Time to Vent

There is something to be said for the little things. The things that get looked over because they aren't that important. Today, we are giving a little love to one of those little things. I am referring, of course, to the lowly vent cover.

While I was measuring a wall in our dining room for a different project, I happened to get an eye full of what could be described as a "rusty gate into a windy, spidery hellscape that lives under our home".

First of all, it was gray. The wooden floors have never been gray, so it made no sense that the floor vents continue to be. I decided they were in need of a quick spray down.

I had always seen Pinterest show how you could spray paint vent covers, but thought it was odd that they would spray vent covers for honey colored wood floors in oil rubbed bronze. Doesn't it seem like you'd like them to disappear rather than stick out more?

So I took matters into my own hands. I removed the vents and cleaned them. Off to the garage we went.

I did the flaps of the adjustable vent first. This just kept the very top of the vent from getting ruined when it was flipped over to paint the other side.

I started with primer, which I happened to have around.

Then gave them a nice coat of the same copper spray paint that I had purchased for my side table.

Once that had time to dry, I just flipped over the one with vents and did the same process over again.

I didn't worry too much about the original gray paint coming off. Even though they were getting a little upgrade, they were still just vents. No need to strip them completely and start from scratch.

When they were finished, they really looked great. The copper blends with the floors beautifully, and the metallic gives the space just a hint of bling.

And that was it! I have also done the ones in our guest room, and am continuing around the house till they are all "copper plated". If you do have dark wood floors, though, I recommend checking out my friend Beth's blog Over on Dover about how her oil rubbed bronze covers got a face lift.

PS-There will be more information on two other big projects we just completed in the days to come. Stay tuned!