How to Make a Fake Transom Window For a Doorway

How to make a DIY fake transom window above an interior door or in your home.

I love light – lots of it and try to get as much of it as I can streaming into my house.  I also love architectural details, but my house didn’t come with many so I have to add them myself.

My studioffice is in the front of the house and has two windows.  The wall opposite, has a doorway that goes to the family room that has some dead wall space above it. I decided I could make a fake transom window above in the dead space using a mirror.

It not only would give me more light as the mirror in the fake transom will reflect the light from the windows, but it will add some architectural interest to the room as well.

Before & After Doorway With DIY Fake Transom

After

This was an easy project and cost me under $10.00.

I used molding from a previous project. I bought the mirror at Target for $4.99.

Update: *I recently added DIY Rolling Doors to the doorway for when I need privacy in my office.

Single Door Fake Transom

Update: I loved the way the fake transom looked so much in my studioffice, that when we moved to a new home, I created another one over a single door in a dark hallway. You can read how I did it in this post:

Faux Window Transom Using Mirror Tiles

How to Make a Fake Window Transom Above a Double Door

The area above my double doorway is 12-3/4″ high x 53″ wide (outside molding to outside molding).   The back of the door/full-length mirrors come in two widths: 12″ and 14″.  I used a 12″ one.

supplies needed:

• Trim molding – that matches the existing molding around the doorway.
• An inexpensive back of a door mirror – mine was 12” x 48” after I removed the plastic frame.  Depending on the size of the space above your doorway you could use mirror tiles.  They were too big for my space.
• Screen molding
• Miter box and saw
• Liquid Nails
• Staple gun
• Pencil
• Duct Tape
• Paint and paint brush
• Easy Caulk

1. Carefully remove backing from mirror.  This was much easier than I thought it would be.

2.  Under the cardboard there is a line of hot glue holding the mirror into the frame. I pulled the hot glue with a pair of needle-nose pliers and it came off in one long piece. The frame just came apart after I started removing the line of hot glue.

3.  Measure the area above the doorway-  height  x outside molding to outside molding measurement.  I used this handy dandy cheap-o miter box to cut the molding to size. No fancy power tools needed.

4.  I taped each piece to the wall to make sure it fit before I put the frame together.

5. Once the fit was right, I removed the molding and then used a staple gun to staple the back of the mitered corners together.

6. Flipped it around and the molding frame was done.

7.  I put it back up just to make sure it fit and then removed it so I could add the  mirror.

8. Paint front of the frame as well as the inside section on the back of the frame the same color as the molding. This way the mirror will reflect white, not unfinished wood.

9.  I cut the screen molding to fit inside the inside height of the frame. These will become the mullions  – like a window or transom has. Paint the back of each one of these as well as the front.   Everything should be painted before you assemble the transom.

10.  When all the pieces are dry – it is time to assemble it.

11.  My mirror was about an inch short of my molding.  I centered it so there was 1/2”  open on each side.  Depending on the size of your space, frame, and mirror you may not have this problem.

11. Glue the mirror to the back of the frame with Liquid Nails.  I also used  duct tape to hold it into place while it dried. Flip the frame and mirror over to make sure you have everything lined up right.

 

12. This is what the front looked like.  I did add a piece of duct tape behind the gap on each side, but don’t have a photo of that.  To hide the gaps, I glued one of the screen molding mullions I made right over top.

13.  I used 5 screen molding mullions – 1 on each end to hide the gaps and 3 in the center spaced 11- 1/4” apart.

14. Only use a small bit of glue, otherwise when you press the mullion into the mirror you will have a mess.  A little will hold it into place.   In the photo below – too much glue – use less.

15.  Nail it into the wall or use Liquid Nails. Pre-drill holes into outer edge of frame to stay clear of the mirror. Caulk all the corners and any areas that need a little fixing.

Remember, caulk is your friend – it makes all the bad cuts go away.  Touch up with paint when the caulk is dry.  I always use Dap Alex Plus Easy Caulk in the can – no caulk gun is needed.

Fake Transom Before Painting

I could not be happier with the way the fake transom came out.  Now I have more light and  architectural detail for under $10.00.