How to disguise a thermostat wall ~ DIY

For as long as I can remember I have disliked thermostat walls and any part of the home that is not “pretty”. It’s my goal to hide (at least visually) speakers, electrical cords any of the stuff you need but don’t like.

This is our thermostat wall, isn’t it “pretty“?

I enlisted the help of my blog readers to help me pick the order of our DIY projects… yes we have that many projects and I was really getting overwhelmed with how many I wanted to do, all at once.  I needed your help to prioritize and you guys did not disappoint.  The thermostat wall is the  second project on the list, but don’t worry if you missed the first one you can check out the details here… the first project, the antique headboard bench has been a huge hit and turned out awesome, if I do say so myself. 🙂

Sitting pretty.

Now on to DIY #2, whoop!

Vintage cedar fence boards.

Rough planing cedar fence boards.

The vintage cedar boards and the fences these came off of are all over our new property,  we really love some fencing but the amount that exists here is a little too much for our tastes and they have seen much better days. We will be recycling these boards and they will be re-pourposed into many different things around here,  the thermostat wall is the first project with this lovely wood.

That darn thermostat wall, I get that it’s in a central location and the builder must have thought that this was the best place for this hideous glowing, pulsating beast. Okay, I may be exaggerating a wee bit… it’s really funny, there are tons of things I should be focusing on around here but this wall has driven me crazy since day one! It’s strange what I tend to obsess over.

I will be honest with you… the conversation below is reason this project is even on the DIY list.

Me: “I hate that wall!”

Mr. Mans: “Why, it’s just a wall?”

Me:  Loud eye-roll, “It’s ugly and that’s our home’s first impression when people come in here.”

Mr. Mans: “Okay, well there are other things in the house that should be worked on and we should prioritize where we focus our resources.”

Thought bubble… I hate when he’s so logical that it makes me feel completely illogical! This isn’t a logical thing… this is a hideous thermostat wall thing!

Me: “I’ll see what my readers think.”

Mr. Mans: Smirk, “Your readers?”

THAT smirk just spurred me on!!! Smirk me will ya… 😉

It didn’t help (my case) when all of our male friends didn’t even notice that wall and all of our female friends totally got me and yes, I asked everyone that came into the house… man, as I am writing this I am realizing that I’m a weirdo, HA! What am I trying to say here? Maybe it’s a gender thing? I also know Mr Mans doesn’t mind remotes out on the coffee table! What are your thoughts on that kind of  atrocity!??? Okay, back to the point (that I’m right) how to hide an ugly thermostat?

I was happy (relieved) when you guys voted it the #2 project to do, you all justified me! High five and huge hugs! All kidding aside though, it really did bug the daylights out of me and this is how I went about fixing it.

I mapped out the wall with painters tape, a fake open shelf if you will.

I also knew I wanted colour behind that shelving different than the surrounding wall (ignore that the surrounding walls are not painted to my choice of colour yet… a minor detail really) and I wanted to use what I had kicking around the house so I mixed up a bunch of sample jars from Home depot to get just the right shade, I call it… illogical grey. 😉 HA! HA! Please forgive the terrible phone pictures and my dumb joke, the shots will improve I promise, the jokes… not so much.

The paint colour is very close to the middle colour on this paint sample card. Para Paints – intuitive.

Basically, I just built  a rectangular box and the separations you see out of the rough planed cedar. Then I finished it with Minwax antiquing oil  (my go to wood finish-not being sponsored, just really love it) I wanted to bring out the rustic wood hues and did not want shine, rather a hand rubbed look.

The shelf needs to be removable so I  decided to go with these little hangers, they are called keyhole mounting brackets and are VERY easy to use and install.

 Now on to the fun part… styling!

I love the idea of having different sections on the shelf, this will allow me to “play” and switch things up, I love to putter and change things… this design felicitates that nicely.

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather look at vintage goodies than an old thermostat.

This section of the shelf is completely hidden and is still 100% functional with a simple plant and a vintage photo propped against the wall. I test drove the items with Mr. Mans to make sure it wasn’t too fussy and very functional and visually it’s so much better than looking at the pulsating beast. 😉

This shelving unit not only hides the ugly thermostats, it also houses some of my favourite industrial goodies.

Succulents in an old tool belt, why not?

I’m pretty happy with the way this shelf turned out… it’s so much better than that ugly thermostat, don’t  you think?

Now, on to project #3! 😀 I’m excited about this next one… this next project, will be completely logical… 😉