You may have large wall vents that blog hot and cold air into your house as part of its heating and cooling system. Great cooling system – unattractive vents! So how can you minimize the visual impact of these utilitarian features??
Cover them up of course. Now, you cannot completely cover the vents with a solid material. This will defeat their purpose (and keep you pretty cold in the winter). But you can disguise them pretty easily.
Here’s how to disguise the cooling/ heating system vents:
1) Paint the vents the same color as your wall. Most vents are metal so they need to be sanded lightly and then primed before the final coat goes on. Once you have that done, stand back and see if it is not enough of a cover-up to make you happy. If not, try my trick with beaded or shell curtains. I found mine at a home design store (see Home Decorating Resources) but large retailers also carry them.
2) Because my wall vents are quite large, I bought extra shell curtains, I bought an extra set and cut up one set and tied each strand to the bottom of the ones I hung. That way, they reached the floor and created a long, elegant seamless look. Besides, the delicate shells add a fascinating element of texture and light movement to the entryway.
In order to keep the shells from blowing around and sounding like a wind chime (the biggest in the world!) I took a clear plastic dowel and tied the bottom of the strands to it. I secured the dowel to the floor with souble-stick tape.
It is really that easy to decorate a heating / cooling system vent so that it appears less noticeable.