Herm...

While I love the look of wood, I think I'd go with a paintable wood one for there so that it blends in. I'd be concerned that the oak color would just stick out too much.

Then I'd frame it in with the top part of your baseboard so that it's not so choppy.

I think white is the way to go for that location...a wood one would stand out too much. And, because you guys are so handy, you could rip a piece of the top trim off and frame it out to finish the look. : )

Sandy

Do you have access from below? It really wouldn't be difficult to move the location to the floor. Just involves cutting the subfloor and make some changes to the ductwork.

If that isn't an option, I would stay with the white metal ones. The wood ones need to be sized larger because the size of the wood slats obstructs the air flow, requiring tha the overall grate be larger. I would also frame it in so the cap piece is above the grate.

I think I'd be inclined to stick with metal registers, painted to match the surrounding baseboards. I would however, want to ditch the rather 50's space-age looking register shown in your photo (kinda makes me think of a Cadillac trunk ornament from that era). It seems totally out of character with your moldings and finishes. I might look for a grill with traditional looking small square openings, or some other minimalist looking design. The link below will take you to a website with numerous links to sources for more traditional looking registers and vent covers.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.oldhouseweb.com - register covers

I also think I'd run the baseboard across the HVAC opening with a cutout so that whatever register you put in place rests on top of the baseboard. As mentioned above, it looks rather choppy having the baseboard end on either side of the register.

I'm wondering if you could fabricate something using your molding...maybe cutting slots into it, or cutting out a section of the flatter center part and adding a grill, or something like that? It might take a bit of doing, and you'd have to miter the corners to make a tight fit against the abutting pieces, but it might be a better visual than a separate piece of a different material and/or height.

Wa8b, I looked into registers like the ones you suggested but the problem with all the traditional ones is that they all seem to be a minimum of 12" tall and we only have about 9" b/w the floor and the window sill above.

I think we're limited to styles similar to what we have now. I was only able to find one that was more traditional but in a style like ours that also had a damper--but you have to remove the faceplate to open/close the damper. For some reason, the vast majority that I found in a similar style had no dampers and none have dampers that can be opened/closed from the "outside".

I do think the "space age" look comes from the various angles of the louvers to give you maximum air dispersal. The more traditional styled ones seem to direct air either in one direction only (straight out) or only two directions (left/right)

Sue, my DH doesn't want to get involved in moving duct work...even though I agree with you it shouldn't be too difficult. Plus, he's already put down the floor and doesn't want to have to re-do that side of the DR.

TrixieInTheGarden, interesting suggestion, but it's definitely more work than either my DH or I want to do at this time! We're very new to this DIY thing, so there's only so much we're willing to tackle right now. Maybe someday down the road....

Thanks all!

As usual I seem to be the weird one. I like the old register. It's interesting looking. I'd just clean it up, samd it, paint it to match the baseboard, and cut out the back of the baseboard (and maybe insulate it) so that the matching top of the board could rest on the outthrust at the top of the register. That way the grooves and beads would match from the first groove up.

I agree with the other people who suggested that you keep the current register and either run your baseboard behind it, or a piece of trim over it. It's an interesting piece, and when the dip is taken care of, it doesn't pop too much at all.
{{!gwi}}

"Sue, my DH doesn't want to get involved in moving duct work..."

Maybe you can convince him by telling him you may save on heating and cooling costs, depending on how that duct was done. Having the ducts in the exterior wall studs is enormously inefficient. You have less (or no) insulation which cools the duct and the heat in it. My BIL and SIL had this set up in their house and they just redid all the vents on the first level. In their case the previous owner (or whomever he hired) used the stud bay as the duct (yes, this is legal here, a heating contractor tried to talk me into it, but it's only supposed to be done on interior walls). Since you are taking this all apart anyway, make sure it's done right with the proper insulation in the bay and sealed metal ductwork. If you have to stay with what you have, I would make sure the area behind the duct is well insulated with something other than fiberglass (fiberglass shouldn't be compressed). Possible sheet foam insulation cut to fit or spray foam insulation.

We cut off the top part of the kitchen duct, spray painted it a darker brown and then trimed it out some.. much better. For yours, I'd keep it white and trim aroud it like posted in the picture. If you have excess metal that can be cut off, cut it with a metal blade - we have one if you need it and are in the area (finally kinda redid our work shop to make it more workable and got it done last weekend :) )

You don't have to buy a white duct - buy what ever fits the space and spray paint it. :) Easy to do - get the better spray paint and a good primer spray paint or an all in one that takes to heat well just in case. There are a few HVAC shops around but internet may be better. I like the one in the picture personally with the trim addition.

Sue36--You're not understanding Buehl's duct. The opening is in the floor, next to the wall. It's not spaced out from the wall where she could use a floor duct. The duct is not coming up into the stud cavity.

This style of register is quite common here in the upper Midwest though they were new to me when I moved here from the south central part of the United States. My house has them & is 30+ years old. And it is the overwhelming choice for forced air systems in new builds. They looked weird to me for a while, until I got used to them. Now, I don't notice them because they're 'normal'.

We've owned houses with both styles of registers. I prefer these because less dirt & stuff gets into the duct than what does with floor registers. And, there's no need to attach a deflector to them, either.

Moving that opening out from the wall is a big deal if she has rigid metal ductwork. I can guarantee blood loss & depletion of one's French vocabulary. :) And for no good reason other than, to a few people, a minor aesthetic one. No one is going to notice that duct except for Buehl and only for a few days and that's because she is admiring her beautiful new floors. Everyone else is going to see the gorgeous floor, the pretty windows & what's outside the windows and the duct is going to disappear in the same way that outlets & switches do.

Actually, my 30 plus YO house had these really long registers originally:

I've been replacing them (updating!) with the (much shorter) style that Buehl has.

Thanks Ci_Lantro! You're absolutely correct in both your description of the vent (with rigid metal) and the register...now that we did what SailorMann shows and gotten used to it, we don't really notice it much. It's not quite the same white, but again, it doesn't seem so obvious.

I don't have a picture right now, but SailorMann's pic pretty much shows what it looks like.

Thanks all!

Ah...I didn't realize it was a floor vent, I thought it was in the wall. My idea wouldn't work with a floor vent.

Yeh, Buehl, Sailorman had the right idea. You know, we do need more floor pictures; the glimpses I've seen look so pretty!

My base is narrow so it just butts up next to the vent cover. Love your baseboard & wish I could do wider woodwork but a lot of my door casings are too close to walls to accommodate larger trim (to keep things in scale.)

Would be nice if that style of register had more interesting covers but I've not found any & I've looked around a bit. Guess I should count my blessings; this style is inexpensive at least! Otherwise, I'd be drooling over those $175 per cast iron babies!