The Nagging Question of Exposed Ventilation and Piping
Posted By LaurenYou have quite a dilemma when you have exposed vents and piping. I wish they were always tucked into the ceiling but when you have a pre-made space, you don’t get to make that decision (unless you want to spending the money to drop the ceiling). But you have some options for making the best of it. One option is to work around it and make your entire space look industrial with sharp lines, whites, grays, and metallics. Or minimalist, as if there’s nothing to hide. Another option is to try and hide it. I’ve seen many places almost successfully fade their vents and sprinkler piping into the background by painting them exactly the same color as the ceiling and the walls.
My favorite solution is when business and domestic designers choose to incorporate the vents and pipes as useful accessories to their vision. One of my friends had a hideous exposed sprinkler pipe that ran halfway across her bedroom. Instead of covering it with a tapestry like some people suggested, she used it to hang the long vines of her pothos plant, wrapping them around the pipe as they grew. The piping was never hidden, just utilized.
I stopped in the new Pix on Hawthorne today (formerly Bar Pastiche). Bar Pastiche had a darker, more elusive ambience than the new Pix has now and I remember it having a bluish cast to it. I never noticed the exposed vents in Bar Pastiche, but in the new Pix they are highlighted. The designers of the new Pix used the line created by the bottom of the vent to add bushy garlands of fake flowers. I know I wrote a tirade about fake plants earlier, but I said they were ok in a few select cases. Hipster decorating is one of them.
Here is a daring exampling of including, rather than hiding, exposed eyesores in interior decoration. I’m not completely convinced that it works, but I appreciate the boldness.
Muu-Muu’s on 21st
How Not to Set a Fashion Show
Edgy Bathroom Award
Portland’s Modern Homes
One Response to “The Nagging Question of Exposed Ventilation and Piping”
1 Muu-Muu’s on 21st » Portland Interior Design Blog 16 January 2007 @ 8:39 pm
[…] The overall tone of the room was orange. The floor tile was orange. Strings of small orange lights were arched across the ceiling. Everything that was not orange seemed to be balance of red and yellow. The back wall was a red quilt-like material. The right wall was a red curtain with spaces to show actual homemade quilts. Booths were covered in rough red velour. Somewhat flat, single yellow light bulbs hung from the ceiling. The designer of Muu-Muu’s had decided to deal with the exposed ventilation problem in the best way that I have seen so far. A dropped ceiling was created using rows of slightly curved metal panels that reflected the orange lights. From the spaces between the panels, more mellow yellow light shone through. […]
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