Price Time Difficulty $170 3 hours Moderate Time and price will vary with the size of the project. This is for the transom window, paints, caulk, etc. only. The door trim was an additional $68. If you’re like us and you are looking for the best bang for your buck to give your home a little more character, I would suggest updating your trim. If you are interested in how we built our custom door trim and window surrounds check out our previous articles. But this post is about something a bit more special. I knew I wanted to add an element of classic style when I started redesigning our entryway- something to catch the eye. The craftsman trim and board and batten were bound to be awesome, but I needed something timeless to take the design to another level. We had a large pass-through into the kitchen with about 8 feet of clearance. I dreamed of adding a transom window in that space but feared that it would be too time-consuming to make (I have a very demanding day job. Can I get an “Amen”?), or too expensive to buy. I started researching and very quickly discovered that I was very wrong about the price. Within about a half an hour I had measured for a custom window and ordered it via an awesome company in North Carolina called Transoms Direct. What’s even better is that our custom built transom only cost $150 and shipped to our home in 3 days. Here’s how we installed it. PS- I am in no way affiliated with Transoms Direct. I simply think they do fantastic quality, affordable work in record time! Materials 1×6 Pine Board Pre-built Transom Window 3/4″ Stop Molding 11/16″ Half Round Molding Paint Caulk Wood Putty Painter’s Tape 220 Grit Sand Paper Tools Pencil Tape Measure Miter Saw Table Saw Square Pry Bar Brad nailer Paint sprayer How To Build It STEP 1: MEASURE THE WIDTH AND LENTH OF THE OPENING Measure the width of your door jam. Then measure the length. I cut a 1×6 pine board to match these dimensions. This board supports the weight of the window above. The bottom of the 1×6 board should sit 81″ off of the finished floor height. This is the standard height of most residential doors. Be sure to measure the height of any door openings in the vicinity of this one to ensure the heights match. I marked the existing opening with masking tape at 81″ for reference. STEP 2: INSTALL THE LOWER SUPPORT BOARD I used a Kreg Jig to drill 2 pocket holes near the center line of the board on either side. Then, I used a couple of 1 1/2″ brad nails to toenail the board into place. This held it steady while I screwed it into the jam on either end. You won’t need to plug the pocket holes as the window itself, and the surrounding moldings, should cover these holes when finished. If you want a bit more substantial trim, you can put 2 of these boards together and trim the exposed ends with a piece of 1×2. STEP 3: INSTALL THE WINDOW Center the window on top of the lower support board. Shoot a few 1 3/4″ brad nails into the edge of the window on each side. Be sure to place these nails about 1/2″ from the edge of the jam so that they will be covered by the stop molding that will eventually go around the edge. STEP 4: TRIM THE WINDOW OUT I cut 3/4″ stop molding to cover the perimeter of the window on both sides. Each corner of the molding was mitered at 45 degrees. STEP 5: PREP FOR PAINT At this point I filled all of the brad nail holes with wood putty and sanded them smooth. After that, every joint and seam was caulked. STEP 6: PAINT IT I painted the transom together with the entire entryway and the associated door trim. Since this was a large project overall, I choose to use my Graco Magnum Project Painter Plus. It’s a large (but fairly inexpensive) airless sprayer that presses up to 3000 pig and supports up to a 50′ hose. Moreover, it draws directly from a 1 or 5 gallon paint can. At slightly over $200, you simply can’t go wrong with it. It’s fast and the finish is as good as you’re going to get from an airless sprayer. For smaller projects like our shiplap accent wall, I have a handheld Graco TrueCoat 360 that is super easy to use and works great. Note that for this project, I did not sand between coats like I recommend for most other wood work. Still, the finish came out smooth and professional thanks to the Project Painter Plus. I could not be happier with it! CONCLUSION With the pallet wood ceiling, our transom window install, and the craftsman door trim, this has probably been my favorite home project yet. I really think that it is all coming together so well, and I can’t wait for the upcoming design reveal! Be sure to subscribe to our blog, Facebook, and Instagram for the latest updates, project tutorials, and design inspiration. If you would like to also see what is inspiring me, also follow our Pinterest. Thanks again for stopping by, and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comment box below. Cheers and happy building!