You have to be kidding me... You know these are recycled glass and concrete custom made sills right? Vetrazzo or similar product.

I have no advice because I like them and think they'll really work with the colors you've chosen.

They're gorgeous. I wouldn't cover them up at all.

Seriously.... I love them!

What is it about them that you don't find appealing. Sarah? From the photo, they look high-quality, interesting and versatile, as well as durable for anything reasonable you'd set on them (think plants and water spills). If they really bother you, try decorating around them rather than over them, so the focus is elsewhere. It would be easy to set a natural, stained, or painted piece of wood cut to fit right atop those sills without interfering with window function.

I agree, they're ugly. I would cover them with some bright airy curtain.

Oh dear, Sarah, poor girl, here we all are disagreeing with you. I like them too. The stone or whatever is not bad, and they are wide enough to hold plants.

If you really want to cover them, how about some fabric mats - get some gorgeous fabric and custom sew them to size.

They are so functional and much more interesting than an ordinary molding. Make the most of them!

What are you going to do, cover every window with a curtain and hide the windowsills? She probably wants to put things there. If she really wants to cover them she really just needs to put things on them, like plants. That will draw attention to the objects instead of the sills. But again, I think they're interesting. The windows were obviously designed that way given how deep they are.

I love them! I wouldn't change them at all. Maybe do the grey paint first and then see how you feel about them? They will probably fit right in! :)

Terazzo, maybe? Sorry, I like them too.

LOL I was just in Ottawa looking at apartments to rent. the ones I loved had these windowsills and I was very effusive about them to anyone who was with me. I love them too!

I don't understand the problem

What?! They're gorgeous!

What about getting some grey frosted glass or mirrors cut to size to put on top?

Poor Sarah - we're no help at all! I love them too, but I'll try to say something about covering them up. I love the plants idea, something draping out of its pot maybe... and I also think you could use a scarf or some folded material over them. For the most coverage, you could make your windowsills into your library. Then every window would have both a lovely view and a bit of literature :) Good luck.

A safe surface to house lots of plants. An occasional spill won't hurt them and, if you like green, a good place for an indoor "nursery" that works with the surface it sits upon.

What about contact paper or shelf liner and an xacto knife? Or some veener and rubber cement?

I have to admit I love them too. I wish my place had sills of such quality. But it's YOUR place. And as such you have an idea of what you want to see in your home.

Since you want to cover them without permanent alteration, maybe some form of contact paper? There are quite a few options that might be in keeping with what you have in mind. And if not, you might be able to put something on the contact paper itself without marring the sill (provided there is no bleeding through).

Sarah - I like them too. It definitely looks better than 18 coats of water smudged paint.

However, I think some removable wallpaper or contact paper could do the trick - or - the curtains suggested by someone else.

You're lucky to have those windowsills... I haven't any! Leave them as they are!

i have plain white wooden sills that easily get dirty, and have been wanting a solid stone or composite surface that will wipe away easily. I'm not sure what the problem is...

I'm sorry but I love those sills too! They look nice and wide and look like they're easy to clean - I live in a really old house and sometimes I wish that I had windowsills like this to put my plants on! If you really hate them I would suggest just putting a bunch of potted plants on them, nobody would notice the sills then.

Plasti-dip rubberized spray. No joke, people are using this to cover their cars and it peels right off.

The thing you have to make sure is that the surface is non-porous (properly sealed).

Another option is to build a shelf that fits over the existing shelf that you can paint. Line the underside with a thin foam or rubber to lessen any hollow sound.

Your color scheme sounds great. Once you have painted, you might feel differently about the sills and enjoy how well they compliment your espresso and greys. Would I prefer gorgeous wood over terrazo? Yes, however, I don't think these sills are all that bad.

I wish that I could see the rest of the room. If you want to dress it up a bit, use an accent vase that has a pop of color. As far as the windowsills go, if you want to make it even more striking and unusual than it is, why not add a strip of ribbon on the edge to bring our one of the colors in the stone?

I like them a lot - wouldn't touch them - if anything, would highlight.

I find them ugly too... too busy for my taste. I'd cover them with a fabric pad that can hang over or a high quality piece of wood (teak?) with a lip that comes down to cover the front.

I think they're gorgeous, and go well with the colors you describe! It's your place, though, not mine, so to answer your question: I'd buy some textiles like repurposed placemats or a nice table runner to cover them up. If you want to completely cover them, what about removable veneer or one of those vinyl treatments that you can peel off when you move? Panyl's product is meant as a make-over Ikea pieces, but you can buy by the foot and apply it to whatever you like.

Contact paper would be a easy to remove solution but finding something good can be tricky. Another option is to build something that could easily just set over then be painted or finished however you wish. We created a a bookcase out of this old wetbar (well bar as it had no sink) and rather than remove the terribly old laminate top we just put wood over it, obviously for this it is glued down and secured because this is a permanent change, we just didnt want the mess and pain of removing the counter. However, you cant even tell its under there.

Don't mess with them -- they were much more expensive and high end than other alternatives. Decorate the rest of the space and the people who notice them will think you have great taste/luck.

Cut a board to fit, cover with tile you like including a bullnose trim. Drop them on top, voila!

I absolutely love them, and they look like recycled glass or quartz countertop material to me (which makes me jealous, as my mother has been trying to save up to redo her counters with this material, but worries that people would rather have granite even though this is more expensive and less common and would fit her home better).

I understand that its different, and can see why someone might not like them (I personally think dark granite is usually ugly and I can see not wanting granite or similar styled windowsills).

I do urge you to take care not to do anything that might be hard to undo, as many renters would love to have windowsills like these, and they are likely quite expensive. So yes, paint is out of the question, and I urge you to take caution with contact paper or anything like that (so as not to dull the surface).

You say you're planning on painting gray. I think they would like nicer against a gray background. Perhaps you could use a textile runner to soften and warm the sills?

Have expresso brown hue wood shelves custom made to cover them, fitting right over, between the walls' corners and having a fake thickness to completely hide the windowsill. Place bright colored interesting objects on them.

Sorry - gotta agree with the crowd - these are fabulous! If you feel that they are too cold, just add warm/earthy accents in wood, etc.

Love those sills!

But they're cute!

That said: curtains + plants. Especially in Canada - us Canadians can appreciate all the greenery we can get, especially once you get to mid-February!

Yeah...I like them, too.

But even if I didn't like them, they are neutral enough that I wouldn't bother doing anything to them. And I've painted tile walls and a kitchen counter.

In many places in the world, including the U.S., people of wealth and taste had/have stone windowsills, usually marble. This is because that material more practical in responding to weather conditions than painted or stained wood. Sorry you don't like these, but they ARE a sign of a quality building and I trust your landlord knows that. So if you are interested in avoiding his or her wrath, I'd leave them alone.

Love them as well. They look to me like they could be recycled glass in concrete, like Icestone is, or a similar product. As expensive as granite.

Being that they are made of concrete, I'm not sure that they are completely non-pourous, so I wouldn't spray or treat them with anything - or use contact paper, either, as you won't want to be responsible for damaging them.

Just cover them - cut a placemat to fit (I've cut those Chilewich woven vinyl placemats to cover surfaces on furniture in my bath that I want to protect, and they look great. If you want to cover the verticle edge, fold it over and secure wtih a bit of clear tape.) Or go with the wood idea, or fabric, with an overhanging lip if you want to cover the edge. Or, give them a chance, you may come to love them as most of us do!

Although I agree that they are great as is, if you really do not like them why not make a faux sill to go over them out of thin wood and finishing trim? If you needed to secure it you could use double sided mounting tape or 3m mounting putty?

This isn't a "faux" but you can kind of get the idea how easy it would be to create one:
http://www.azfauxbeams.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Sloped_Sill__Slo_4dc81819af2ef.gif

Nothing wood glue and finishing nails wouldn't handle.
Hope it helps.

If you used the proper drapes, they wouldn't show. You're not planning on using short little curtains or (worse) blinds are you?

I was thinking it is terazzo as well and Iove them!,
sorry...

for the suggestion about making them your library, i would be careful with that option. i did it once and realized that closeness to the elements (heat, moisture, etc.) was ruining my books.

i like them too. but you don't, so here are my thoughts.

that's a great depth for housing plants (as other have suggested). get a fabric placemat that you like, place that on the sill, and put house plants on top. the placemat will hang over the edge covering most of the terazzo. you could go for something neutral (like a charcoal grey) or something a little more decorated and ornate.

i also really like the idea of building a wood cover for them, but that would require you to be handy with some powertools. i don't know where you'd be able to buy something like that.

me, personally, i'd just love it up with some plants.

Sometimes when I read these posts I feel really sorry for landlords. Granite windowsills he/she doesn't have to repaint after tenants stick bottles and plants on them or leave windows open and let moisture in rotting the wood....and still they're considered ugly. I predict some landlord is going to have to spend a lot of time with goo remover taking off sticky paper and will be left with very scratched up windowsills after hours of work. Sigh.

Can't think of anything because I really really love them.

I don't have a suggestion because, as a Torontonian, I feel your pain. Every rental apartment seems to have these types of windowsills and I, for one, have wondered myself how to cover them up. Short of painting them out (and then stripping them later), using contact paper, or building some kinda of DIY ledge that sits on top of it - I've got nothing.

I guess it's one of those "grass is always greener on the other side" situations because we seem to be in the minority. Good luck!

What I wouldn't give for windowsills like that! I'd cover it with plants plants plants!!

There is nothing wrong with the window sills other than personalizing, add some nice light airy curtains, your favorite small to medium ceramic pots and maybe even mason jars if that's your thing and add some LIFE! meaning add the green! With those windowsills you could get some nice herbs and other various plants growing.

Sarah I totally agree! I'd cover them up with some really nice lace doilies!

You have us nothing to go on in terms of the look you want to achieve. So...we're left throwing darts in the dark. I think an overlay of wood with a lip on the front is an excellent idea. Paint that whatever color you want, or wrap it in a decorative paper (e.g. wrapping paper) that you can change on a whim. Consider something thin...like the thickness of a pegboard...heck, that might even be a look you would consider.

If you want this to hold weight, and if you have pets or kids or drunken visitors, consider a strip of peel-and-stick velcro. Put one side parallel to the window at the back of the sill and the second piece on the wood you are installing over it. That way, it'll stay put.

If you are hesitant to go to all the trouble of cutting a wood cover for the sills, you can get very inexpensive rolls of cork at hobby shops that you can cut with scissors and fit nicely without having to worry about adhesives.

I have no idea why you don't love those sills, though. If you get to paint, find a darker hue of one of the many chip colors for the window wall. I'll bet you will love the way the sills 'pop' then!

Every house I have ever owned has had windowsills like these and I have never thought twice about them. As long as you don't have cats that like to knock them over, I would go with the plant idea. If you do have a cat, train him to lounge on the sill. ;)

Love them - put a bunch of potted plants or a cool collection, done.

Just this past weekend I successfully covered a hideous counter top with Con-Tact Paper.

If I had been a bit more patient I would have browsed Amazon for a cool print or solid. As it was, I chose from what was available at my local Target (funny enough, it's almost identical to what you're starting with).

It went on easily and looks great. I highly recommend this solution!

I have NO sills, so yours look amazing to me!!!

Everyone loves the windowsills so you'd be daft to mess with them. But if you're desperate for wooden ones, plain or painted, it's no big deal to get a carpenter to make one with a drop-front that completely masks them. He'll think you're bonkers though.

I must not be seeing what everyone else is seeing, because these look like the counter-top sills we had in my high school. Ick.

If you can't replace or paint them, then all that's left is covering them up. Like others have said, there's the over hanging mat or custom cut wood.You could also find a long planter that'll fit and fill it with hanging plants that'll drape over the edge.

Lace doilies? Contact paper? Aaaagggghhhhh! The sills are excellent and a fine architectural detail the way they are! At least, so it would seem from the pictures. I would go so far as to make sure my gray paint was coordinated with the gray of the terrazzo (same warmth, coolness, hue, etc). Not to mention, they appear to be nice and deep, so if you're a plant person, you've got it made.

As many others have stated, your sills are a step up from the standard lack of sills or painted wood sills found in almost all rentals. Leave them as they are and fill the window sill with plants so you won't have to focus on the ugliness of it all. It would have been helpful if you'd stated what you expect or are looking for in terms of a "pretty" window sill.

I think anything you cover them with is going to look far more cheap and tacky than you think these look

Beautiful window sills - I wish I had them in my place.

The opposite of durable, timeless, practical, neutral windowsills would be to cover them with the Sunday funny pages (preferably something like "Family Circus" or "Garfield"), held on with brightly colored painter's tape.

Thanks everyone! Im the poster. I didnt realize they were high quality sills.. I will leave them as they are at least till after I paint, but I cant hep but finding them ugly haha. Either way, I like the fabric ideas, something easy that wont hurt the sills. Thanks!

My mind is boggling at all the suggestions of contact paper. Gross gross gross.

I also think these are gorgeous, practical, etc. HOWEVER, I'm here to offer an actual solution. You can cut some wood (or MDF) to fit over them, with a front lip to hide the front. These would all need to be custom made to fit (so not easy or cheap), but you could then paint the covers any colour you wish. The weight of them alone would hold them in place, or you can use some other temporary adhesive to hold them down.

3M Di-Noc would be a good choice (compared to contact paper) comes in all sorts of tactile textured finishes (used a lot for faux carbon fiber in cars, but also wood, stone, etc.):

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/architectural-markets/home/interior-exterior-finishes/

To those of you pooh-poohing the Con-Tact paper solution...I'm not lying when I say that my finished product looks nearly identical to the pics above. Which is a HUGE improvement over poorly-painted and filthy-looking wood that no amount of cleaning could make look nice. Seriously, I think my landlord didn't bother wiping it down before it was painted, and that whatever dirt and dust was on there melded with the paint.

Everyone who has seen it so far has asked if I got the top replaced. Until you touch it, you can't tell! I think it's a great temporary solution in a rental, until I get around to sanding it down and repainting it, that is. Which, knowing me, will never happen, so...!