Good Questions: Masking an Ugly Gas Heater?

Hello AT,

We're moving to a great apartment near UCSF. The building is 1914, and in excellent condition. The only funky thing is the cover on the gas heater. The rest of the apartment is Arts and Crafts. Do readers have any suggestions?

Thanks, P.

(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.
Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to:
editor(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com)
Link To All Good Questions

Dear P.,

We have a funky ugly heater in our rental apartment, too. We tried camo: we painted it the same color as the wall. We also minimized its visual impact by positioning the couch in front of it, leaving 18" between for fire safety.

In your case, if you intend to leave the trim and wall different shades, we'd continue that line across the heater's cover to help with the camoflage. (And check with your landlord first that paint on the cover is ok.)

So many apartments in the Bay Area are afflicted with ugly heaters, there really ought to be a solution, such as attractive screens that cover without compromising heat conductivity, but we don't know of anything (that's not custom-made and super $$$) that fits this bill. Anyone else?

Comments (6)

I've seen a lot of articles on radiator covers. Perhaps you could do the same thing here? Turn it into a work of art? Make it look like a bookshelf?

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/12084.xml

A Boston-based furniture designer, Loki, makes gorgeous heater covers, I met him at a fair a few weeks ago. Here's some information:

http://decor8.blogspot.com/2006/05/loki-custom-furniture-boston.html

Best,
Holly (decor8)

I have a similar problem in my new apartment, but my heater is about 6 feet tall. I am considering painting it white to match the wall color, but before I approach my landlady, I wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be a problem. Is it safe to have paint so warm? And is this metal-adhering primer that the BHG site speaks of easy to find?

I'm also thinking of putting a curtain in front of it. It's about 4 inches deep though, so does anyone know if there is curtain hardware that will accodate that depth?

Cheers (I love this site),
-Showing

anyone know of anyone who does custom wall base radiator covers?

Careful with the curtain idea. I did that and one day when I wasn't home my thermostat went low enough to kick on and the curtain (which normally I would have opened up) was pulled into the heater and sort of melted into the heater. Luckily, no fires, but the curtain was ruined and my heart stopped for a few seconds when I contemplated what could have happened just for the sake of covering up an ugly heater.

I have this exact same heater in my apartment that I will be moving into. If I paint it, is there a specific type of paint I should be using (heat resistant/safe)? Or does anyone in know of a good DIY cover? It's the only thing I don't like about my adorable 20's Spanish style apartment. Help!