A Simple Gilded Frame Turned an Ugly Intercom into a Conversation Starter

If you live in an older apartment, you might be all too familiar with a certain eyesore that comes with it: the intercom box. (Or, if you’re not, you might have something similar, like a breaker panel, thermostat, or alarm box.) Unfortunately, for me, mine isn’t even usable anymore (we’ve switched to a virtual intercom system), so it just sits there as a relic from the past. I’ve never known how to disguise it — until I saw Alana Resnick’s trick.

Alana’s a born-and-raised New Yorker, so it’s no wonder she came up with a clever solution for the intercom in her Art Deco apartment. I realized, thanks to her, that I’ve been thinking about it all wrong. Completely hiding it can become a project, but simply framing the eyesore is renter-friendly, inexpensive, and even turns it into a conversation starter. 

Instead of covering the intercom, she placed a frame around it so it seamlessly blends into her gilded gallery wall. It’s even become the thing most people ask her about when they visit her home. “It’s really smack-dab in the middle of the wall, and instead of just living with it I decided to frame it and turn it into a seamless part of a gallery wall,” she said at the time of the House Tour. “Consider it my framed ‘peep hole’ à la Friends.”

Without spending a lot of money, Alana turned the drab, utilitarian intercom into a, dare I say, cute conversation piece. Plus, it’s completely renter-friendly and can be easily removed when she leaves. If you want to try a similar project, simply snag a frame, remove the backing and glass, and use Command Strips to secure it to the wall. Voila!

Alana’s home is full of renter-friendly projects — she even took it from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom by using a flex wall. (The second space is used as an office.) Visit the full House Tour to find inspiration for other easy, rewarding projects.