Never Let Your Register Fester

If you have ever lived or been in an older home, vintage registers are likely a cosmetic problem.  Actually, registers have even been a cosmetic problem in my parent's brand new homes!  As newer vents and registers are relatively easy to find at the store, antique style wall/baseboard registers are extremely rare to find - and if you do find them they will cost a pretty penny.  This simple DIY can turn an eyesore into a beautiful piece that restores character to your home! 

Before and after:

We have had to revive all the registers in both of our homes.  Previous painters just kept laying on paint over old grime and even older previous coats of paint.  One example from our current house can be seen below as the paint was bumpy and none of the clips could be moved as they were painted stuck (don't worry we also change the paint color of the room ).

The original metal registers are perfectly fine metal underneath all that nastiness, it just needs to be taken to it's original state.  To accomplish this, we pull out the artillery that is our grinder with a metal wire brush head attachment.

Once all the paint has been removed, the bare metal will look like this:

Now that all the hard work is done, the next step is a piece of cake: SPRAY-PAINTING!

We use our trusty Rustoleum Ultra Cover Primer followed by a Rustoleum White Semi-Gloss.

A quick video for spray painting technique:

Let the paint dry for 24 hours.

Install back in place (after we painted the room).

Here is the before and after of this particular vent.

A relatively easy process for a huge reward!  I love the look of our vents now!