Ahhh...adventures in home decor! Like many other antiquers/junkers, I love the look of vintage windows. I happened upon one last month that made my heart skip a beat because it was BIG (and not very expensive.) It was just the right size for the wall I was hoping to fill. After I got it home, I cleaned it up and let it sit while I mulled over exactly how I wanted to use it. Over the course of a few days, that window stunk up my house. STUNK. UP. MY. HOUSE. That putrid, old, musty wood smell. I admit that I am hyper-sensitive to said smell, but it was bad. Enter Pinterest. I happened upon a post that talked about removing that smell from furniture...with cat litter! The post detailed filling dresser drawers with litter and letting them sit for one week. Not possible with a big 'ole window. Garbage bags and packing tape were the best I could do, so I rigged them up and poured the litter in. After one week, I hesitated. The stuff was already leaking out and making a dusty mess, but I really wanted this to work--otherwise, the window would end up garden decor. So, I made a bigger mess, flipped the window so the litter was in contact with other surfaces of the frame, and waited another week.
After two full weeks, I pulled off the bag, cleaned up the litter and dusted off the frame. The smell was MUCH improved. Pfew! (Of course, the dust provoked a pretty good sinus attack...) Now, to hang the beast...
I hated to do it...because, mind you, we are renting...but this job required butterfly toggles. Butterfly toggles require really big holes...in your rented walls. (Note to self: purchase patching kit.)
And then, the eye screws that I had installed on the window frame sat around a half inch out from the wall surface. In order for the toggle to work, something solid needed to fill up that space. Washers. Lots of washers. This is what the hanging mechanism looked like once everything was installed. That window ain't goin' NO-where!
After everything, I don't love the way the window is "styled." (The iPhone picture is poor, but that isn't the real problem!) One pane of glass was missing, so I replaced that with chicken wire to conceivably hang memos or photos. I tried a number of treatments that could be removed and changed, as desired--vinyl decals, Mod Podged fabric, wrapping paper, and Mod Podged vintage sheet music. We'll see what ends up staying and what goes. With all that going on, why does the wall still look empty? Like it needs a swag of greenery above or a mantelpiece below?
Any ideas? The couch floats about two feet in front of the wall (just out of view in this picture.) Comments? Suggestions?
