Last year I took a trip to Saskatchewan and visited the home my dad grew up in. It had been abandoned for many years and was in bad shape. Since it wasn’t safe to enter the home my family and I walked around what once was the yard and driveway talking about all the life the house witnessed over the years.

The land is still in the family so a few of us opted to take a token from the home. I took one of the windows.

Since then the window has been propped here and there as I’ve tried to incorporate it into my decor. I wanted to maintain the oldness of the frame but also wanted it to fit.

Finally I reached a decision.

Although I don’t have many photos in my home I do have a lot of frames. I’ve upcycled them using mixed media and come to enjoy adding my own flavour. So why not try upcycling this vintage window frame?

The window wasn’t in great condition. The wood was rotting, the old paint was flaking off, and there were splinters everywhere. So although I loved the rustic look of things I decided to do a bit of work on it.

Here is what I did

1. First I took my sandpaper and went over the entire frame. It left quite a mess behind.

2. Next I laid out some painting sheets and did one coat of white spray paint over the front side. I chose to spray paint because I wanted an uneven and imperfect covering. My hope was the paint would put some life back into the frame while still allowing some of the character to shine through.

3. While the frame dried, I grabbed a piece of poster paper and painted a tree-like image. I used some brown paint and a foam brush.

4. Once both pieces were dry I stapled the poster paper to the back of the frame.

Upcycling vintage windows is a simple and pleasing project. And what I like most about my project is as soon as I tire of my tree I can swap it out for something else. My only regret is not taking one of the bigger windows too.

Maybe next time I visit Saskatchewan.

Useful links

Your local Used.ca site