Transoms and Transformations

With a title like that, I probably should follow with a Jane Austen theme, shouldn't I? Ah, can't you see it now?...Pride and Prejudice... Sense and Sensibility... Transoms and Transformations...

"A cautionary social mores tale about a witty yet naive, upper-class 18th century young woman, designing stained glass windows the same way she pieces together the shattered love lives of those around her..."

Okay, so... no.

Fortunately, my actual stained glass window project was a little more successful than my knock-off Austen.

Yes-- when last we left the project, I was hoping to take the boarded-up window I'd inherited in my livingroom and stylishly add this...
To this...
Then I'd tried a gel stain (which you can supposedly paint on non-wood items, as well) in Aged Oak. One coat looked hopeful-- like this:
Unfortunately, Coat Two ended up looking like this...
Really dark and still not spread evenly. A third coat would have made it almost black. And black would have been the opposite of Improvement. So I shifted my gameplan.

I decided to paint over it with a lighter warm brown undercoat, let that dry, and then went over it in a darker brown topcoat. Then woodgrained it. Here's the dark brown coat...

And, would you believe a variety pack of haircombs from the drug store served as the appropriate woodgraining tools?

When done, I went over the whole thing with a clear Satin topcoat, to keep the shine down so it would match the rest of my faux wood painted baseboards. (Thankfully, it does!!)

Then came time to add the stained glass window panel. As the stained glass was a little smaller than the boarded up area, I decided I would faux finish the rest of the board to make it look like stained glass, too.

For each layer of "glass" I used a light paint and dark paint in the same general color palette, and blended while wet.
So here are the edges all taped off and painted. Uneven gradations and variation will help make it look more like stained glass (I did a lot of staring at real stained glass to figure out how it worked!)...
Now the inside. We tape off...
And add the green. This is a combination of Forest Green Folk Art paint and some leftover wall paint from this room. That color is called "Celadon" by Eddie Bauer, in their Craftsman collection.
Now we move on to the middle block to surround the arced stained glass. This was done in some of the tans for the first layer, along with some of the brown used for the window frame. The corners also got a little pop of red...
And here I fit the stained glass panel into place, to double-check that it fits.
Last, I used some stick-on craft leading I'd picked up ages ago for another project, and added them in, extending the real-lead lines of the actual stained glass window in to the new faux ones.
And voila! Completed window!

Oh wait-- let's not forget the McCoy vase collection to match!...
Phew! I'm kinda tired now! Where's Mr. Darcy? It's time to take a nice, quiet night off.

Thanks for bearing with me everyone, while I completed the project.

And I hope you all have a marvelous rest of your week.

Transoms and Transformations

With a title like that, I probably should follow with a Jane Austen theme, shouldn't I? Ah, can't you see it now?...Pride and Prejudice... Sense and Sensibility... Transoms and Transformations...

"A cautionary social mores tale about a witty yet naive, upper-class 18th century young woman, designing stained glass windows the same way she pieces together the shattered love lives of those around her..."

Okay, so... no.

Fortunately, my actual stained glass window project was a little more successful than my knock-off Austen.

Yes-- when last we left the project, I was hoping to take the boarded-up window I'd inherited in my livingroom and stylishly add this...
To this...
Then I'd tried a gel stain (which you can supposedly paint on non-wood items, as well) in Aged Oak. One coat looked hopeful-- like this:
Unfortunately, Coat Two ended up looking like this...
Really dark and still not spread evenly. A third coat would have made it almost black. And black would have been the opposite of Improvement. So I shifted my gameplan.

I decided to paint over it with a lighter warm brown undercoat, let that dry, and then went over it in a darker brown topcoat. Then woodgrained it. Here's the dark brown coat...

And, would you believe a variety pack of haircombs from the drug store served as the appropriate woodgraining tools?

When done, I went over the whole thing with a clear Satin topcoat, to keep the shine down so it would match the rest of my faux wood painted baseboards. (Thankfully, it does!!)

Then came time to add the stained glass window panel. As the stained glass was a little smaller than the boarded up area, I decided I would faux finish the rest of the board to make it look like stained glass, too.

For each layer of "glass" I used a light paint and dark paint in the same general color palette, and blended while wet.
So here are the edges all taped off and painted. Uneven gradations and variation will help make it look more like stained glass (I did a lot of staring at real stained glass to figure out how it worked!)...
Now the inside. We tape off...
And add the green. This is a combination of Forest Green Folk Art paint and some leftover wall paint from this room. That color is called "Celadon" by Eddie Bauer, in their Craftsman collection.
Now we move on to the middle block to surround the arced stained glass. This was done in some of the tans for the first layer, along with some of the brown used for the window frame. The corners also got a little pop of red...
And here I fit the stained glass panel into place, to double-check that it fits.
Last, I used some stick-on craft leading I'd picked up ages ago for another project, and added them in, extending the real-lead lines of the actual stained glass window in to the new faux ones.
And voila! Completed window!

Oh wait-- let's not forget the McCoy vase collection to match!...
Phew! I'm kinda tired now! Where's Mr. Darcy? It's time to take a nice, quiet night off.

Thanks for bearing with me everyone, while I completed the project.

And I hope you all have a marvelous rest of your week.

Stained Glass Window Opening Soon

The final transformation of the window above into the faux-painted oak and stained glass feature wall is taking just a tad longer than... well, normal post publication time.

So I thought those who were asking how it was going would forgive me if I postponed sharing the results until Monday or Tuesday-- when I could be assured it would be finished, and finished right!

I'm pleased at the way it's coming along, actually. And I think you folks might be tickled, too.

Right now I'm off to pop an ibuprofen or two-- climbing and balancing for hours on ladders is a great thigh workout, but not so spiffy on the arms, neck and shoulders.

Ah, but like all good projects, the pain balances out with satisfaction for a job well-done.

Here's hope the readers who got crushed with snow have been able to enjoy the quiet time a little-- and aren't in traction from all the shoveling. And for the rest, who haven't had to deal with this season's serious dose of Old Man Winter, well... Try not to rub it in too much.

Or at least wait until our Shoveler's Elbow goes away.

Talk to you all soon!

Stained Glass Window Opening Soon

The final transformation of the window above into the faux-painted oak and stained glass feature wall is taking just a tad longer than... well, normal post publication time.

So I thought those who were asking how it was going would forgive me if I postponed sharing the results until Monday or Tuesday-- when I could be assured it would be finished, and finished right!

I'm pleased at the way it's coming along, actually. And I think you folks might be tickled, too.

Right now I'm off to pop an ibuprofen or two-- climbing and balancing for hours on ladders is a great thigh workout, but not so spiffy on the arms, neck and shoulders.

Ah, but like all good projects, the pain balances out with satisfaction for a job well-done.

Here's hope the readers who got crushed with snow have been able to enjoy the quiet time a little-- and aren't in traction from all the shoveling. And for the rest, who haven't had to deal with this season's serious dose of Old Man Winter, well... Try not to rub it in too much.

Or at least wait until our Shoveler's Elbow goes away.

Talk to you all soon!