Monday, November 18, 2013

Privacy please- window makeover

Pinterest was the inspiration for this home project.  Eye actually have a "to do" list of crafts that I will eventually get to. I'm the kinda chic that LOVES checking off the tiny boxes next to my to do list. It's more fun than vacuuming sandy carpet. (that is fun, btw) try it sometime.

Back to the post. So, I found this amazing and cheap project from 7th house on the left. Love their blog too, so well designed. http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2011/08/window/
After I got permission from the Mr. to stick things all over the window, I decided to get right to it. Well it did sit in my head for about 4 months, but then I jumped right on it.

A quick trip to Target for the contact paper (under $5) yippie! Then tracing stencil shape and cutting about 80 of them out. So, if you didn't know already I did teach Kindergarten in the late 90's and besides being certified in herding cats I can cut a shape out like a scissor ninja! Yeah, so put that in your back pocket!

Who really cares about all the steps and such you can read that on 7th house on the left's entry. Let's just get to the photos. These aren't super good since I shot them with my phone AND towards a window, sorta a no-no in good exposure rules.

BEFORE
This is a metal/glass door that leads to the back porch. It has a blind that goes over it and filters the light.  This blind is a unique size and has been up for many years prior to when we bought the house. It's always been yucky and not worked well. So this was the perfect place to try this project out since it's so temporary and not permanent.
Isn't this yucky! The hands hit the blind when you turn the door knob. I was happy to toss these.
The most challenging part was where to start and how to get it evenly spaced out. I did trace the shapes with a chalk marker first to see if I'd like it and how well they fit. That helped a lot in getting Mr.'s approval.
We got quite a few of the shapes stuck on and had a system going. I would peel em, Mr. would stick em, and I would smooth them out without any bubbles! We still have some 1/2 shapes to get done, but it won't take too much more effort. 

This is taken from the outside of the door into the den. Isn't the pattern nice!

Mr. used his Xacto skills to trim the shapes that weren't whole ones. I don't like the Xacto knife, scary!
AFTER
Eye know you're wondering just how this might look from the outside at night so, wonder no more! The blob at the bottom is Legend, our dog. Light still passes through but no more of that ugly blind. I am very pleased with the final result and have plans to do the small windows on the garage doors.

This door still needs some serious TLC, like rust prevention and a paint job, those will come soon!
Do you have a project to do list? Do you ever get them done? What are you working on now?
If you need some ideas, follow me on Pinterest!