Make Your Room Look 10 Years Younger
Now! With white spray paint!
Do you expect anything less from us, spray paint it White-ds?
Here’s what we’re talking about. Old HVAC air vents. Luckily ours are in the wall, cut out of the baseboards, otherwise we’d probably be buying a new unit on account of all the dog hair. But that’s another issue altogether.
This fur trap had our room looking a little less 2011 and way more 1951. They probably didn’t have Krylon back then. Wait did they even have HVAC back then? Hmmm… Wikipedia is not giving me a definitive answer.
Either way it looks like it’s been around that long, you can see the age on the vent cover especially well after we unscrewed it from the wall which was pretty easy. It had a patina, but not a cool aged patina like, say our door knobs.
Nope, these air vents are past their patina prime.
Thankfully there are only two of them that were left in this condition, both located in our ignored-by-the-previous-owners office. Besides just being unattractive, the grunge was also holding back our freshly painted office walls, so action had to be taken. This action involved the use of an old Prego jar.
We often use random household items, mostly things rescued from the recycling bin, to prop up our painting projects. Like this Dr. Pepper can from our tin painting project last week.
If you’re ready to tackle your own air vents just remember to use a spray primer before your spray paint for optimal results and go slowly painting in two coats if needed. This way your paint doesn’t glob up in the vent slots.
Once it has had plenty of time to dry, 24 hours for us, just reattach it to the wall. Oh, and don’t forget to make your screws match if possible. We spray painted those too.
Something small for sure, but it made a big impact in this room. Plus it probably saved us about twenty bucks. Maybe more, something tells me these dinosaur air vents are no longer a standard size and replacements would be tougher to find than expected.
In the end our 60-year-old casa is looking at most 50 now, maybe even 49. Who needs Botox when you have spray paint? Ladies you agree with me right?
The only problem now is that the black dog hair is a lot more obvious when it’s stuck to them. You win some you clean lose some.
Check out other simple D.I.Y. tricks and ideas by visiting our projects page here. Have you guys done any small yet valuable projects around your home lately? We’d love to see what you’ve been up to, we are always in need of some new Reader Shout-Out material.
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This is a great idea! I was going to buy new vent covers for a couple of my rooms so thanks for the tip! (and yes, your door knobs are fantastic!)
I read your blog every day and I really enjoy your writing style. Not to even mention your adorable home, which is really, really nice. And kudos for the mention by the West Elm folks. They are finally opening one here in L.A. on Beverly which is fantastic. We have been driving to the one in Santa Monica so it will be great to have one closer to home.
Have a good day!
Thanks so much! We wish we had a west elm near us but alas no luck! Thanks for reading we love hearing from anyone who does and when you guys find something helpful. Otherwise it kinds feels like a diary which is cool too. Thanks again!