Are you thinking about painting window frames black around your home? Do your basic white vinyl windows need some updating? Look no further! While black framed windows are definitely on trend right now, there is no reason to replace perfectly good windows just to change their color. That’s the magic of paint! Keep reading for all my tips and tricks to make this inexpensive project a breeze.
When we purchased our home in Nebraska, we got right to work completely gutting and relocating our kitchen to an entirely different area of our house. When purchasing items for our kitchen remodel, we often went with stock options, which included materials that were in stock at our local hardware store, including stock windows. And what color windows were in stock at our local Home Depot? White, of course.
Per usual I never let what’s available in the store stop me from getting the look that I want, and this was nothing that a can of spray paint couldn’t fix. Yep, that’s right – spray paint!
What You Need for Painting Window Frames
This is a very inexpensive project, and you don’t need many supplies. These items can all be ordered from Amazon and dropped at your door within a few days. Then, you are off painting the window frames black before you know it.
Step One: Masking and Painting
Before painting window frames, you want to make sure that you cover anything that you do not want paint on. As I mentioned earlier, we were in the midst of our major DIY kitchen remodel. I still needed to paint the walls and the cabinets, so I wasn’t worried about getting paint on those. I only really had to worry about covering the sink, faucet, and countertops.
If you’re painting in a finished room, you will want to cover your countertops, light fixtures, window trim, cabinets, and anything that could get painted or oversprayed. This plastic sheeting comes with masking tape already attached on one edge, making covering areas before painting window frames so much easier. And of course, painter’s tape is a must have for masking.
The only area you absolutely do not have to mask is the window glass. Seriously, don’t mask it. It’s a waste of time, and we’ll get more into that later in this post.
After I had covered everything that needed to be protected, I started painting. A basic can of spray paint is all you need. It’s very easy to apply. Make long sweeping strokes, and don’t stay in one spot too long, or you may get some dripping.
It’s going to look a little rough at this point, but don’t worry. Trust the process.
When painting window frames like this with spray paint, there will be a couple of areas that get missed on the first pass. One of those areas are your window latches. After your paint has time to dry, come back and flip the latches in the opposite direction (note those white latches showing in the second photo), then go over them with the spray paint. Easy as that.
See how good they look now!
The other area you will need to come back and spray paint separately is this lower section of the frame. The outsides of my windows are staying white, so the inner area of my window frame can also stay white. But, for a clean and finished look, I definitely wanted to paint this lower strip. It’s clearly part of the front of the window frame and would make the whole job look unfinished if I left it white.
Step Two: Scraping Paint off of the Windows
Remember earlier when I told you that you don’t need to mask your glass before painting window frames? That’s because it’s so much easier and faster to just scrape the spray paint off the glass. It doesn’t take a special spray or even a special razor. Just a basic straight razor blade is all you need.
The paint comes right off with minimal effort. This is much less work and way faster than taking the time to mask off the glass.
Seriously, a few minutes on a standard sized window like this, and you are done. Look how good it looks!
I almost can’t believe the transformation achieved here by painting window frames black. Can you even imagine how this window would look white? It would be a harsh contrast to the soft shades of white and gray I have in my kitchen. The black window looks so fresh, modern, and upscale. It compliments my sconces and the rest of my decor so well.
Looking for more quick, inexpensive projects that make a big impact like painting window frames? Check out my posts on cleaning and updating your old fence or making drawer organizers from plywood.
Want more kitchen content? Read all about our DIY kitchen remodel story here, and check out the kitchen section of my blog for more specific project details.
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