need help with already expensive but ugly duct cover
last month
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (31)
- last month
- last month
Related Discussions
My expensive new bathroom is ugly
Comments (65)I like your choices, too. I would continue searching for the right light neutral color, myself. I'm also not sold on blue in there... It does take time to get the right color! My usual procedure: 1) bring home about 10 different swatches from the store. Hold them up in the room in various places, sometimes right on the wall, sometimes holding it out at arms length so it's "bigger" in your field of vision. Narrow your swatches down to say 5 or 6 that look OK. 2) Look at them at different times of day, different weather, different locations in the room. Next to whatever different materials they will abut IRL. 3) Narrow it down to a handful. Buy testers of those colors or whatever the smallest amount you can buy is. Paint ~2'x2' blocks on various walls (or paint pieces of poster board that you can move around) and again, look at them in different light situations....See MoreUgly granite counters: Cover over or replace?
Comments (24)Rosie, I will always stand by subway tiles. Fads may come and go, but subway tiles are always there. They are a reminder of my college days in NYC riding the subway. And of my great Chicago apartment that had them floor to almost ceiling in the bathroom, original from the 1920s, with a beautiful crackle. Figuring out a style for our kitchen and bath that is original to the house is a bit of a fun trick because our house originally had neither. It had an outhouse (long gone though some neighbors still have them as tool shed relics in the back yard). And it has what is known in these parts as a shed kitchen, which is just what it sounds like, a shelter in the yard that existed prior to indoor plumbing and electric. Over the years the shed kitchens were built on to and eventually enclosed, and in our case another floor and roof deck added on top. All of this balanced on the shed kitchen - what had been a rather campground like, picnic type shelter. In digging in to the kitchen floor to run pipes for a bathroom that we were going to put in the back stairwell, we discovered that the whole kitchen, and all the rooms above it, were balanced on two crumbling brick piers, and that the ground below was many, many feet deep of coal ash. In excavation, bottles, newspapers, and kids' messages were found dating from the 1930s. Who knows what version of our kitchen was built when. All of that is a long way to say, no real kitchen style seems authentic to our house necessarily. Our area has no Arts and Crafts references or architecture. Victorian and Italianate is more the style. I like to think of butlers pantries, nothing too flashy, wood, marble, stainless maybe. For our bathroom, we put in a salvage console sink with glass legs from the 1930s. It is quite handsome and seems to blend in to the hodge podge. Our hope is to cobble together a kitchen that seems to blend in to the rest of the house too. The one that is there now just feels very out of place with the old fire places, staircase, molding in the rest of the house. We don't need/want historically accurate, just more of an old time vibe....See MoreNeed help replacing ducts/vent covers
Comments (4)You might consider replacing the "boots" to a common size, then just purchasing standard size boots. You may come out cheaper in the long run and get a better selection of grilles. As long as the boots are accessible, you can easily change them. If you have wall grilles, it may be even easier since a "wall stack" is usually used. That's just a duct the size of the wall space. Take a grille off and see what's behind it. It may be easier than you think. Duct boots are usually just attached using a couple of roofing nails. Just stick a screwdriver behind it and pry a little. You can purchase the standard size boots at your local home center or just hire it done. Either way it might be cheaper. I've had to have custom grilles made and it's usually pretty expensive. Also, you might want to consider sealing your ducts while you're in there. . It will pay back several times during first year. Here's an article I wrote covering just this topic Duct sealing....See MoreThe ugly Duct-ling
Comments (21)I don't think any of those tiles meet your "modern minimalist" criteria. I think the white color works best with your cabinets and to highlight your view, or a very light gray - lighter than your countertops. I'd consider using a large scale or elongated subway tile set in a straight or vertical pattern. Try a solid white or glass tile. You could use one with a handmade look if you want some shine and variation. A very pale color could also work depending on your adjoinging spaces. You might also consider using your countertop material as a backsplash. Whatever you use, consider using a back splash behind the stove over to the refrigerator side, up to the bottom of the vent hood, and straight over to the edge of the window. Then run the backsplash up 4-6 inches to the bottom of the windows and over to the end of your lower cabinets. That would minimize issues with trying to tile between the corner windows. You could bring the tile up to the ceiling behind the stove, but that would highlight the area above the refreigerator unless the tile is the same color as your wall....See MoreRelated Professionals
Moraga Furniture & Accessories · Bowling Green General Contractors · Catonsville General Contractors · Florham Park General Contractors · Wyomissing General Contractors · Clute Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Salmon Creek Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Citrus Park Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Auburn Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · South Plainfield Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Westchester Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Forest Hills Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Holt Cabinets & Cabinetry · Highland Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Glen Allen Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last monthlast modified: last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last monthlast modified: last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
- last month
Related Stories

DECORATING GUIDESRadiator Covers Like You’ve Never Seen
From custom to DIY, these 10 ideas will help the radiator blend in, become a storage standout or both
Full Story
GROUND COVERSGround Force: 10 Top Ground Covers for Your Garden
Protect your soil from weeds and drought this summer with a living mulch of ground covers
Full Story
SELLING YOUR HOUSE10 Tricks to Help Your Bathroom Sell Your House
As with the kitchen, the bathroom is always a high priority for home buyers. Here’s how to showcase your bathroom so it looks its best
Full Story
PRODUCT PICKSGuest Picks: A Whole Lotta Wonderful Window Coverings
Blinds, drapes, shades and curtain rods to give your windows a polished, put-together look
Full Story
WORKING WITH PROS3 Reasons You Might Want a Designer's Help
See how a designer can turn your decorating and remodeling visions into reality, and how to collaborate best for a positive experience
Full Story
TILETop Tile Trends From the Coverings 2013 Show — the Wood Look
Get the beauty of wood while waving off potential splinters, rotting and long searches, thanks to eye-fooling ceramic and porcelain tiles
Full Story
DISASTER PREP & RECOVERY7 Ways to Help Someone Hit by a Hurricane
The best things you can do in the wake of devastation are sometimes the most surprising
Full Story
DOORSThe Art of the Window: 12 Ways to Cover Glass Doors
Learn how to use drapes, shutters, screens, shades and more to decorate French doors, sliding doors and Dutch doors
Full Story
HOME TECHIs It Curtains for Curtains? Smart Glass Eliminates Window Coverings
Windows can now control light and heat through electricity and high-tech formulations, making blinds and shades optional
Full Story
LANDSCAPE DESIGNPorch of the Week: Covered Deck Becomes a Glassed-In Retreat
A design-build firm blocks wind gusts from Puget Sound, in Washington, extending porch time for these homeowners
Full Story
ci_lantro