Airstream Living

diy

DIY Faux Leaded Glass Window

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This DIY faux leaded glass window project that will take your contractor grade window and make it look like a piece of art.

small bathroom window over bathtub with faux leaded glass

My house was built in 1942 but the bathroom was remodeled sometime in the 1980’s. That update included a plane, Jane, white vinyl window without any trim. Borrrring.

Eventually, custom chunky trim was added to my window to match the medicine cabinets when I did my budget bathroom renovation and then the faux leaded glass window was added.

Here are the directions on how you can easily complete your own faux leaded glass window project.

Supplies

Measure and Design

Decide what leaded glass window design you want on your project. Doing an online image search for “leaded windows” will give you hundreds of patterns to choose from.

Draw your faux leaded glass window pattern on graph paper before you start. Measure the window of your actual project then draw the outline of the window on the graph paper. If you are faux leading a large window, you will need to tape several pieces of graph paper together to get the size you need. Using a pencil, start measuring out where you want your faux leading lines to be.

faux leaded glass window pattern on drawn on graph paper with a ruler

Transfer the Pattern to the Window

There are a couple of ways you can transfer your faux leaded glass window pattern to the project window. Using the dry erase marker, measure out your window using a ruler and mark in the increments where you want your lead to go with the dry erase marker. You can see in my example photo, I did this for every inch. After you have your measure lines marked, draw your pattern directly on the window using the dry erase marker.

small bathroom window with dry erase marker dots and a ruler.

The other way to transfer your faux leaded glass window pattern is by taping your graph paper pattern on the outside of your project window. You will need to go over your pencil lines in a dark black marker before you do this to make it easy to see where your pattern will be traced once you hang it on the window. After you hang your pattern on the outside of the window, trace it on the inside using the dry erase marker.

Apply the Faux Leaded Glass Window Lines

Gather all of your supplies together near your project window. Using your finger or a small dry rag, erase your first faux leaded glass window pattern line and replace it with a piece of the Gallery Glass Instant Lead Line. Using small scissors, snip it to size. Taking the tweezers, manipulate the instant lead line exactly where you want it to go. Repeat this process being careful not to overlap lead lines. Work methodically from one side to the next until your faux leaded glass window lines are all in place.

Apply the Liquid Lead

Drop a small bead of Gallery Glass Liquid Leading on each of the intersections of your faux leaded glass window. Allow the liquid lead to dry and touch up any areas you feel you need a second dot.

gallery glass product lead and liquid lead on window

Notes

I did my faux leaded glass window on a frosted bathroom window. This window was smooth on one pane and bumpy on the other pane. I found that the instant lead lines were not sticking to the bumpy surface. To solve this problem, I simply added a little bit of Tacky Glue to each strip and applied it with tweezers.

small bathroom window over bathtub with faux leaded glass

More Faux Leaded Glass Window Ideas

This project was so easy, I keep dreaming up other ways to use it! I plan to do this same pattern on my kitchen sink plant window. I also have a few empty glass doors left over from a cabinet I repurposed. I am going to design a holiday pattern on one and hang it up at Christmas time. Comment below share your faux leaded glass window plans.

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small bathroom window with plant, jar, and candle on the ledge

10 Tips to Find Your Exterior House Color

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No matter what size your house is, painting the exterior of it is a big decision.  Though we have been told you can’t judge a book by its cover, the exterior paint color of your house does present the first impression to the rest of the neighborhood. Here are ten tips to help you find the perfect exterior paint color.

1. Find inspiration

When you don’t have the slightest idea on where to start with choosing your home’s exterior paint color, start with other people’s houses. You don’t need to take weeks or months doing this. Give yourself a deadline and focus—a couple of days should be enough.

Walk or drive around the neighborhood. Whether you live in a planned community, a historic district, or on a farm, chances are some of your neighbors are going to have a similar house size, shape, and era to your home. At first, don’t pay attention to the actual color. This first step is to help you find a feeling, a vibe, or a theme. When a house pops out and grabs your attention or has a good feeling to you, snap a picture. If you don’t want to feel too much like a stalker or a private investigator, take note of the address and look it up online when you get home. Google street maps or a realtor site such as Zillow are easy places to look.

Hop on the internet and do some searches for exterior paint color on websites such a Houzz, Pinterest, and HGTV. If you know the style of your house (bungalow, cape, ranch etc.) enter that into your search. If you have no idea what style your house is, then use search words like “small, single story, or split level” that apply to your house.

2. Collect all of your ideas in one place

Collect all of the inspiration for your exterior house color in one place. You can print them out and put them in a folder. You can digitally save them all on a Pinterest board, a notebook in Evernote, or a Google photo album. It doesn’t really matter how you collect them, just get them all in one place.

3. Narrow down and eliminate

Once you have all of your inspiration in front of you, study and see what pops out as a similar theme (dark with light trim, light with dark trim etc.) or color scheme? Do you see a pattern of theme or color? Great! This is an excellent start in narrowing down your exterior house color. Eliminate the random pictures that don’t fit into the theme or color scheme.

What if you just don’t see a repeated pattern of what you like? Don’t panic–you either need to collect more inspiration or you need to enlist a friend. I suggest you ask someone you trust and has a little bit of natural decorating talent to take a look at your inspiration collection. Have them see if they can find a theme or color scheme. If you are still having trouble, then skip to tip number nine.

4. Roof color and landscaping

When narrowing down the decision of what color to paint the exterior of your house, take into consideration the color of the roof and your landscaping. You need to make sure the color you end up with, is going to look good with these two things.

If you know you are going to be replacing your roof soon, then be sure your house color is going to look good with the new roof, not the existing one. Your roof is going to last you 30 years and a good paint job should last you seven to ten years so plan ahead.

A similar rule would apply if you have a lot of man-made landscaping features, called hardscaping. This would include things like retaining walls, stained concrete, brick walkways and the like. If your retaining wall is brown stack stone or your walkway is red brick, be sure to keep this in mind when you envision your final house color.

5. The neighbors

This tip applies to you if you live in a city or suburban neighborhood more than if you live on a big piece of land. If you want to maximize your curb appeal with the exterior color of your house, make sure you take into consideration the house color on either side of your house and the color of the house directly across the street.

If the neighbor next door has a bright yellow house, your house isn’t going to stand out or have much curb appeal if your house is bright yellow too.

I find this tip to be especially important if you live in a suburban neighborhood that mandates specific color schemes for your development because your choices are restricted. If your neighbor to the right has a light tan house and your neighbor to the left has a light gray house, you’ll want to do something different even if it isn’t your first choice.

6. Agree on a color

If you are the only one making the decision on what color to paint the exterior of your house, then skip ahead. However, if you are living with a partner, you both want to have good vibes when you pull in the driveway after work and are welcomed by the sanctuary you call home.

Keep working on the elimination process but this time as a team. Rule out any colors that neither of you likes. If you get stuck, know there is going to need to be some compromise.

When we painted our little urban cottage, I would have loved for it to be dark gray. John doesn’t like gray houses but he likes dark houses. So, this helped us narrow down our search for the perfect color and we looked at dark colors we both like.

7. Don’t be boring

I’m not saying to paint your house purple—unless you live in a Victorian surrounded by other pastel ladies or on a Caribbean island. One of the biggest disappointments after you paint your entire house can be that it is not bold enough. If you really want to add curb appeal, push yourself a little. Go a couple steps darker or a couple steps lighter.

Add a pop of color with your front door. This is the easiest place to have fun and be whimsical. If you get bored with the color of your front door, or you just hate it, you can easily change it.

8. Get rid of distractions

Just because your house has a giant round vent at the top peak of your roof, doesn’t mean you should trim it out. Unless this is the first thing you want people to see.

What I mean is, you should not paint every vent, dryer outlet or bathroom fan flap your trim color. This is going to draw your eye straight to all those little things and clutter up the overall feel of your house. This also applies to corner trim if your house has that. Some of the things you are going to want to paint on your house the main body color are attic vents, electrical boxes, gutter downspouts, corner trim, exterior conduit or plumbing, and basement windows.

9. Don’t be afraid to hire an expert

You also shouldn’t be afraid to hire a professional. Choosing the color for the exterior of your house is a big deal. Paying an interior designer or a painting contractor for a consultation will cost you upfront. However, in the long run, it could save you thousands by not having to repaint an entire house and ensuring it is a house color you are going to love.

10. Paint test patches

You don’t want to skip this tip. Once you have chosen your exterior paint color, the final step is to test it out on your house. All the major paint stores will sell you small cans of paint for around eight dollars. I suggest you get at least three choices in different shades of your chosen color as well as one or two choices of trim color.

Pick up a bag of inexpensive foam brushes and paint generous test patches of each color next to a window. Paint the different trim choices on the window frame so you can see all of the choices together. Paint your test patches on different sides of your house.  Do your test patches a day or two before you paint the entire exterior of your house. You’ll want to go out and look at the sample colors different times of the day and in different lighting.

Make your final decision and go for it. Painting the exterior of your house is one of the best things you can do to up its curb appeal. More importantly, you want your house to be your home and to invite you with a good feeling every time you pull into the driveway.

 

 

DIY Rustic Hat Rack

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I’m a hat girl. John is a hat guy. Hats take up a lot of space! Long gone are the days of our walk-in closet the size of a bedroom to store all of our hats. When downsizing you need to let go of a lot of things. Apparently, we both think our hats are important enough to keep around.

When we first moved into our house, we were renters (you can read more about that here) and didn’t know we were going to end up buying our little house. I threw together this rustic hat rack as a temporary solution. Part storage and part just something to hang on the wall.

Now that we own the house, it has ended up being the inspiration piece for my upcoming bedroom renovation. I even plan to make a second one soon–because there are still more hats that to be hung!

Supplies:

  • 3 boards – I used a couple six-foot boards salvaged from an old fence
  • 12 2-inch wood screws
  • 6 coat hooks

Tools:

  • Measuring Tape
  • Saw – I used a chop saw
  • Drill with a screw bit
  • Screwdriver
  • Pencil or chalk

Wash

If you are using salvaged boards like I did, make sure you wash them really well. I scrubbed mine with a firm brush using dish soap and water. Allow them to completely dry. Note: my boards are not dry in the following pictures. Do as I say, not as I do.

 

Cut to Size

You can adjust the size to fit your space or around the size of the boards you use. If you need exact measurements, these are mine to copy.

2 boards at 45 inches long

3 boards at 24 inches long

Put Together

Lay the two longer boards parallel on a flat surface. Be sure to lay the side of the board that you want to be the front facing down. I chose the most beat upside to enhance the rustic look.

From the top measure 5.25 inches down.  Draw a line where you will attach the first board going across. Then from the top measure 21.25 down and draw your line for the middle board. For the bottom board, measure 5.25 inches from the bottom up.

Line your boards up to the chalk marks. Stand back and make sure everything looks even. Once, you’ve got all your boards where you want them, attach using screws.

Add the Coat Hooks

Flip the boards over. Using the measuring tape, find the center of your boards and mark where your coat hooks will go. Attach the hooks using a screwdriver. These hooks are a discontinued style from Ikea. So bummed–if you see them there again, let me know!

Hang on the Wall

I screwed my hat rack directly into the wall. Heavy-duty picture hangers on the back of the hat rack and molly screws in the wall will also do the job.

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How To Hack Ikea Magazine Boxes

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Living in a small house, I have to find storage wherever I can.  There is one built-in shelf in my hall that I use for storage. I have got all kinds of goodies hiding in those gray Ikea Kvarnvik boxes: wrapping paper, ribbon, the glue gun, essential oils and more.

But this is how I updated some Ikea Knuff magazine file boxes and I’m thrilled with how they turned out. Inside of them, I keep a few of my favorite magazines, a couple books on my reading list and a backup supply of an obsession of Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks.

Let’s dive into how I hacked these into cute shabby holders. Some of the supplies are affiliate links. I’m supposed to tell you that…just so you know, it doesn’t cost you any extra.

Supplies

Check Fit

Before you get going, make sure the Knuff magazine boxes are going to fit on your shelves. Whew–good thing I checked, mine barely fit.

Prep

Give the magazine boxes a little sanding with a fine sandpaper. They may be a tad rough here and there. Sand just enough to get the baby splinters and the rough edges off. You don’t need to go crazy.

Paint

Apply a couple coats of chalk paint. I picked this one up at my local Walmart. Make sure you let the paint dry between coats.

Sand

Allow the paint to dry completely. Using fine sandpaper, begin to sand off the paint exposing a little bit of the natural wood here and there. Be sure to sand around the edges. This helps give it a time worn look. Keep going until you find the look you like.

Paint the Numbers

Hop onto your computer and print out your numbers. How cute would it be to use alphabet letters in a nursery or initials in a shared children’s bedroom? Make them your own. Choose a font you like and play around with the size. Print the numbers, then cut them out. Did you spy that I also hacked an Ikea Skogsta box?

With a pencil, lightly trace around the numbers, then fill in with craft paint with using a small paintbrush. Allow paint to completely dry.

Add the handles

Here is the tricky part I didn’t take pictures of before I started. Because the file box has a finger hole, you will need to cover this up and give something for the drawer pull to grab onto.

I just happen to have some little cardboard gift tags that were already painted black on one side. A small piece of chipboard would work great here as well. Put a couple little dots of glue or adhesive around the outside of it and cover the finger hole from the inside. You don’t even need to let it dry because when you attach the handle, it will pull the chipboard against the file box.

 

Because the file boxes are fairly thin, I did not pre-drill holes for the handles. I just lightly traced where they would be so I could see where to begin the screw from the back of the box. I used these handles and you can see that they almost cover the finger hole.

 

 

4 Curtain Hanging Tips

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Don’t you love how custom curtains just seem to fall in those perfect little waves? Here is how you can get perfect curtain curves right off the shelf.

1. Use Curtain Rings with Clips

Use curtain rings with clips. Most curtains come ready-made with a pocket to push the rod through for hanging. Spend a few extra dollars for proper hanging hardware. This looks better and is a lot more functional. The rings make it so much easier to pull your curtain open and closed – gliding across the curtain rod as opposed to tugging it every time.

2. Pinch a Pleat

Pinch a Pleat. This is how you are going to get those perfect curvy curtain waves. The pleats will give your curtain symmetrical movement when they are both closed and open.

Most packs of curtain rings with clips come in a pack of 14. When hanging a pair of curtains, that will be seven clips for each curtain.

  • Lay your curtain out on a bed, table, or floor.
  • Fold the curtain in half to find the center and clip your first pleat here.

  • Clip and pleat your second and third pleat on each end of the curtain.

  • Measure where the remaining four pleats will need to go. Two between the left edge and middle and two between the right edge and middle.

3. Hang on the Outside of the Window

Hang the curtains on the outside of the window. In other words, you want to hang your curtain rod past the window frame on each side by 10 to 12 inches. This makes your window feel bigger and the room appear larger.

If you have a window that is a little off-center, you can make the window appear as if it were right in the middle of the wall by extending the curtain rod more on one side.

4. Hang Curtains Ceiling to Floor

Curtains hanging from the ceiling to the floor will make your room feel taller because it visually draws your eye up. This will make a small room feel bigger and add a little elegance.