Kitchen Chronicles XII: DIY Leaded Glass Cabinet Door Using a Vintage Window (Kitchen Remodel Project)
Today I’m sharing how we turned a vintage leaded glass window into a DIY leaded glass cabinet door for our kitchen remodel. This small upper cabinet may look simple, but between the weight of the leaded glass, tricky installation, and a few unexpected surprises, it turned into one of those projects that tested our patience from start to finish.
It’s coming together—perfectly imperfect—just the way we tend to do things around here.
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| How to Turn a Vintage Window Into a Cabinet Door |
The Reality of a DIY Kitchen Remodel (When It Starts to Wear on You)
Can you believe we keep inching closer to that finish line in our kitchen? Some days I have to pinch myself. Those early days in this process... there were days when I wondered why did I agree to do this mostly on our own? There were days when I wanted to sit down and cry.
Do you know I did not open the curtains in our dining room for six long months? Not because I didn't want to see the outside world and sunshine day in and day out, but because I could not even get to the windows. There was no room, not even a path to get to the windows. We were beginning to feel like a hoarder show, only we were the only ones seeing it.
During those days, I was beginning to get a bit depressed. I didn't feel like we were getting anywhere. We would have people come in and it was one step forward, two or three backwards since there was always something holding us back from moving to the next step.
We felt like those real life home remodeling shows where everything goes wrong. I never shared with you that when my husband went to place one of the stacked cabinet boxes up, it slid right out of his hands from my super duper waxing job, went right over his head, and hit the floor—just missing our glass top range by an inch!
I nearly passed out.
I thought, why are we doing this?
Why We Chose to Build Our Own Cabinets
I had to remind myself that we were doing this for experience, to see if we could. We were doing this because every time we hire a contractor, something happens—and not in a good way. Our home always seems to have a major issue when others come in and work (thank goodness Double D Floors and More was a positive experience!).
For our new folks: Paint drips on the wall upstairs. Pipes not tested before the bathroom was put back together, leading to water coming through the ceiling. Cast iron drains needing replaced after everything was finished. Ceilings torn out. A patch job that never should have been called “finished.” Blue paint on my floors (we have never used blue paint!).
And the roof? Don’t even get me started.
So when I thought about everything we have been through over the last two years, I had to suck it up and say—we are doing this. No one else is remodeling our kitchen. We are. We take our time, we pay attention to details, and this is our home.
Building the Upper Cabinet Box for a Leaded Glass Door
This kitchen has given me the confidence to do more on my own though. I feel more confident I can tackle some of those upstairs projects now. But first—we finish this kitchen.
Which brings me to our small leaded glass cabinet.
We finally built the cabinet box… and whew, it was a doozy.
Perhaps making one continuous cabinet would have been easier, but at the time we thought building two separate cabinets would be more manageable. My husband is 6'2", I am 5', and let me tell you—working from a ladder while trying to help hold things steady is not exactly efficient.
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| I guess this is the only photo I took while we built the cabinet box |
This small leaded glass cabinet was a real stinker to install.
Restoring the Leaded Glass Window Frame
Before we could install it, we needed to restore the leaded glass window frame.
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| See the years of use along the right side, not looking so hot is it? |
I’ll admit—we took the easy route. I had Restore-A-Finish on hand and decided to give it a try. When my sister first gave me these windows, I cleaned them up using Murphy’s Oil Soap, and they looked so much better. Then I cleaned each pane of glass and finally used Old English on the wood, which really brought it back to life.
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| Nope, I did not have the correct wood type, but I used it anyway. |
But I kept thinking… it could look better.
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| Steel wool and Restor-A-Finish to the rescue. |
This time around, I used Restore-A-Finish with very fine steel wool (0000), and I was honestly amazed at what came off. Our hands were black from handling the window—lesson learned, I wore gloves the next time.
What I always thought was a dark, worn lock turned out to be brass. I had cleaned this window before, but this was the first time that detail really came through.
We also needed to repair the joinery. You could see the wood pegs (trunnels) on one side, so we decided to reinforce both sides to make sure that leaded glass wasn’t going anywhere. My husband carefully pulled it apart, we applied the special wood glue we have been using throughout this remodel, and clamped it tight.
If you need more information on this: we used two clamps, and hooked the clamps together to create one large clamp to be sure everything stayed in place.
Even though the glue sets quickly, we left the clamps on for about 30 minutes just to be safe.
How to Restore a Leaded Glass Window for a Cabinet Door (Step-by-Step)
- Clean the wood frame with Murphy’s Oil Soap
- Clean each pane of glass individually
- Apply Restore-A-Finish using 0000 steel wool
- Wipe clean and assess wood tone
- Reinforce joints with wood glue and clamps
- Let dry before installation
Attaching the Leaded Glass Door to the Cabinet
Once everything was dry, we attached the leaded glass cabinet door with a continuous piano hinge while the cabinet was still on the ground. There was no way I could safely hold that heavy window in place while standing on a ladder.
One important detail we ran into was that the leaded glass window was not the same width as the bottom cabinet door. Because of that, we had to add an additional piece of wood to close the cabinet opening properly.
This also meant we could not center the cabinet door the way we originally planned. If we had centered it, the leaded glass would have only been attached to about a 1 1/2 inch deep piece of wood on one side, which just didn’t feel stable enough for something this heavy.
Instead, we shifted the cabinet slightly off-center so the leaded glass door could be anchored more securely to a wider, stronger section of the cabinet frame.
It’s not perfectly symmetrical, but it’s solid—and at the end of the day, that matters more to us than being perfectly centered. It’s ours, it’s sturdy, and we know it’s not going anywhere.
After attaching it, we lifted the cabinet up and over the lower cabinet. You’ve seen how we build cabinet boxes before, so I didn’t take many photos this time—but I will for the next one since we’re building an identical cabinet on the other side of our kitchen.
Things to Consider Before Using a Vintage Window as a Cabinet Door
- Weight of leaded glass
- Cabinet support needed
- Hinges (why piano hinge worked)
- Not always perfectly sized
- Safety/stability
Common Cabinet Installation Problems (And How We Fixed Them)
Once the cabinet was in place, we tested everything before securing it—and thank goodness we did.
The leaded glass cabinet door hit the lower cabinet door and wouldn’t open. So we recessed the upper cabinet about half an inch and added shims underneath to get the clearance we needed.
Then came the next issue…
The door wouldn’t stay closed properly. We added a magnetic strip catch, which worked at the bottom—but because the leaded glass door is so heavy, the top stuck out slightly. It looked terrible.
So we added a second magnetic strip at the top.
Problem solved.
(After a few rounds of trial and error, of course.)
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| I think this looks odd here in photo, but looks nice in person. |
When the Smallest Cabinet Causes the Biggest Problems
We would make progress, then have to rework things again and again. Isn’t it funny how the smallest cabinets cause the biggest headaches? We had the same issue with our stacked cabinets—the smallest one was the troublemaker there too.
Once everything was finally working properly, my husband secured the cabinet with anchor screws into the stud, that cabinet is not going anywhere. This vintage leaded glass cabinet door has become one of the most unique parts of our DIY kitchen remodel—and one of the most challenging to get right.
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| Styled inside of cabinet which I am sure will change soon and many times over |
A Piece of History in Our Kitchen
These leaded glass doors came from a home built in the 1800s in Chicago. My sister drove there and back to pick up two identical sets. They were removing all that character, and if you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering why.
I’ll never understand it—but I do know this…
They ended up here, in our home, where they will be appreciated every single day.
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| We still have our work cut out for us no matter how much progress we make |
What Still Needs to Be Fixed
We do still have a few things to work out. There’s about a quarter inch gap between the cabinets from the added shims we didn’t plan for.
We already have a plan to fix it—but that will come after the next step.
What’s Next: Range Hood Cover Plans
Our next project is the range hood cover. We’re currently waiting on materials that are backordered until mid to late May.
Once that is in place, we can go back and add trim to cover all of our little “oops” moments.
Because let’s be honest—home remodeling is basically a series of figuring it out as you go.
Don’t you love home remodeling projects? If you’ve ever tackled one yourself, I would love to hear your experience.
This has been a real-life learning experience for us… or maybe I should say me.
That hasn’t stopped my brain from coming up with new ideas though. I have plenty waiting in the wings—but first, we finish this kitchen.
I’m trying to be better in 2026 about not letting my ideas get too far ahead of what I can actually accomplish. I can quickly overwhelm myself with ideas, and I just cannot do that right now.
Easier said than done… right?
Follow Our DIY Kitchen Remodel (Kitchen Chronicles Series):
Kitchen Chronicles I: Our DIY Kitchen Adventure
Kitchen Chronicles II: Behind the DIY Kitchen Remodel (What No One Tells You)
Kitchen Chronicles III: Unexpected Repairs, Cold Weather, and Slow Progress
Kitchen Chronicles IV: Vintage Lighting
Kitchen Chronicles V: DIY Paint Stirrer Stick Chevron Cabinet Panels
Kitchen Chronicles VI: Reworking Our Existing Cabinets for a New Kitchen Layout
Kitchen Chronicles VII: Choosing Natural Stone Cabinets for an Old Kitchen
Kitchen Chronicles VIII: DIY Stacked Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen Chronicles IX: How We Built a Hidden Microwave Cabinet
Kitchen Chronicles X: Double D Floors and More Review
Kitchen Chronicles XI: How to Transform a Hollow Core Door into a Stained Glass Look
Kitchen Chronicles: XII: Restoring Leaded Glass Window Cabinet Door DIY Kitchen
