When we first bought our house, I was fairly sure we were going to remove and not replace the window awnings. However, when we started to paint that side of the house, and removed the awnings, it was easy to understand their value!
That is why a vintage window awning redo was in order!
The before:
Before we officially owned our late mid-century house,
this is what it looked like. (One day on a walk I took this photo. It was right after the then current owner contacted me to see if we were interested in buying the house from her.)
The cream colored awnings and trim emphasized the cream color in the brick. (The awnings had been repainted that cream color apparently when the house had been painted back in the day) That cream color isn’t my favorite, so highlighting it isn’t a good thing to me.
Are the awnings even necessary?
From the inside of the house the awnings do block the view of the sky, but without them the sun really heats up the rooms. Some of the windows in the house we replaced, but these were not in that list. They are original and though double-paned, they are not all that energy efficient. The difference of the temperature in the rooms from the sun heating the windows was very noticeable once the awnings were taken down.
The loss of sky views from inside these particular windows really isn’t a much of a loss anyway. Due to the floor plan and furniture arrangement, the shades inside there are mostly closed. Since they weren’t important ‘viewing’ windows that wasn’t going to be much of a consideration.
The awnings offer wonderful protection from the rain on the windows as well. I could leave the windows open in a light rain when the awnings were there offering protection. However, when we started to prep that side of the house for painting, and we removed the awnings, every little sprinkle hit the windows and there was no keeping them open even a crack during the rain.
The vision:
Studying vintage homes from the 20’s -40’s in the Colonial Revival style, I found several examples of window awnings. The striped ones were wonderfully charming. (As I’ve been renovating both the inside and outside of our new house, the overall goal has been to instill a feel of that vintage 20’s – 40’s Colonial Revival into the house)
So my solution…
I decided to paint the inside of the awnings sky blue with black and white striped on the outside. That sky blue interior, which is supposed to deter bugs, would coordinate with the porch ceiling blue. (you can read more about the front porch here) Sky blue inside the awnings would also to brighten the view from inside the room. Black and white on the exterior would coordinate with the new exterior color scheme.
First I started the vintage window awning redo by spray painting the interiors.
Next, I marked with tape which slats would be black or white.
So that it didn’t feel dizzying busy with lots of little stripes, I opted for a symmetrical pattern of 2 slats together in each color. The sides I did every other one.
At first blush, I figured there was space between the slats, no problem painting them without having to tape off the one next to it… this was going to be an easy painting job!
Boy, was that wrong!
That crack between the slats almost made it harder to paint. I could see in it, but to get a paint brush into the crack and paint that skinny side of the slat without touching the neighboring slat was impossible.
I winded up needing to cram the paint brush into the crack to paint the slat sides.
So I first painted what was going to be white 2 coats, overlapping that white onto the slats that were eventually going to be black. Once that white paint was thoroughly dry, I taped it off for the black stripes. The taping was the slowest part of the project. (prepping always is!) Once the white was safely taped, I could cram the black paint in and get that crack painted black.
Note** I highly recommend using this brand of green painter’s tape! I’ve found this particular tape to hold well, and also to not pull off the paint under it. That feature is very important with freshly painted things like this.
What a difference!
I am thrilled with the finished look of the vintage window awning redo!
The striped awnings add not only necessary user friendly function, they add a fun vintage feeling charm too!
Isn’t it amazing what a little paint can do?
The sky blue color is actually pretty subtle and does coordinate nicely with the porch ceilings.
So what do you have laying around that with a fresh paint finish may add to the character of your style? Hope this inspired you to look at something with a fresh eye.
Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate you reading along.
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Connie Allen says
Couple of questions: Did you prime them first? Did you use a metal paint?
I’ve found some awnings on Marketplace but don’t want to bite off more than I can chew!
Yours look great!
Liz says
Hi, thanks so much! I washed them, but since the prior paint was in good condition, I didn’t need to prime them. Also, I used an exterior grade all purpose paint.
Lynnie says
BRILLIANT.
Liz says
?
MARTHA says
Absolutely fabulous!! They now look like wonderfully expensive vintage awnings designed to mimic sewn ones, great choice
Sandi magle says
Thumbs up! They look great—I think if you took them down the whole wall would be terribly uninteresting. My parent’s had roll-down awnings…which were such a pain—but it saved so much heat in the living room. We left them when we sold the house, with a note why the new owner should leave them.
Liz says
Thank you Sandi. Yes, I was a little surprised to find out how much heat came in the rooms when they were down!