enter applause here)

and lets just talk about how my fiddle leaf fig tree is THRIVING!!  Who hoo!! You guys..I figured it out.  I seriously only water it once a month and its doing amazing!  I soak it good that time and let it almost dry up before watering it again.  Easiest.thing.ever.

So this room has transformed yet again.  And I’m quite sure always will:)  This week the fall decor came out…so I”ll have to show you that soon! But for now, what do you think of my $10 DIY??

Before..

and after..

Oh, and I almost forgot.  The best thing about this DIY is you can also see it from outside…and it adds character there as well.

Not the best pic but you get the idea:)

Happy weekending friends!

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