Ahhhh much better! What a huge difference a little wood makes, right? This DIY window trim is the perfect project for beginners or just fellow lazy girls like me. Who doesn’t love a major home improvement project that’s easy to accomplish!

None of the windows in our house have any kind of window trim, window casing, or molding on them, so eventually, we will be trimming windows all over the house! For right now I wanted to start in the kitchen. This small window will not have any curtains, just blinds, and it was looking very sad while all the other windows got to have nice sheer curtains with the DIY wood curtain rods & brackets we made!

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Supplies:

• 1×4 pine board (enough for both side pieces, apron, & top fancy piece)
• 1×3 pine board (middle fancy piece)
• 1×2 pine board (bottom fancy piece & the piece below the header)
• 1×6 pine board (header & sill)
  **make sure to pick through the boards and try to find the straightest pieces possible or they won’t lay right on the wall**
• Nail gun or hammer (if you’re less lazy, with better arm muscles than me)
• Miter saw or Circular Saw
• Jigsaw
• Paint (I used Glidden “White On White” semigloss)
• White paintable caulk

DIY Fancy Window Trim:

Before:

This is how our window looked originally. The builder never added any trim or molding so it was just plain Jane looking. I did add those DIY wooden curtain rod & brackets to give it a little character!

First, measure your window’s length & width to figure out exactly how much wood you will need.

**If you already have molding or trim around the window you’ll need a pry bar to pull existing wood off**

Window Sill

1) Start by cutting the 1×6 for the sill, cut it to the size of your window length plus 10 inches so that you will have 5 inches of overhang ledge on each side.

2) Next, take your 1×6 and mark 5 inches from each end and the width of your window sill. It should look similar to this:

3) Now use your jigsaw to cut out the traced lines so it will sit nicely on the sill. *Don’t panic about straight cuts, that’s what the caulk is for*

4) Nail down the sill using 1 1/2″ finishing nails.

Frame Around Window

5) Now, its time to cut the (2) 1×4 pieces, for this measurement place each 1×4 vertically on top of the sill piece and mark where it meets the top of the window.

6) When I got ready to nail these pieces down I used a level to make sure that they were straight because your window frame might not be exactly perfect.

BIG TIP: If you are adding this trim to a wall you don’t plan on painting again it helps to paint the edges before you nail it in place.

5) Next, cut your 1×4 for the apron. Measure the length of you two side pieces, that is what you will cut the apron to be so that it will sit directly under the two side pieces.

Window Trim Header

6) After the sides were nailed down I cut my (2) 1x2s the width of my two side pieces plus 1″ so that I would have 1/2″ of stick out on each side over my 1x4s.

7) I nailed my first 1×2 onto the wall directly above my two side pieces

8) Next, I cut my 1×6 for the header, I made it the exact same size as the apron (width of the window plus 8in). At this point, I realized I also needed to remove the screws from the DIY wooden curtain rods I had up.

9) Once my header was nailed into place I started on my fancy top pieces. I nailed these 3 pieces of wood together before attaching them to the header. My 1×2 was already cut to size from step 6, I made my 1×3 1″ longer than the 1×2 (1/2 an inch stick out on both sides) & my 1×4 1″ longer than the 1×3.

10) After my (3) pieces were cut I nailed them together using my nail gun. Depending on your nail size you will most likely need to nail them together from the top & bottom.

11) Then, I applied some wood glue to the back of the piece, set it on top of the header making sure I had an equal stick out on both sides, & nailed it into place

I paused here & did a little happy dance because it looked so good & very craftsman window trim like!

12) After a brief recovery from the dance (cardio & I clearly don’t spend enough time together), I got to caulking all the not so perfect areas & filling in all the nail holes.

13) Finally, once the caulk dried I painted my new craftsman window trim in a semi-gloss finish.

Ta-DA!!!!! From boring to fancy in no time, it’s amazing what a little wood around a window can do for a room! I hope you love this DIY window trim project as much as I do. The best part is this project only takes a couple of hours so your guests will be oohing & ahhing in no time!

None of the windows in my house had any molding or trim around them so the plan is to do them as we finish each room’s renovation. So far I have completed 6… Eli’s nursery, guest bedroom, office & 2 in the kitchen! Only a million more to go ?

Want to see how I added DIY window trim & built-in bookcases to this large window?! Check it out here