Painted Window Screen

Replace an ordinary window screen with this painted scenic screen.

That's Clever! : Episode HCLVR-216 -- More Projects »
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Project by Robin Davis Copeland from Yarmouth, Maine.
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Robin Copeland of Yarmouth, Maine, always feels like she’s on the outside looking in and she prefers it that way. This stay-at-home mom, with a degree in fine arts, had already painted murals on all the walls of her home when she came across an article about the lost art of screen painting. After researching the technique it wasn’t long before she was furnishing all the neighbors with her screen door and window works of art. What makes these window screens unique is that the image disappears when looking out from the inside of the house, thanks to the outside light silhouetting the screen.

Materials:

metal channel framing
screen
screen spline roller
spline
corner pieces
exterior latex house paint: mid blue, dark blue, mid green, light green, brown, black, red, yellow and white
hacksaw
screwdriver
utility knife
yardstick or tape measure
blue painter's tape
pencil or marker
white chalk
variety of brushes*
toothpick
spray polyurethane sealer
*Choose brushes used for house painting, artist brushes and inexpensive chip brushes. Practical sizes: 1/4" for outlining, 1/2" for details, 1" for clouds, 2" flat for large areas.

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Figure A
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Figure B
Steps:

Making the Screen

1. Measure the window for the outside dimensions of the screen.

2. Mark the outside edge of the metal framing with a pencil and cut the framing to size with a hacksaw (figure A).

3. Connect the four sides with a angle piece in each corner (figure B). These are available as kits.

4. Cut a screen piece a few inches larger than the frame on all sides.

5. With the channel side up, lay the screen over the frame.

6. If using a metal screen, bend the screen into the channel with the convex side of the screen spline roller.

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Figure C
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Figure D
7. Beginning on a short side with the concave side of the wheel, force the spline into the channel over the screen by rolling down the length of the screen with the spline roller (figure C).

8. Continue around all sides pulling gently on the screen to maintain tension as you run the spline.

9. Trim the edge to fit with a utility knife. Tamp in the end of spline with a screwdriver.

10. Trim off excess screen by running a utility knife along the outside edge of the spline channel (figure D).

Also in this Episode
That's Clever! : Episode HCLVR-216
•Painted Window Screen
•Sock Monkey Costume
•Big-Lipped Glassfish
•Bamboo Tile Bracelet