If you are a new homeowner or new to DIY, this is a very simple project that you can do REALLY fast but save money and get brand new looking vent covers! I hated our vent covers – I knew that they were not new looking or even cohesive with our flooring…but I always felt bogged down with bigger projects. I pushed this task to the back burner but in reality – I should have done this DAY ONE. Now after spray painting vent covers, I feel like our floors look even better and it was such a little thing that made the entire room look a step toward updated!
This is a tutorial if you are looking to do the same with your own….
First you want to clean your vent covers – remove all cobwebs and dirt. Then it’s time for sanding. I used an extra fine sanding block to do long strokes on all the flat bits.
In general the sides will be easy to sand but the vertical parts inside will be fine if they don’t get sanded. I then cleaned them off again with a wet cloth.
See all those gentle scuffs? That helps the paint adhere.
Then I used Rust-Oleum Universal spray paint to figure out what color I wanted for the vent covers. I picked out Hammered in black and in dark bronze.
As you can see, they both have a beautiful hammered finish. I went with this look because it would hide any imperfections….like I said, these were the vent covers we had when we moved in so some of them are less than perfect.
Then I tried the colors out with the flooring to see what color looked best. I liked the Dark Bronze because it was close to blending with the hardwoods but the reflection of the light made them look lighter.
The black looked really modern and Jeremy and I agreed that the contrast was really pretty. I think the black coordinated with the hardwoods too.
Here they are zoomed back. As you can see – the bronze was pretty but the black just looked better to us personally. (the vents weren’t pushed down yet because they weren’t 100% dry and I was too impatient to not take photos)
In the end, I think the entire project took me about four minutes per vent cover. I wish I had done it sooner because it is little things like vent covers that make a room look like 2019.