Painting screens are fun! I did this one this past summer. I actually painted the frame blue after I took the picture and this screen hung on the side of the shed this summer. I also have two Americana flag screens...one on the porch and one in our bathroom. Those are made out of the expandable screens. They make cheap wall decor and are really pretty simple to make! I used regular old craft paint and just went to town. Try not to get too much paint on your brush or you get a lot of holes filled with paint. It's best if you don't let the paint filling the holes bother you too much, though. If you're looking for perfection, you'll just end up frustrated! Hope the class is a good one! Here is a link that might be useful: Painted screen

Hi E.R., We got some solar screening fro Giam Real Goods years ago and is probably similar to what they have at Lowes these days. Real heavy, tight webbing that you can sort of see out at a distance, but the closer you get to it, the harder to see out. I think you are on track with the film that is typically squeegied on. There is an outfit here that does it. When they first started, the mirrored finish was all they offered, but I noticed that now they have some that is basically no darker than todays windows that are coated with low-e. Appearently it's very effective in controlling heat gain, but you can still easily enjoy the views. The mirrored film darkened the view quite a bit so you might look into diy kits that have the newer film types. I watched the install on a remodel I was doing and it's pretty straight forward. I likened it to wall papering where they cut the sheets a tad big, moistened the panes, slid it on and squeegied the air bubbles out. After drying, they trimmed the overlap to the inside of the panes. I haven't had the opportunity to try it diy, but it seems like a simple process. Cool to replicate the screen frames with wood. Im sure you are familiar with the Kreg pocket hole system. It's reliable and is easier than making lap joints, mortise and tenons, or even dowel pins when making up the frames. If you dont have one you might consider it for your frame projects and comes in handy for future projects such as cabinet frames. When in N.W. Floria, (Gulf Breeze), We used copper screening for vents that were behind ornamental grates on a period home. The house also had copper flashing that I didn't get to see but Im sure patinad nicely. You might consider copper screening for your frames. Have a good one. Here is a link that might be useful: Kreg pocket hole

I don't know why I was so nervous. It almost feels like you're stealing even though they have thrown it away. I didn't even check it or anything, just rammed it in the back of my van and almost took my 2yr olds head off. ha Ok I wasn't that close, but when I got home and took it out there were spidey eggs all over it. Hope none got out in my van! My DM got cursed out by a woman who had put a little dresser out on the curb by her trash. DM stopped to get it and the lady came out irate because she had set it out for the TS to pick up, but hadn't put a sign on it. DM was mortified. Maybe that's why I've been a little hesitant or make DH do it. ha I don't know if there is a protocol to follow. Are you supposed to go up to the door and ask if you can take their trash? Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a tangent. I'll take pics when I get going on it, but it may have to wait until next spring. It's so big I'll probably have to paint it on my back porch and it's too chilly for that now! Only in the 40's here this week!brrr Cheri, thanks for sharing that site. Those screens are darling! ~Anj

I am always a fan of less working parts. Given the availability of high visibility screening these days, seems like a less important option to me to be perfectly honest. That being said, we have installed the retractable screen equip windows in a couple of applications and have not yet had a service issue on them. They don't amount to much of our product, but those that we have installed have been fine. A quick tap of the screen would probably clear out any bugs that are still viable before you close up the screen and window.