How To Make a Fireplace Screen Using a Window Sash

Now that the warmer months of the year are here would you like to find a creative way to hide your soon to be unused fireplace box? I wanted to make a fireplace screen that could easily be moved away when the fire is burning and put back in front of it to hide it when not in use – it does not look pretty when there is not a homey fire lit in it.

When I was cleaning out one section of my basement, I came across this window sash and came up with a way to repurpose it.

Before

I had totally forgotten about it. I have hung onto it for a very long time and am glad I did as I knew I could finally put it to good use. I found it in curbside trash about 15 years ago and my Dad who loves to work with wood, cleaned it up for me.

I took it upstairs to see if it would fit in front of the fireplace box and it did. How exciting!!! Off to Lowe’s I went all excited with a plan in my head and to purchase some wood shelf brackets.

How to Make a Fireplace Screen Using a Window Sash

supplies needed:

Window Sash
4 wood shelf brackets
4 1 1/2” long wood screws
Screwdriver
Paint and paintbrush
Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Like Spray Paint

Here are the 4 wood shelf brackets at I bought at Lowe’s. I think they were about $3.75 a piece. They have a decorative groove in them that actually matches the mullions on the sash. How cool is that ? It was meant to be!!!

2. The hardest part of this project – was that I had to flip the built in hook thingy in each bracket. This was easy with my power screwdriver. I just removed the screws, flipped it so the larger open section on the hook was at what I was going to use as the bottom of each bracket and screwed it back in.

3. On the window sash – I screwed in a screw 1/4-inch from the bottom on each side (back and front). I left about 1/4” of the screw extended from the wood so the hook on the bracket could slide into it. I used 1- 1/2 inch screws, but your sash may be a different thickness. You just want to make sure your screw is not too long that it goes through the other side of the sash.

4. When the screw is screwed into the sash the top part of it slides in the wide section on the metal hook.

Like this – the screw will be in the wood, but I wanted to give you an idea of how the brackets hook onto the screws.

5. Line up the bracket with the screw and push down until the bracket extends about an inch from the bottom. It should be a very tight fit. If it moves you may have to adjust the screw into the wood deeper or extend more on the window sash.

There was one bracket that I could not get to stay in place and I used Liquid Nails to make sure it would stay.

Here it is –now it is ready for paint and a mirror finish.

How to Add a Mirrored Finish to the Glass on a Window Sash Fireplace Screen

For a subtle way to not be able to see through the glass panes on the window sash, I used Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Like Spray Paint on the back side of the sash.

The mirrored finish only comes in a small can and is $12.00 at Michaels. It is not sold in the same section with other paints, but with the bridal craft stuff.

You have to make sure the glass surface is very clean and then shake the can for 2 minutes. After every minute of use –you need to shake again. The directions say to use 5 light coats. I used about 10 and I would have added more , but I ran out of paint.

This photo is of the backside of the sash. You can see it has a mirror like finish, but it is not shiny and looks a little pitted. It kind of looks a bit old – which is OK, but I think I may scrape it off from one of the panes and try it again to see if I get better coverage. The cap on the can is really shiny and is a bit misleading. It does state on the back that it produces a dull finish.

Viewing the finish from the front of the sash does look better as it is under glass.

Completed Window Sash Fireplace Cover

You can see it does have a mirror like quality as there is a subtle reflection that blocks from seeing inside the firebox.

IMPORTANTNOTE: I only use this fireplace screen as a decorative screen to hide the dirty firebox when the fire is not in use – not as a protective screen when the fire is lit.