Over the summer, our landlord decided to replace our 1970's windows. Although these old windows let in all the cold and fogged up at every change of temperature, they were the perfect object for a new project. I asked to keep two windows and debated for a couple of months on what I wanted to do with them. I finally decided to use one and make a side table. The project took me about a week, mostly because I had to borrow the tools and resources from my family (Grandpa's saw, sander and nail gun). Ultimately, it was easy and here is how you can create it yourself:
Tools: measuring tape, pencil, electric sander with sandpaper, electric saw, nails, hammer, putty (if you want to cover any nail holes), protective plastic, masking tape, 1 1/2" paint brush, primer and paint
Find a window! There are lots of "recycle, reduce and reuse" type places in Portland where you can find old household items that no one wants.
The Rebuilding Center is located in North Portland and has almost everything you could imagine and for CHEAP.
Scrap is another place with the same idea.
Find legs and braces for your window table. I got these legs at The Rebuilding Center for $.50 each. My grandpa made the braces for me but you can find metal or wood braces at the Home Depot for pretty cheap. You will need 8 braces.
Remove any nails, metal pieces, handles, etc.
Piece by piece you will need to sand down every surface. This ensures smoothness and will remove any old paint or grime that you don't want on your table. I used an electric sander with 100 grit paper, just enough to remove what I wanted but not eat up all the wood. When you sand, you don't have to remove all the paint because sometimes there are multiple layers and it can be very difficult. Just sand enough to remove the shine and make it smooth.
My window had a lot of uneven edges and the table legs were too long so we used the electric saw to cut some edges off here and there. I cut the legs to 18 inches long and cut off about 1/4" from the edges of the window to make them even.
Once everything is sanded and cut to size, nail the legs and braces to the table. There are multiple ways you can do this and the way we did it was first by gluing the legs to the corners of the window with some strong wood glue. Then we nailed one brace to one side of the leg and the window frame, and another brace to the other side of the leg and window frame.
Another option is to nail the leg on through the top of the window frame, making sure the nails are long enough to go all the way through the width of the table and deep enough into the top of the leg. Here is an easy video on
how to fill nail holes
*Here you can see the nail hole on the right side of the brace where the nail goes into the leg. There is also a nail along the top of the brace that is nailed into the window frame.
Next step is priming the wood. Depending on what color you want to paint it, you can use either white primer for light or pastel paint or grey primer for dark paint. I went with Miller Paint and they helped me pick out the primer I needed. You will need to tape the edge of the glass so you don't get paint on it. Find a brush that is no wider than the wood -- I used 1 1/2" "natural series" brush. Lay down some protective plastic and prime the entire piece as if you were painting it but you only need to do 1 or 2 light coats.
Let it dry for 24 hours then you can begin to paint! Miller Paint also has a great deal where you can buy a quart of paint for only $5! It is technically a "sample" quart so if your color doesn't work out, they won't re-mix it and you will have to buy a new quart-- plus it doesn't have much sheen.
When you begin to paint, it's better to paint a few light layers versus one or two heavy layers. I started off light:
Let it dry for two or more hours then paint another coat. I painted two coats total.
**Keep in mind that most old windows DO NOT have sturdy glass. You may need to buy extra glass to cover the table so that whatever you put on it will not break through the glass.
The final product:
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