Spice Up Your Kitchen with an Easy Window Herb Garden

If your windows are not inset into the wall, you can still add shelves, but you will need to buy brackets to install on either side of the window. These shelves will not be inset into the window opening; instead, they will be in front.

Measure your window opening's height, width and depth and determine where to place your shelves. Space shelves about 10 to 12 inches apart and make sure they are placed out of the reach of young children. For inset shelves, cut your shelves to the full opening depth, and ¼" shorter than the width.

Shelves can be made of wood (painted or covered in shelf paper), glass or sturdy wire mesh. To create an airy greenhouse look, we used ¼" shelf glass in our window herb garden. If you use glass, be sure to ask the glasscutter how much weight your shelf will safely hold when cut to size, and request finished shelf edges. If your neighborhood hardware store cannot help with this, buy your glass from a glass shop or picture-framing store that can.

Step 2: Cut molding for shelf bracket
Cut two pieces of molding for each shelf to the full depth measurement. Sand edges and paint with acrylic craft paint to match or contrast with the window frame

Step 3: Measure shelf heights and attach molding to the first side.
On one side of the window opening, mark where the bottom of the lowest shelf will sit. Measure the distance between that mark and the bottom windowsill.

Use three of the finishing nails to attach one piece of molding just under that mark. Starting at the center point of the molding, drive the first nail through the molding and into the window frame. Use a small level to ensure the molding has no tilt (rotate the molding as needed to straighten). Then finish this part of the step by driving each remaining nail halfway between the center nail and the end of the molding piece.

Use a countersink (or a large nail) to push the nail heads slightly beneath the surface of the molding. Cover each nail head with a dab of paint.

Step 4: Level the first shelf and attach molding to the other side
On the other side of the window, mark the same molding height, but beware: That mark will be only a rough guide. Despite appearances most windows are not exactly square, so you can't count on measuring up from the bottom to guide you to the right height to attach your shelf. But you can overcome any house's quirks by using a level. It works like this: Now that molding is up on one side, lay the shelf in place with a level on top and adjust the height of the shelf's free end, above or below the mark you've made there, until your level lets you know that the shelf is perfectly square. Then indicate the ideal placement - avoid confusion by using the different-color pencil - by marking where the bottom of the shelf should be. Attach the opposite molding at that mark, the same way you did on the first side.