Creating a Farmhouse Window Trim

I love big massive window trims.

I love the feel they give a lot of class to a room.

And I love the fact that they are easy and inexpensive to make and can be done on pretty much any window type.

All you need are:

• pine boards
• latex caulking
• hammer and nails
• a hand saw or a power saw (if you have one)

The beauty about this is that you don't need to perform any fancy cuts :)

Mostly all the windows to the house had been changed prior to our buying it for more energy efficient ones but a window can only be efficient if there is no air coming from the walls.  As I once stated in my previous post, the previous owners were not, to choose my words right, concerned with details.  Which is why we discovered that they had omitted to put any insulation between the window frames and the walls...that would make changing the windows pretty much useless.

Thus bringing me to having to take all window trims off to insulate.

And if I have to take something apart, I might as well put it back together to my liking.

Which brings me to my washroom window-

When we finally renovated our shower last December, the wall and trim were damaged and I decided to take all moldings off and insulate properly (I had previously just stuffed insulating wool in there as an emergency solution).

It was also time to redo the trim and remove all MDF moldings which I am slowly removing from my house because I believe that MDF can lead to health issues. See  The pros and cons of MDF 

So basicially, once the old trim was taken off and the window insulated properly I started to measure for my new trim.  I wanted the top trim and window stool to extend a little more than the sides so I started with the header which is equal to the width of the window and the width of the sides. Since I used 1 x 5 which in reality is 4.5" wide the length to cut for the header was ( window width + 4.5" + 4.5")

I nailed the header flush with the top of the window.

I cut the same length for the apron as I did for the header.

Now, I wanted the top trim and the window stool to extend 1" (2.5 cm) on each side of the header and the apron.

I nailed the top trim to the header but since I wanted the window stool to be flush with my window sill, I nailed the window stool to the apron first and then nailed both pieces at the bottom of the window.

Once the header and the apron were installed, I could then measure precisely the length of my sides for a perfect fit.  In my case, I could not assume that both sides would be exactly the same length because in old homes, things are not always straight or equal.  It's a fact of life.

As a detail, I added a decorative moulding at the bottom of the header which also covers the top cuts of the sides.

Because I intended to paint my window trim, the next step was to caulk all the gaps and joints with a paintable latex caulking.  I call this cheating but the results, once you've painted over it, are great.  It looks so much professional and perfect.

If you use caulking to cover the nail heads, remember to sand before painting to get an overall smooth finish otherwise the caulking blotches will show through.

My window sill is now deep enough to decorate with plants and other items to beautify.

I've opted for no curtains or blinds for this window but instead a patterned frosted film available at most Home Depots .  Because it is such a large window and right beside the shower, a curtain or blind would have been always closed blocking out precious light.