apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you do this, use vintage-style wallpaper not REAL antique wallpaper. Much old wallpaper had lead in the dyes and now that it's old and slowly disintegrating, it releases that lead into the air. It's VERY dangerous. Especially if you were to have it in your bedroom where you spend probably about 1/3 of your life.

If you're willing to do something alternative to screens, I've seen in several restauarants these kind of pipes covered by (faux?) bamboo. The bamboo comes split in half lengthwise so that you can easily manuever it around the pipe and click together.

What if you bought a cheap-ish screen from pearl river (http://www.pearlriver.com/v2/sub_lamps.html) and dressed it up? That would at least save you the trouble of constructing something from scratch.

The easiest thing to do then might be to buy a pretty vintage-looking fabric, stretch it over the panels and staple it on the back (as if you were stretching a canvas to paint on). But I'm sure you could make it work with wallpaper too.

Let us know what you end up doing!

On Sex & The City, Carrie plopped a piece a lumber on top of her radiator to use it as a table - she has a lamp, books etc. on it. A fun, funky idea. You can see it at the link below. You could elaborate on the funk factor by painting it an interesting contrasting color. In other words: instead of concealing it, you might want to make it a deliberate objet d'art, :)

http://www.hbo.com/city/interiors/carrie.shtml
(go to Picture #2)

P.S. to my posting above: I realize you asked about the pipe, not the radiator. But I'd recommend the same thing: funk it up, add color: feature it instead of hiding it.

This is the kind of project that shows up on "happy hands at home" shows on HGTV now and again. Here's a version from DIY Network:
http://tinyurl.com/g56ac

One merit of fabric is that it'll be less annoyed than wallpaper about the heat and humidity from the radiator.

I'd also get the right kind of paint and paint that pipe to blend with the walls.

I did this in my apt. It will be less trouble if you buy canvas stretchers (Pearl Paint is a good source) rather than building from raw lumber. Then cover with batting material and fabric; just use a staple gun to attach the fabric to the back.

I've been dealing with a similar issue. I've been in the middle of a major renovation, and I have heat pipes that are against an exposed brick wall. The pipe was painted white, and the radiator was painted metallic silver. I've been mixing colors to try to match the color of the brick so that the pipes will vanish against the brick. With my first mix, I got a near perfect match, but I only mixed enought for one coat, and it didn't get total coverage. When I mixed another batch to do a second coat, I didn't get it right, and it looks muddy brown. I've been trying to mix with oil based rustoleum in the little cans... I'm steering off subject (it's all about me, it's all about me! me me me me me!).

ok

Let me see...

A friend of mine hides a radiator in his living room with an Eames folding screen. He also tucks a fabric steamer and his vacuum cleaner back there, too-

http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/SSA/Product/0,1592,a8-c440-p50,00.html

If you're looking to make something from retro-inspired wall papers, as someone else mentioned, try-

http://www.wallpaperfromthe70s.com/galerie.html

We have these same radiators and pipes in our house. We have hot-water heating (which is marvelously comfortable). We painted the (formerly silver) radiators and pipes white to match the moldings and are quite happy with the way they look.

How about hose-clamping some shelf brackets to it at about 60 degree angels to each other and cutting a round shelf to fit? Could be painted/wallpapered and still make for an interesting storage solution...

I have similar radiators, but what to do in winter?

For the summer, I have a bamboo / wood tray on my radiator that has plants and shells, but I am puzzled what to do in the winter... even if I have the radiator turned 'off', it can still get warm. Suddenly, you lose that extra shelf.

Is there any fire risk to having a big slab of wood (ala Carrie Bradshaw) on a steam radiator?

Forgot to add -- if you cover the radiator or pipe, the efficiency of the heat will be lessened. At one point during the last energy crisis, we tried to keep our thermostats set as low as possible and we had reflective foam panels *behind* the radiators to help direct the heat into the room rather than into the cold plastered brick walls behind the radiators. Of course, if you have steam heat, this probably doesn't apply because in that case you might have too much heat anyway. But it still seems a bit wasteful of energy to send the heat into the walls rather than into the room. On the other hand, I can fully understand the impulse to want to cover the radiators up.

Just saw the pipe out, and replace with a colorful basket of flowers. Heat the room in winter by eating more beans and farting a lot. Invite friends and neighbors over for dinners that consists solely of leafy vegetables, and then insist that you all retire to the bedroom for "something different", where you all just sit and stare at each other, farting madly....

Or, go out and hire Rick James, bitch. He'll rock your world!

Sara, the ideal radiator shelf is a slab of marble, because it loves to stay cool. You can often get marble cheap, in radiator-friendly sizes, at architectural salvage warehouses.

Monarda, you are a GENIUS!

good idea, Wende. Is there any possibility of it cracking?

(A funny exchange on a similar topic: I had friends over and was debating curtain lengths- two identical windows in my LR, one has the radiator below, other has nothing.

I was musing whether I could have diff curtain lengths: hem the radiator's curtain, while leaving one floor length. My friend quipped "just bring in another radiator to balance out the other window". All we could do is laugh!)

Wow, Sara! I just pooped my pants laughing at your situation.

That is just fucking hysterical!

Wow. Will you marry me and bore me the rest of your life with your idiotic stories?

We had marble slabs on radiators both in Minneapolis (-30 degrees on the other side of the uninsulated wall!) and upstate NY (radiator against rowhouse party wall) for a total of about five years with no problems. The only reason we haven't done the same thing here is that our radiators have (*sob*) rounded tops.

The jackass detector is going off. Maxwell, I think it's time to check/block an IP address.

I agree with Phyllis that this is an opportunity to play up your "yucky pipie" and make lemonade or whatever. I think you're lucky that the radiator and pipe have not been slathered with layers of paint. Truly yucky. I would make this a silver corner. Maybe polish up the pipe, add a silver framed piece of art above the radiator and place a silver chair to the right of the pipe. Something like the Emeco classic naval chair http://www.unicahome.com/catalog/item.asp?id=7015 - you can find knock offs of this just about everywhere or spray paint a cheaper chair. If you don't like silver, then I think Monarda's suggestion is the next best solution, but be sure to use the right kind of paint. But I suspect you may already be set on the screen idea in which case HGTV has done multiple shows involving the contstruction of screens. You should check out their site.

pipie = pipe

p.s. I think every home should keep a can of silver spray paint on hand. If I had a nickel for every problem I've solved with a can of metallic spray paint...:)

WOW! You guys are fantastic! Thanks so much for these wonderful suggestions. I will let you know what I do!

One other suggestion - how about clamping a mirror onto the pipe similar to the one shown in this Ikea solution: http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15597&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=23520&langId=-1&categoryId=15867&chosenPartNumber=S69807156 I would combine this with painting the radiator and pipe the color of the wall, the end result would be more modern and clean-looking than a screen plus also wouldn't lessen heating capacity.

I've seen lots of people wrap exposed pipes like yours in some sort of jute/twine.

Szig wrote:
> I agree with Phyllis that this is an opportunity
> to play up your "yucky pipie"...

Just don't play with your "yucky pipe" in public, what you do in the privacy of your home is your own business.

If you still want to do the screen thing, it's so easy to make one yourself, you would regret buying one... I do.

Hinges + wood or mdf + covering material. Done.

How's this-

Mount 2 corner brackets to the wall:

http://images.victoriantrading.com/store/catalogimages/18s/18s132.jpg

Buy a marble theshhold for about $25 to $45:

http://www.commercemarketplace.com/home/joyceconstruction/L_Threshold.jpg

...and hang a piece of fabric in front:

http://www.southbayfurniture.net/sunny_designs/fabric_samples.htm

Oh hey- look what I found while seaching for an image of marble:

http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml;jsessionid=JJRG2Y3GG31VZWCKUUXCJBWYJKSS0JO0?type=content&id=channel3860014&page=&dp=false&layout=Print&styleType=learn

Look up a September 2003 MS Living mag.... I remember flipping through it at a dr appt and it had detailed instructions for making a screen from french doors of some sort.

kate, your local harware/lumber supply might make it for you. i think mine would, ajo lumber amsterdam and 101st street. garth is very helpful.

Great thread. I have the same problem. Del.icio.us-ed this thread!

i have a lot of these exposed pipes in my apartment. i just painted them to match the walls they face. they just blend right in. if you have exposed brick or other no-paint surface to match, go in the same color as the trim, as someone else mentioned. this could be especially interesting if you have a high contrast trim situation (white trim against brick walls, for instance).

i like the bamboo idea someone mentioned above, though. how will bamboo handle the heat in a situation like this? because in every apartment i've had with these exposed pipes next to a heater, the pipe is generally a steam or hot water pipe and gets very hot in the winter. in my current place they're too hot to even touch. would bamboo warp or splinter under that kind of heat?

i'm also intrigued by the bamboo idea. does anyone have suggestions as to sources for something like that?

i've seen tall twigs of skinny bamboo at some garden and hardware stores here in New York. the way i would do it would just be to go out and buy the raw bamboo sticks (making sure to get something long enough of course) and then tie them around the pipe with raffia, hemp twine, or other very raw textural strandy substance.

if for some reason they didn't stay like i wanted them, i'd probably break out the hot glue gun and glue the sticks to the bit that connects them to the floor and ceiling (NOT the pipe itself as the heat might melt the glue later).

you might need a buddy to hold the sticks while you tie, glue, whatever.

here's a picture of pipe wrapped in jute rope in our bathroom. btw, it takes forever to wrap it, especially if your pipe is close to the wall:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaM27Zw5atWOG

ABQBosque's idea is GREAT. I'm now wishing I had an ugly pipe to centend with so I could clamp some random small shelves to it!

the problem with putting shelves on an exposed pipe is that most of these pipes are steam and hot water pipes. especially if, as pictured, they are right next to a radiator. they get every bit as warm as your radiator in the winter. which means that most wooden shelves will warp or crack in the heat, and there are a lot of limitations to what you can store on them.

"Too hot to touch" would be a very bad place for bamboo. In theory, I think it could even catch on fire. If I were going to wrap an extremely hot pipe with something, I'd first wrap the pipe in insulating foam, then put the something over the foam.

At this point, it starts seeming like less trouble to just paint the pipe bamboo-colored. Indeed, if I were having a day of "if Curtis can do it, I can do... a much simplified... scaled-down... set at lower aesthetic expectations... not so successful but not bad from a distance... version of it!" enthusiasm, I'd consider painting the pipe to look like a giant bamboo pole.

Our exposed pipes back East -- and we had bajillions of them *and* soffits -- were all painted to the wall color or the dominant color of the prior owner's wallpaper. That's why I mercifully don't remember how many we had -- one didn't really notice them.

hello Kate:

I think a fantastic/cheap way to really clean up old ugly pipes and make them a part of the room would be to simply paint it with high-heat spray paint. I usually use a chrome silver and I gotta tell ya it comes out really clean and professional looking. Make sure you cover the area behind the pipe with a drop cloth, plastic or paper most inexpensive option, and then cover it with two or three coats of high heat paint. Home supply stores, like HD and Lowes will carry the most variety of these paints. This way you are not losing space with a screen or cover. Also it brings a warm synthesis if you paint the radiator as well and will give the illusion of depth to the corner. Just a thought.