Restoring Transom Window Hardware

Hi there!

I hope this finds you well! After wrapping up the upstairs guest bedroom I took some time to work on smaller projects around the house before jumping into the next big renovation. One of these was restoring transom window hardware in the kitchen.

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Transom Windows

Every (original) door in the farmhouse has a transom window and they’re one of my absolute favorite details! The doorways without them were added as renovations have been made over the years and as we make our way through the house we’ll make sure to modify that 😉  And then some of the transom windows and or hardware are missing from doorways too.

I was able to snag a few transom windows that match our existing ones from an architectural salvage dealer, who’s also become a good friend. In the kitchen there are 3 doorways. One leads to the side porch, one to the back weird room with no windows aka our current makeshift living room, and one to the dining room. Two of those had transom hardware on the kitchen side of the doorway and those are the ones I restored.

Stripping Hardware Paint

I have stripped a lot of different types of hardware at this point. There are a few methods I prefer depending on the type of hardware and it’s condition.

Cooking It Off

One way is to use an old crockpot to cook it off. This works well if the metal is in good condition aka not rusty or fragile. It can take awhile depending on how many layers of paint there are. It should be noted that it can be very smelly and you cannot ever use the crockpot for cooking again afterwards.

I actually prefer using a pot on the stove over a crock pot. I mix a little baking soda in the water and find that it works more quickly than the crock pot.

Wire Wheel

Another method is using a wire wheel. If you have a grinder this is an attachment you can get for it and it’s exactly as it sounds. It’s a wire brush that spins to remove paint AND rust. I love this method! It’s quick and satisfying! This is what I used for the brunt of the transom hardware paint removal.

Oven Cleaner

To get in the really tiny places I used my other favorite paint remover, oven cleaner! Ed actually turned me on to this method years ago because they actually use it in his line of work to remove paint. I like to set my hardware on saran wrap, spray the oven cleaner on it, and then wrap the saran wrap around it in the sun. After 10-15 minutes it comes right off. It also works well for removing paint from wood.

Before

After

Painting the Transom Hardware

I did choose to paint the transom hardware with a flat black spray paint to match the other original hardware in the house. I love how it turned out!

You can see how we stripped this exterior door HERE!

Restoring Transom Window Hardware

I can’t wait to get the transom windows working this Spring! You can see this one has been painted shut but I don’t think it will take much to get it in working order 🙂 Bringing these details back to life in this home means so much to me. It’s a labor of love for sure, but it’s also so so rewarding!

We’ve been busy working on so many different things I can’t wait to share soon once they’re finished! And we made a huge design decision about the house that may surprise you and I’ll be sharing that next! Between working on the house, documenting everything, taking care of all my precious farm babes, and keeping up with sharing everyday on social media, this winter has proven quite exhausting in the very best way 🙂 But lots of updates coming your way soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today!