Ugly AC Transformed Into Stylish Landing Strip

We've posted about ideas of how to hide your AC unit and recently shared this hilarious ugly heater solution. But we think AT reader Alex might have trumped them all with his stunning DIY solution for the eyesore unit that once marred the interior decor of his loft.

"I have this really ugly "motel" style AC unit that did not fit with the rest of my loft and created an unusable and unsightly area. The problem was that I rent so I had to leave the ac unit untouched, and of course, usable.

The solution I came up with was this. I found a pallet full of laminate flooring in the as is section of Ikea for $14.00 a box. I bought two boxes in case I messed up some cuts and glued them to two plywood panels cut to the size of the unit. I mad an "L" shape and attached the panels to the wall with brackets thus leaving the AC unit untouched. I then trimmed all the edges with aluminum strips from Home Depot..."

"Next problem was how to finish off the top where there would still be air flow into the room. I finally arrived at what you see here. I found some cabinet legs in the ikea as is section for 8 dollars and bought a white table top from there as well at full price (around 30 dollars). I cut the table top down width ways and attached the legs. That piece rests on top of the panels allowing air flow and access to the controls."

"The grass on top is fake from michaels crafts and cost around 5 bucks a square. Anyway, I still have a few more things to do like lighting and painting a graphic of one of my photos but so far I am happy not to have to look at that ugly AC unit again. The space is finally usable and I think, attractive. Anyway, wanted to share this with your readers because I am sure that I am not the only one with this type of problem."

Thanks Alex...what a difference and inspiration for all of us who live with an unsightly AC or heating unit.

Comments (80)

wow! fantastic!

posted by mimiz on October 3rd 2008 at 4:12pm
view mimiz's profile

WOW!!! OMG. Love it! Gorgeous. Duly noted and I"m sure I'll steal your idea someday. This is great!

posted by amiencc on October 3rd 2008 at 4:17pm
view amiencc's profile

So Awesome!

posted by modernguy on October 3rd 2008 at 4:19pm
view modernguy's profile

Well done!

posted by Yokie on October 3rd 2008 at 4:19pm
view Yokie's profile

Simply Brilliant

posted by bepsf on October 3rd 2008 at 4:20pm
view bepsf's profile

Looks great; very clever!

posted by Sydney on October 3rd 2008 at 4:24pm
view Sydney's profile

brilliant. absolutely brilliant!

posted by bettyboop on October 3rd 2008 at 4:28pm
view bettyboop's profile

ingenious

posted by elinka189 on October 3rd 2008 at 4:34pm
view elinka189's profile

the apartment is super beautiful too.

posted by *heather leaf* on October 3rd 2008 at 4:34pm
view *heather leaf*'s profile

holy smokes. that is fantastic. gold stars A

posted by Seaside on October 3rd 2008 at 4:37pm
view Seaside's profile

That is gorgeous! Wonderful job!!!

posted by Kimber on October 3rd 2008 at 4:38pm
view Kimber's profile

what an elegant solution...

posted by maude on October 3rd 2008 at 4:40pm
view maude's profile

closing the italics tag

posted by RedShoes on October 3rd 2008 at 4:48pm
view RedShoes's profile

Excellent job!!!

:o)

posted by Kouklah on October 3rd 2008 at 4:48pm
view Kouklah's profile

i love this!

posted by enlovei7 on October 3rd 2008 at 4:50pm
view enlovei7's profile

Pretty cool.

posted by tamaracks on October 3rd 2008 at 5:00pm
view tamaracks's profile

WOW!!!! Fantastic!!!

posted by emily! on October 3rd 2008 at 5:01pm
view emily!'s profile

That is amazing and so creative! Very nicely done.

posted by Tabitha (From Single to Married) on October 3rd 2008 at 5:10pm
view Tabitha (From Single to Married)'s profile

Well done, beautiful.

posted by avianmission on October 3rd 2008 at 5:31pm
view avianmission's profile

Wow, you actually made it beautiful!

posted by jacasi on October 3rd 2008 at 5:37pm
view jacasi's profile

Wow!!! A DIY project that looks nothing like a DIY project! That baby's all custom... Well done!

posted by LilyC on October 3rd 2008 at 5:39pm
view LilyC's profile

great job with the A/C unit. Are you for hire?
Love the apartment and the lamp! Where is that from?

posted by DeClutterYou on October 3rd 2008 at 5:47pm
view DeClutterYou's profile

um...WOW!

posted by MoxyThunder on October 3rd 2008 at 5:48pm
view MoxyThunder's profile

Fantastic---you should go into business!

posted by poptart on October 3rd 2008 at 6:08pm
view poptart's profile

DAMN!!!!

That looks so amazing. Great work!!

posted by bathysphere on October 3rd 2008 at 6:09pm
view bathysphere's profile

WOW! That looks unbelievable. And the rest of your place is gorgeous as well.

And the air flow isn't restricted at all? It still cools off your place? I have one of these and I am afraid it wouldn't cool the room off as well as it should if I were to do something like this.

posted by atlantadesigner on October 3rd 2008 at 6:17pm
view atlantadesigner's profile

that's thinking! very creative!

posted by dM on October 3rd 2008 at 6:21pm
view dM's profile

Bravo! Superbly well done, Alex.

posted by wig3000 on October 3rd 2008 at 6:27pm
view wig3000's profile

well done....m

posted by meso on October 3rd 2008 at 7:08pm
view meso's profile

Looks great. Let's have an apartment tour please.

posted by caw261 on October 3rd 2008 at 7:17pm
view caw261's profile

Aaargh! Enough with the italics...

Aaaanyways:
Well done, I wish I was as handy!

posted by Lilli K. on October 3rd 2008 at 7:30pm
view Lilli K.'s profile

bravo! i love this! maybe i'll do something like this for my radiator :-)

posted by Pablo Rosario on October 3rd 2008 at 8:31pm
view Pablo Rosario's profile

Great space.

Wonder if I can turn the italics off?

Did that work?

posted by sunspot42 on October 3rd 2008 at 8:32pm
view sunspot42's profile

Great job!!!

posted by Zohreh on October 3rd 2008 at 8:34pm
view Zohreh's profile

This is amazing!!! Great job and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

posted by louberrypie on October 3rd 2008 at 9:10pm
view louberrypie's profile

bottom line it is appealing to the eye

posted by farfalla1 on October 3rd 2008 at 9:27pm
view farfalla1's profile

very clever and beautifully done!!

i am wondering what your "day" job is?

posted by sassydo on October 4th 2008 at 1:22am
view sassydo's profile

i can only add one more WOW! :-D

posted by maike on October 4th 2008 at 3:03am
view maike's profile

i definitely was not expecting what i saw when i scrolled down, amazing! what a perfect spot and idea for this necessary but unattractive piece of your home.

posted by universal mod on October 4th 2008 at 4:00am
view universal mod's profile

Bravo!

posted by catmorgan94 on October 4th 2008 at 4:19am
view catmorgan94's profile

That looks like a lovely and functional piece of furniture (almost like a bar). You must be so pleased with yourself. I would be. ;-)

posted by TaniaTingel on October 4th 2008 at 4:54am
view TaniaTingel's profile

That was great! and im so glad you included a shot of the whole room. your place is so pretty ;)

posted by Bobbycat5 on October 4th 2008 at 5:19am
view Bobbycat5's profile

Wow, that's one of the best projects I've ever seen! Great job! I love it.

posted by Erin Lang Norris/Yellow Canoe on October 4th 2008 at 5:24am
view Erin Lang Norris/Yellow Canoe's profile

Great work!

posted by Michael Dumas on October 4th 2008 at 5:25am
view Michael Dumas's profile

that looks AWESOME.

posted by sugarblush on October 4th 2008 at 5:58am
view sugarblush's profile

I hate to be redundant, but: fantastic!

You should market that.

posted by Jaze on October 4th 2008 at 6:04am
view Jaze's profile

Incredible. It looks amazing, and you had great luck at the "as is" section. The IKEA in Burbank usually has a busted dresser and a bunch of empty palettes.

posted by mangabanga on October 4th 2008 at 6:49am
view mangabanga's profile

Congrats on coming up with a economical and stylish solution. You did a great job. I am expecting to see a home tour soon....hint hint ;)

posted by DawnMarie04 on October 4th 2008 at 6:55am
view DawnMarie04's profile

genius. thank you for sharing.

posted by alexmax on October 4th 2008 at 6:59am
view alexmax's profile

totally digging this!

posted by little flower on October 4th 2008 at 7:09am
view little flower's profile

holy. crap. that's awesome!

posted by jenniejenjen on October 4th 2008 at 7:42am
view jenniejenjen's profile

very nice!

posted by Quince on October 4th 2008 at 8:38am
view Quince's profile

so what do you do for a living or hobby that armed you with the vision and know how to do this???

posted by kimg924 on October 4th 2008 at 8:49am
view kimg924's profile

Brilliant! Kudos and thanks for sharing!!!

posted by VikingP77 on October 4th 2008 at 9:15am
view VikingP77's profile

that is just amazing. Any chance you want to come down to San Diego and do the same thing to our AC? Brilliant!

posted by sdblondie on October 4th 2008 at 9:20am
view sdblondie's profile

I am in LOVE! I all of a sudden am jealous and wish I didn't have central air for a second so that I could do what you did (how weird of me) It looks fantastic and fits it with the surroundings perfectly!!

posted by Christina @ 2230H on October 4th 2008 at 9:43am
view Christina @ 2230H's profile

bravo

spot on

posted by Philip_Littell on October 4th 2008 at 9:47am
view Philip_Littell's profile

Awesome job! Looks fantastic!!!

posted by Julia at Living Luxely on October 4th 2008 at 11:27am
view Julia at Living Luxely's profile

Wow what a great solution. Boy that door, ceiling and cabinetry look familiar. Are you in any of the SB Loft Buildings in Downtown LA by any chance.

posted by Kennard on October 4th 2008 at 11:31am
view Kennard's profile

wow im really impressed at your ingenuity! well done!

posted by Sumhope on October 4th 2008 at 12:32pm
view Sumhope's profile

fabulous! best I've seen on AT - seriously.

posted by brenjay on October 4th 2008 at 1:33pm
view brenjay's profile

Amazing... what a creative and beautiful solution! I also vote for a house tour!

posted by FlyGirlLAX on October 4th 2008 at 3:15pm
view FlyGirlLAX's profile

Incredible! Beautiful job! Best transformation I've seen in ages.

posted by L1bby on October 4th 2008 at 3:59pm
view L1bby's profile

Thanks everyone for the positive comments on my ac unit coverup.

Some of you had some questions so I wanted to briefly answer them here. If anyone wants more specifics on this or some of the other things I have done in my loft, feel free to contact me at alman_1970@yahoo.com.

To the question of what I do for a living: I work professionally as a photographer here in LA but use my loft projects as another creative outlet. The loft is located in the "SB lofts" on the corner of sixth and spring. Lastly, I had never really thought of doing this type of thing for hire since it just a hobby but if someone is interested maybe we could work something out.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for the positive responses and glad I could contribute to this community.

alex

posted by laalex on October 4th 2008 at 4:04pm
view laalex's profile

Amazing! So clever, so beautiful!

posted by bohemianbeauty7 on October 4th 2008 at 4:23pm
view bohemianbeauty7's profile

This is SO AWESOME that it makes me want an ugly air conditioner just so I can do this. GREAT JOB!

posted by scarlethue on October 4th 2008 at 5:07pm
view scarlethue's profile

Echo: this really is awesome. It hits all the high notes; it looks great, it's an inexpensive solution, and it remains functional.

posted by Eric D M on October 4th 2008 at 6:33pm
view Eric D M 's profile

haha

I agree with scarlethue, I want an ugly ac too!

posted by La loca on October 4th 2008 at 6:53pm
view La loca's profile

looks great! I would love to see what you've done with the rest of the place.

posted by gavollman on October 5th 2008 at 2:13am
view gavollman's profile

Genius.

posted by blackbird on October 5th 2008 at 2:35am
view blackbird's profile

Yeah! What they said.... Double and in spades!

Like scarlethue and La Loca, it makes me wish I had an ugly AC unit to hide too.

posted by quiltmaster on October 5th 2008 at 3:52am
view quiltmaster's profile

fantastic transformation!

posted by design milk on October 5th 2008 at 10:05am
view design milk's profile

Love love love...

posted by Maroha on October 5th 2008 at 2:20pm
view Maroha's profile

VERY cool!!! I'm just not sure all of us would have the vision or ability to pull that off so well :-). I'm very impressed, from photo 1 I wouldn't expect that such an attractive solution was possible!

posted by kittykatz on October 6th 2008 at 2:47am
view kittykatz's profile

perfect! a cover-up that looks nothing like a cover-up! problem solving with design at its very best...cheers!

posted by coloraddict on October 6th 2008 at 6:04am
view coloraddict's profile

i can't believe what i'm seeing. brilliant. inspirational. i wish my mind worked liked this! i don't think i could have seen past the initial problem.

well done!

posted by Pistachio on October 6th 2008 at 6:14am
view Pistachio's profile

I didn't think the "after" was going to be so awesome!
Well done!

posted by gordon on October 6th 2008 at 7:34am
view gordon's profile

Wow - you rock. This looks great!

posted by sagekitten85 on October 6th 2008 at 9:41am
view sagekitten85's profile

10/10.

posted by upstatecb on October 6th 2008 at 12:02pm
view upstatecb's profile

AT readers never fail to amaze me! :)

posted by witchbaby on October 12th 2008 at 4:22pm
view witchbaby's profile