before and after: radiators

phase 1: complete

we spent 2 weeks painting every room of our apartment before we moved in. it was incredibly time consuming, due to the copious amount of molding and trims. when it was finished, the next step was to get rid of the hideous radiator covers and repaint and finish the gorgeous radiators behind them:

unfortunately, our landlord had a hissy fit about us painting the walls, and we've never been able to convince him to let us throw out the radiator covers- let alone refinish the radiators. it's been such a sore spot to me, that i haven't touched the covers in the 3 years that we've been here. they were still the same hideous beige that matched the walls before we painted. it's time to move on.

if my apartment didn't already have too much visual stimulation, i would've taken a drastic approach to painting these covers. the original plan was to paint the frames black, and the panels white. after mapping out an elaborate cross stitch pattern to paint on each of them, i gave up on the plan and went classic.

a quick coat of the wall color on the front and side panels (with as dry a brush as possible), and a frame to match the molding color- sophisticated like. we have 5 wood shelves to hang above each of the covers, so the hope is that the covers will look more like furniture when the whole wall is finished. as soon as i find some simple L brackets (suggestions, anyone?), phase 2 will begin.

if anyone out there would like me to paint a cross stitch on their radiator covers, give me a shout.