Home Office Makeover: Frosted Glass Spray for Privacy on Patio Doors Tutorial

Hi lovelies! I’m so excited to get to share with you photos and tutorials from my branding expert (and the brilliant designer behind both OriginalFlavor GirlyPC.com and our new look) Jessica Albon’s home office project. She wanted a new look for her room that was cozy and colorful, but not overwhelming and that made great use of her large office space. So, together, she and I mapped out a plan, and she agreed to walk you through exactly what she did to make the office look great and function even better. Today, she’s going to introduce you to her office and tell you a bit about the before. In future posts, she’ll tell you about the projects she tackled.

My office has lovely patio doors. They’re all glass, and let in tons of light. The view wasn’t perfect (partly driveway, partly pretty backyard).

Taken at night to show spray really does provide privacy. Notice Izzy (lower left corner)–he’s why the spray paint wasn’t extended all the way down. (Also inside the door, two plants for the winter.)

Unfortunately, they’re also really visible to the street which means door-to-door sales people and evangelists always come to that door. And I couldn’t hide out (say, if I was on the phone with a client and really didn’t want to tell an evangelist that yes, my call was more important than his desire to save my soul) because they could see right in.

So, in order to feel really productive and comfortable in my office, I had to address those doors. And I had to do it in a way that blocked as little light as possible.

But I had one more challenge to consider: a dog who LOVES looking out the doors at the squirrels and neighborhood cats and who pulled down any curtains I tried to hang, and managed to drool all over the window in between the slats of the (original to the house) wood blinds that had been installed. So, it was a problem. I needed tons of privacy without blocking light, and it all had to be super dog-friendly. Plus, I wanted it to be removable should I ever change my mind.

I thought about using a contact paper on the windows, but what I read of the installation and the removal didn’t thrill me. Plus, the designs I found were mostly pretty tacky or very solid and neither felt quite right. So, I kept searching, and luckily came across Valspar’s “Frosting Interior” for glass at Lowes. That seemed perfect since it meant I could easily apply it precisely where I wanted it.

When it came to a design, I decided to keep things really simple. I’d never used spray paint on glass before and didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew. Plus, I have a lot of projects to tackle. So, I masked off four simple long skinny rectangles per door, leaving both the bottom and the top of the glass clear. I applied two coats of the frosted glass spray paint and pulled off my tape immediately following the second coat.

Getting the masking tape straight took longer than I anticipated. Finally, I’m ready to spray.

Here’s how I applied Valspar “Frosting Interior” frosted glass spray paint to my patio doors. (Note: I purchased vinyl lettering with my company name in a frosted glass finish to apply atop the rectangles.)

If you decide to use frosted glass spray paint to add privacy to your windows or doors, here are my tips:

• Ventilate the area as much as possible. I wore a mask, but sprayed the doors closed and wish I had been able to spray them open. Next time, I’d remove the door that opens so that I’d have plenty of ventilation. (The spray is designed for inside spaces only, so I couldn’t spray the outside of the doors.)
• Don’t be afraid of a simple design. I spent about a week trying to figure out what design to put on the doors. I thought about everything. And, in the end, I really like the simplicity of the rectangles. The reason I didn’t just spray one rectangle per door was that I wanted some visibility so that I’d be able to see who was at the door (the spray really does obscure your view).
• The paint does filter light, but not nearly as much as I’d worried it would. If you have that same concern, go for it! Give it a try and see if you like it. The glass frosted spray paint isn’t particularly expensive, and it scrapes off really easily, so if it’s just a matter of not knowing whether or not you’ll like it, I’d definitely recommend you dive in and try it out for yourself.
• Buy more than you think you’ll need. I wound up only using one bottle, and still have quite a bit left in that bottle. But, it would have been really frustrating to run out halfway through, so I’m glad I bought two just in case. Plus, it was so easy to use, I think I’ll be using my spare bottle on other projects around the house.
• Stay out of the area for several hours. In my case, I had to stay out of the office for the entire day–the fumes gave me an intense headache. So, don’t apply the paint at the beginning of a day when everyone will be hanging out in that room later in the day. Give it a full 24 hours at least so that you have time to air out the room.

I couldn’t be happier with the change–it’s given me the privacy I wanted, and Izzy  (my dog) can still see everything. Plus, it looks lovely from both the inside and out and isn’t too modern for my home’s brick exterior.