I’ve come across old windows like this at thrift stores and garage sales and I never would have thought to do this to them! Some people are so creative and then there are people like me that lack imagination in the creativity department! I would love to have one of these window frame Light boxes!
“These are two light boxes I made from window frames, lit with LED strip lighting, and operated by a remote control RF switch hidden under the bed.”
“This one is battery operated and lit with LED strip lighting (I gave this one away as a gift. She liked it.)”
The process: I bought these window frames from a farmer out-of-town. People in rural areas usually sell them second-hand.
“I made a selection of the best photographs I’d taken (plus some astronomy ones that I obviously did not take) and had them printed on a sheet of backlit print material.”
“Here’s the print.”
“Wooden windows are not perfectly made; each print had to be cut exactly to size.”
“Painting the windows with a hybrid paint.”
“Cutting a receptacle to conceal the battery.”
“Two rolls of LEDs were used for the battery-operated lightbox. They are wired parallel here in what was probably an unnecessary precaution to avoid voltage drop (this was necessary with the strip LEDs, however).”
“Panel mount switch.”
“Duct tape sufficed here, although I had to add more of it than this.”
“This is the finished battery-operated lightbox.”
“This is the finished battery-operated lightbox, in the dark. The hot spots are not as pronounced in real life, but this is a long exposure.”
“Re-glazing the large window.”
“Checking how many LED strips were necessary to avoid banding on the large window.”
“Patching the small window for light bleed around the edges. Had to paint over this again afterwards.”
“Improving.”
“Soldering the strips together.”
“Placing the strips on the wall. The positioning behind the frames required some trial and error.”
“The wires run behind the wall.”
“The RF switch is hidden under the bed.”
“Success with the LEDs.”
“Final product, again.”
“Each window has a separate remote, and is dimmable.”
All images courtesy of Pinterest.
This is an impressive project! I would have never thought of putting pictures in an old window frame, then lighting them up from the back, to create amazing customizable art! He should probably start selling these on Etsy!