Decorating panes: With a little ingenuity, trashed windows can be transformed into trendy decor

A short time ago, I spent a lazy weekend stumbling through junk stores and antique shops. As I was leaving my last stop I noticed a stack of frames near the trash pile.

Looking more closely, I noticed they were banged up and weather worn, but interesting windows nonetheless. Though they were public property, I asked the store owner why they were in the dump pile and whether I could take one or two.

There weren't in "good enough" shape for the exhibitor who decorated windows, he said, and so these were free for the taking. How I wish I had room and space to have carried more. Regardless, two came home with me that day.

The next weekend I finally had time to examine the windows closely. Though I had looked through the pile and made sure the ones I took weren't missing glass or weak structurally, I could see why they had been tossed in the first place.

The paint was slightly peeling and the panes were loose in their frames. Caulk that had once held everything in place was crumbling and the size of the two frames didn't match as well as I had thought.

But instead of cleaning them up, as the exhibitor who tossed them was prone to doing, I left them out in my back yard for a few more months. Nothing weathers a piece better than actual winter weather.

The spring sun dried them out and I recently pulled them back in from the yard. The wet weather had loosened a little more paint and washed away the rest of the crumbling caulk, but they were still quite sturdy.

To prepare them for hanging, I dusted them off and wiped down the windows with some cleaner. I then secured the panes with some glazer's points.

I liked the cracking paint look but didn't want to constantly sweep the floor where they were losing pieces. To hold the cracking to its current state, I covered both windows with polycrylic.

When working with a delicate finish (like flaking paint), it's important not to brush the surface too hard or too much. Each additional stroke will crack more of your surface.

On the final coat of polycrylic, I also wiped a thin layer on the window panes. This gives the windows a leaded-glass shine that makes them appear much older than their actual 50 or so years.

I stopped there and hung them on the wall using heavy-duty hooks and screw eyes. But they're really still a work in progress. When I get bored with how they look on my wall I may add pictures behind the panes of glass to draw more attention.

I've also considered stringing rope lights around the inside edges of the backside of the frames to backlight anything that hangs inside.

Vanessa Cook is a former Southeast Missourian copy editor who dabbles in decorating.