Hiding a Window Air Conditioner? Good Questions: Hiding a Window Air Conditioner? I'm interested in tips to hide my air conditioning unit that juts out of the window. right now i have a plant in front of it. Got a good question you'd like answered? Send your queries and a photo or two illustrating your question, and we'll see if the ATLA team or our readers can help you out. Although we've covered the issue of in the wall AC units before, window mounted units are a more difficult matter since they need to be coordinated to compliment not only the room from the inside perspective, and also the window structure and window treatment surrounding it. There's also the issue of allowing enough air flow when in use. Hiding a window mounted AC from the exterior view may require using a trellis if you're on the ground level or large planters of tall shrubs/flowering plants; multi-story mounted units pose a more difficult challenge and would likely require an expert to build some sort of structure around it.

We take out our window unit during the winter months to get rid of the eye sore for at least part of the year, but perhaps another reader out there has come up with a smart solution to hide window AC's from view?As long as you don’t block the vents, you can disguise a window air conditioner with a variety of materials. In warm climates an air conditioner is a must-have in the summer months, but sometimes budget or space limits your cooling options to a window air conditioner, which is not always the most attractive appliance in your home. However, there are ways to disguise an ugly window air conditioner, so you can leave it in the window without ruining the look of your décor. Frame It In Instead of treating your window air conditioner like an obstacle, work it into your room’s décor by framing it in. If you’re handy with carpentry, you can build your own custom cabinet. If not, you can also buy a cabinet slightly larger than the air conditioner and fit it around the unit. Cut out an opening in the top or use slatted doors to allow for venting.

Paint the cabinet to blend in with your wall color, or stain or finish the cabinet to accentuate the natural warmth of the wood. Folding Screen One of the simplest ways to disguise an air conditioner is to hide it. air handling unit picturesFolding screens are available at most furniture stores and come in a wide range of colors, styles and materials. ac unit filter locationSome screens use fabric inserts so that you can block what’s behind them while still allowing light to shine through. ac unit for indoorOther screens are designed to hold pictures, so the screen can be a design feature while hiding the unsightly air conditioner. Choose a screen similar to your wall color to make it blend into the background, or go with a contrasting color so that it stands out.

Do not place the screen directly in front of the air conditioner. Instead place it so that there is a few feet of space between the air conditioner and the screen to allow the cool air to flow out. Cafe Curtains Installing a rod half-way down the window and putting up a cafe curtain is an easy and effective way to hide the air conditioner without blocking the natural light from the window. Cafe curtains are short and meant to cover only half of the window, so they won’t look strange in your space. They don’t block the air flow either, which makes them ideal for concealing the unit any time of the year. Choose a lightweight fabric with a color or pattern that complements the room’s décor. Disguise It as Art Instead of agonizing over your air conditioner’s ugliness, look at it as a potential piece of art. Most window air conditioners have solid sections of plastic that you can cover with paper or fabric. You can permanently alter it using a spray adhesive to cover these sections, or use double-sided tape for a temporary treatment.

Fabrics or paper with patterns or colors that repeat in the room makes the air conditioner a part of the design instead of an eyesore. 1. THE COLOR WRAP Most window A/Cs have slats or sections of bare plastic that can be covered with wrapping, scrapbook, or printed paper. Use spray mount or double-sided tape. Stick on, and voilà! Kate’s Paperie has lots of paper choices for under $5 (212-941-9816). 2. THE CUSTOM CABINET Environmental therapist Matthew Tudor-Jackson designed a lacquered ash cabinet that hides his A/C and all the cords and cables attached to other living-room electronics. Two slatted doors let cool air out. Unless you’re an ace carpenter, hire Red Hook’s GN Woodwork (718-643-6968) for similar results. Prop stylist Lauren Shields made a short café curtain that sits a third of the way up the window just high enough to cover the A/C. She pulls it aside when the unit is on. For no-sew curtains, try Ikea (718-246-4532). 4. THE OBJET D’ART Designer Jayne Michaels and furniture dealer Larry Weinberg used vintage holed tiles and an iron frame to create a sculpture that stands on a table before the window.

All you need: a meshlike material that’s nice to look at and lets air through. 5. THE WALL RELIEF Artist Leslie Fry designed a bas-relief sculpture to fit over her wall-unit A/C. She built a wooden frame, then affixed a cover made from plastic forms found in cookie boxes. Prince Lumber Co. can cut wood to spec (212-777-1150). Photo-Form can make bas-relief tiles from any digital photo (from $300; 888-744-3676). Paul Ryan: Free Lunches Make Kids Soulless [Updated] How Oscar Pistorius Might Avoid Prison The Best of Twitter Interrupting Cameron’s Phone Call With Obama After Newsweek Reveal, Man Insists He Isn’t Bitcoin’s Creator The Plot From Solitary Mike Lee’s Tax-Reform Plan Does, in Fact, Suck The Hijacking of Satoshi Nakamoto Broke Law Firm Dewey & LeBoeuf Was Also Fraudulent, Prosecutors Say Only 39 Percent of New Yorkers Approve of This Bill de Blasio Character Now Bro Who Never Worked at Goldman Sachs Deemed Unqualified to Write Goldman Sachs Elevator Book