Covering Those Ugly Radiators

I remember my parents old kitchen when I was a kid... Dark red wallpaper with a white polka dot design. Little thin blacks vines encompassing the dots as they flowed to the ceiling.  Red linoleum covered the floor with a brick-like design.  It had a closed in feel at times due to the dark colors of the interior.  The one thing I remember distinctively is the wooden radiator cover.  It had a solid composition and was dressed in a very dark stain and shiny poly.  A perforated aluminum screen enclosed the front for ventilation.  When my parents redid their kitchen years after moving in, they installed baseboard heating and the radiator cover was history.

When we moved into our house last September, one of the things that was an immediate eye sore was the exposed radiators in each room - and I mean each and every room!  We had spoken to a plumber friend of ours about replacing them with baseboards and he looked at us like we were insane. He explained how much heat they retain when off and how they are the most efficient source of heat that is no longer made - so we decided to keep them and address the aesthetic issue instead.

I was noodling around Pinterest to gain some inspiration that matched our style but I was continuously striking out. A large majority of them had the aluminum grate in the front which we didn't feel would fit in well with our 85 year old home and our style.  I then saw a cover that was made entirely out of wood with these beautiful slats in the front to allow proper airflow.  I really liked the boldness of the wood than the understated grating.  The Craftsman style also meshed well with our aesthetic taste and would fit in perfectly in the living room... so I got to work.

Here is our latest and greatest! We are so happy how these came out. We used Minwax Natural stain and since these covers will be exposed to temperature changes, we applied three coats of Minwax's Helmsman Spar Urethane (in semi-gloss). I can't wait to make more of these!

BEFORE

AFTER

Below is the first cover I completed for our living room. Since we spend most of our time in this room, we wanted to be sure we tackled this cover first to protect Avery. Here is the cover unfinished - I would have left it natural since the grain was beautiful but it didn't match the room - we painted it white semi-gloss to match the molding in the room.

Check out the images below for some of our recent projects.

We are currently offering our custom radiators through Etsy. Since these are custom pieces, please email us for pricing details. Be sure to include the radiator dimensions, preferred style, stain/paint/unfinished and anything else we should be aware of. 

Mod Podging

Last year, when we moved into the house, Keith made Avery a step stool so he can look out the front window with Winston to watch all the cars, people and dogs go by. Eventually he will be able to use it to wash his hands and brush his teeth. 

We painted it white with a big black "A" on the top step. It was fine until the white started getting dirty and I found myself having to clean it quite frequently. I have been wanting to spruce it up for quite some time but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. That was until I was looking up Mod Podge for a dresser renovation and the light bulb went off! 

Materials Needed

All of these materials can be picked up at a craft's store such as Michaels or Amazon. I picked  up the Mod Podge  and foam brushes at Walmart because they were cheaper. 

• Desired object to enhance (this could be anything)
• Craft paper
• Mod Podge
• Foam brush
• Paper plate
• Drop cloth

I started by preparing the stool for paint by lightly sanding and cleaning it. Then I laid a drop cloth on the front lawn and got to painting. I sprayed the bottom with a light coat, let it dry 24 hours, then sprayed the top with a light coat. I repeated this process so the stool would have full coverage and there were no white spots seeping through. This process took a few days because I let it dry for a while and was working on this project in between others.

Determine what paper you would like to use for the project. I picked up a variety of decorative paper from Michael's at .55 - .99 cents per sheet. Since baseball is Avery's favorite sport, we decided to go with the baseball design. 

The next step is to trace and cut out the letter, or design, you would like to place on the object. We decided to continue with the large "A." This step takes a bit of measuring to ensure it fits the way you envisioned. Once the letter, or design, is cut out grab the Mod Podge and start crafting.

I started with a very thin layer of Mod Podge on the entire top step to ensure uniformity and that there were no weird lines from the glue once it dried. Then, I placed the paper on top of the glue and pressed down. It was helpful to start from one side and work my way across the paper. I used a card (from a deck of cards) to push it down and to eliminate any bubbles that might pop up.

Once the paper is flat on the object, I painted a very thin layer of Mod Podge over the entire top step/ Once that dried, I painted the last and final coat to make certain the edges don't creep up.

I found this website to be very helpful when planning my Mod Podge project.