Vent Your Style With Reggio Registers
August 15th, 2007 by Marcos
Reggio Registers deliver top notch metal grilles for hvac. Did I ever mention that nothing in our house in “standard size”? Oh yeah, I have mentioned that about 100 times. In perhaps one of the sadder “non-standard” dissapointments, I was not able to purchase the great looking metal cold air return grilles I was coveting from Reggio Registers. My opening size was off enough that none of the numerous size options Reggio offers would work. Aside from not carrying my house’s crazy vent size, Reggio appears to have great vent cover grille options. Available in wood, metal with square holes, and metal scroll pattern (which I was coveting). The metal grilles come in several finishes, including a great looking cast iron look. They can also be ordered with or without mounting holes. There was even a coupon for 10% off in the July/August issue of This Old House Magazine. Reggio has numerous sizes (except ours) and pricing ranging from $100-$200 for most grilles, with a few lower priced and some as high as $500 depending on finish and size. Available from ReggioRegister.com
Do you have really ugly baseboard heating? If so, my condolences. In addition to my condolences I have a great tip: Overboards. Overboards are foundry-crafted of solid cast aluminum and are designed to install easily over your existing baseboard heaters. They complement your home’s classic architectural details with four styles including Traditional, Gothic, Federal and Shaker. Prices start at about $23 for small components such as corners and spacers and go up to $63 for a 30″ panel. They install with a standard drill, screwdriver and 3/8″ wrench. More details are available at 
I don’t know about you, but I think painting is a drag. Yeah, sure, it looks good when it is done. . . but the prep work combined with the knowledge you will have to do it again in several years really puts a damper on my enthusiasm. I am all for any solution that rids me of the painting monkey on my back. And what better to rid yourself of a monkey than with a Rhino. Rhino Shield is an innovative product that is advertised to never chip, flake or peel. The material used is actually a ceramic coating system and comes with a lifetime warranty. It looks like fresh paint, comes in any color, and bonds permanently to surfaces including wood, stucco, brick, and aluminum. According to the manufacturer, ceramic coating reflects over 90% of the suns energy, giving it a 25-year fade rate that is virtually undetectable to the human eye. For more information, visit 
So, you have purchased your dream 2 million dollar ultra modern one bedroom bachelor pad in California. Now it is time to accessorize and spice up that patio. Leave it to Germans to build an ultra modern, oh-so sexy firepit. I am afraid it will not fit in with our Spanish style casa, but I know one of you could use it. Made in Germany and available from 
Every once in a while I come across a home improvement business and think, “why didn’t I think of that?” That was the case when I saw a recent advertorial for a San Diego company called Mirror Makeovers. Depressingly, many of us have hideously ugly plain mirrors. Admit it, plain mirrors are plain boring. We have them too and I only contemplated how much better they could look after checking out this company. Currently they serve San Diego and Orange Counties, but they appear to have plans for a vast Mirror Makeover empire, soon spanning the entire globe. From richly hand crafted, hand painted Italian woods to superbly crafted American designs, they have a multitude of frames to suit very diverse tastes. No prices are listed online, however the company can be reached at 
Technically I should title this post Metalize your Walls. The crafty team over at Kling Magnetics in Chatham, New York, have devised a paint that enables magnets to adhere to it. Magic Wall Magnetic Paint is actually a dark grey primer that you can top coat with your favorite paint. Great for kids rooms, offices and maybe even kitchens. If you love putting magnets on your refrigerator, just image if you could do the same with a wall or an entire room. The possibilities are endless. I plan to paint all of our downstairs with it and then get 1000 of those magnetic poetry kits to cover our walls in limericks of questionable taste. Prices range from about $25 for 16 ounces to $93 for a gallon. Sold at Michael’s Craft Stores, Sherwin William’s, and Do It Best Hardware. Also available from the 
Who says Heavy Metal is dead? Not the folks over at Decorative Iron. I stumbled across DecorativeIron.com while researching metal supplies. Our house has a fair amount of wrought iron and I was already contemplating learning how to weld. But honestly, I don’t like the welder’s masks. . . . they are just too hard to see out of. Plus I don’t trust myself around high voltage and metal. Much to my relief, DecorativeIron.com has a treasure-trove of iron and metal goods. From cast iron balusters, to gate hardware, and stairway parts to forged steel cut-outs. Those of you lucky enough to have welding skills will probably love this site even more. 
Sometimes stained glass looks great, other times it really looks bad. We have not quite figured out if the we like the stained glass on one of our windows. If it is original to the house, we think we like it. If it is from a 1970’s remodel, we don’t like it so much. Translation, it is ugly, but we are suckers for keeping things original when we can. Our lack of enthusiasm for the stained glass led me to a local custom stained glass company that also ships nationwide. StainedGlassWindows.com is a company based in Imperial Beach California that sells both pre-made stained and bevelled glass, as well as custom work. Typical custom prices are $50 to $65 for each square foot of glass within your window, although jobs that are 2 square feet or less, or those with very intricate patterns are priced higher and quoted on a job by job basis. They can even make windows to fit custom shapes. 
Who needs a heater in San Diego? We do!!! My wife got cold easily to begin with, but after three years of school in Phoenix, she now thinks anything under 90 degrees is “chilly.” I’ll spare you the agony of hearing about our winter thermostat battles and, instead, share some decorating joy. Our original vents were 60’s vintage brown aluminum grills. Definitely not sexy. After a quest to find a stylish replacement, we eventually settled on some vents from Restoration Hardware. If half your rooms are missing vents like in our house, it may not even cost much to outfit your entire house. Restoration has a few different styles, all of which seem solidly made. They run about $25-30 each depending on size. Replacing our 60’s style vents with these has made a subtle but huge difference. And they were a piece of cake to install.