is your attic well-ventilated?

Some things in your home are essential, but unsightly. For example, take a look at your home's registers and air return. Unless you have a vintage home, for the most part these are just plain ugly. The good news is, for not a lot of money you can really spice these up. Decorative air returns and registers can really improve the look of your home. Here is how to do jazz up those unsightly registers and air returns:

Find Decorative Sheet Metal and Paint it

For decorating your air return, go to your local home improvement store and take a look at their sheet metal. You should be able to find at least a couple of decorative ones with interesting designs. Pick one out that catches your eye. Then take some measurements and cut it to size.

You could leave it unfinished in the color it comes in, which is probably silver, but it generally looks best to paint it. Some people go with the paint color of their baseboards, which is usually white. If you have black accents, then black paint on it could really pop. A high gloss paint will work best for easy cleaning.

Frame and Attach

Next, you will have to frame it out. If you are handy with woodworking, then this won't be a problem for you. However, if you don't feel as good about doing this type of work, then it is fairly inexpensive to have a custom frame made as long as you pick a basic frame. For an even more eye catching look you could go with a decorative molding, but that will get more expensive.

Then you can finish by gluing or nailing it together. At this point, you will need to find a way to attach it to your air return. You can attach it to the original air return by glue or Velcro patches. For an even better look and longer lasting option, use hinges.

Decorating a register will be similar to decorating an air return, but it might be a little trickier to attach. What you can do is attach it to your existing register using something removable such as Velcro strips. That way, you can easily remove it to change the look or for opening or closing the register.

Now that you can see how easy it is to improve the look for your home's registers and air returns you can get started today! You will wonder why you didn't do this sooner! Make sure to consult with a company like Long Beach Heating & Air Conditioning Inc before making any big changes to your vents because you don't want to hamper their effectiveness.