Old Window, New Life

I'm not sure if it's studying architecture, going to school in colonial Williamsburg or living in a San Francisco Edwardian, but I've always loved old windows.  True divided light, so many panes it's impossible to clean, always have a draft windows.  In the really old ones you can see the ripples where the glass (which is actually a really, really thick liquid) has started to flow towards the bottom of the window frame.  The way light flows through them, the imperfections - it makes both looking in and looking out a romantic, old fashioned affair.  Thankfully in our moderate northern California weather I can indulge myself by not replacing ours with something more energy efficient (heck, it's always 68 degrees outside - isn't that what I'm supposed to be setting my thermostat at anyways?).However, for those that can't enjoy an old window in situ, another option is to bring it indoors in another form.  In this week's episode of Home Made Simple on OWN I use a beautiful old window to create a shadow-box coffee table.  It's a really simple project - build a box the same size of the window, attach the window with hinges, and add some store bought coffee table legs.  I didn't even paint the window, wanting the beautiful aged paint to show.  It becomes the showpiece of a room and, in this instance, a perfect place for the family to showcase their scrapbooks. The best part, if you've got an old window and some scrap wood laying around, all this cost's is $20 for some legs!  You can get the details of how to build this at www.homemadesimple.com.  Oh, and if you're replacing your old windows with new vinyl, double paned, energy efficient ones - give me a call, I'll take the old ones off your hands.  I have a lot of friends who need coffee tables.