Above the Window Shelf

Installing a shelf above your window will give you a great display area and it can be a place to install curtains.

1. Buy the shelves ready made at a craft store or home improvement center. Measure the width of your window and buy a shelf that will extend a few inches beyond that on both sides. Or build the shelf with a piece of wood and two triangular supports.(It is best to finish the shelf before hanging it so paint or stain it to complement the woodwork around the window.)

2. If you also want to hang curtains from this shelf, before you hang it, drill a hole through each of the side supports big enough to hold a dowel. Hang the shelf and insert one end of the dowel through the support. Pull the curtain over the rod and slip it through the second support.

3. When the shelf is ready to install, screw it into the studs on either side of your window so that the side supports sit flush against the window casing, and the top is level with the top of the window.

4. You may also want to screw the shelf itself into the top of the window casing to give it extra support.