With this in mind I decided to add my own window grids. I will be honest with you – I didn’t know where to start. Naturally I took to the internet and was so disappointed by what I found. I found tutorials that either were too complicated or looked really, really cheap. So I did what I normally do with projects – drank coffee and just thought on it.
I walked around the house and looked at the windows with grids. Then I realized the grids were simply made up on two vertical pieces and 6 horizontal pieces. With that bit of knowledge I headed to Home Depot to find the perfect trim.
Quick note: traditional mullion grids as made by manufacturers are thin strips of aluminum between the panes of glass on a a double-pane window to make for easy cleaning and energy efficiency. These DIY windowpane dividers are easily removed for cleaning the glass panes and saved me a bunch of money by making my own grilles and giving me the aesthetic appeal I wanted. Homeowners who want the true architectural style of the window muntins grids can talk to a window manufacturer to retrofit or replace their windows.
Dividing the windows into smaller panes of glass does slightly reduce the amount of natural light in the room, but this DIY doesn’t impact the structural integrity of the window, so consider your personal taste and make an informed decision about what you like for your windows.
Step 1: Choosing the Mullion Grid Material
While at HD I looked at a ton of trim. I thought about wood. The only problem is that the pieces on the front are not wood so they wouldn’t match. After a bit of searching I came up with these polystyrene vinyl screen mouldings:
