I added some character and charm to our kitchen by adding some pretty molding and a decorative shelf to our vent hood.
This project turned out even better than I imagined! I absolutely LOVE how this DIY project turned out!
I built it so we can still easily access the controls for the vent.
We loved the look — it really warmed up our kitchen, especially compared to just the metal vent hood. Over the past year or so, I’ve dreamed of adding more charm to the hood with molding and a decorative shelf.
So I finally got to it last week…about three hours before I was hosting a bunch of girlfriends for a Christmas party. I tend to think projects are going to take way less time than they actually do. 🙂
I did this DIY project in two segments. The first was before the party — I added the bulk of the new trim that day and then added the pretty details later.
First up, I needed to remove the trim box on the bottom of the vent cover. To do that, I scored the caulk with a razor blade:
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This smaller pry bar isn’t as thick and removed the wood boards with no damage. I’ll definitely use this wood for another project someday.
Once that box was removed, I needed to cut down the vertical boards on top to make space for the new shelf. I held up the wood I was using and marked the height, then marked exactly where I needed to cut with a level:
This will all make more sense in a bit!
This tool is GREAT for cutting down baseboards if you just need a portion removed as well!
When the wood trim was removed, I made sure to remove all nails and leftover caulk.
Once the front was prepped, I could start adding my new trim. For the boxed molding look on the front, I used 1×4 poplar boards.
I added a bead of wood glue to the back first, then nailed them in:
Once the box was installed, I nailed in a 1×3 poplar board horizontally to the top (where I had cut with the saw earlier) to create a shelf. After some caulk and a couple coats of paint, this is where the project was at for the party:
It definitely needed another coat of paint, but no one noticed. (As far as I know. 😂)
They have a wood option, but this PVC version is so much cheaper and is paintable.
I also grabbed an eight foot piece of this simple corner bead molding, also made of PVC:
I installed the coved molding on the inside of the box I created, similar to the larger version on my walls. Then I nailed the small bead molding tucked up underneath the shelf as a small decorative touch.
At the last minute I realized the whole thing needed to be more balanced top to bottom, so I added another 1×3 piece along the bottom, with the matching corner bead molding as well. I’ll share a detailed photo with the exact products I used down below!
The jewelry on this project was the brass tipping/gallery rail for the shelf. I wanted to be able to prop decor without it falling off, so the tipping rail was a necessity:
It saved me a ton of money!
They were delivered incredibly fast and were packaged so well! I will definitely be shopping this site again.
I spaced out the brass posts where I wanted them on the shelf, then drilled small, shallow holes for the provided brass screws:
And this is how the project turned out!:
Here’s a reminder of how it looked before:
It’s hard to tell in the two pics above, but I warmed up the hood by painting it in the same color of our dining area, a Sherwin-Williams color called Pachyderm.
It ties the kitchen and dining room together nicely and still works well with the light gray grout on our backsplash.
The new detail on the front consists of four pieces of wood and molding. I created a graphic that shows exactly what I used and where:
I LOVE this update in our kitchen! It’s so pretty with that brass accent. 😍
Here’s a look at the side with the new trim:
The cabinets open and close just fine (I adjusted at the hinges when I built the first version so they don’t rub against the vent hood).
I was so excited to add some Christmas touches to the new vent cover!:
You can see the coved molding I added to the inside of the 1×4 box better here:
I’ll share a full Christmas kitchen tour this week! Now that this project is done, I’m tweaking some things, but this is how this spot looked right after I finished it up!:
Oh my, I love it! What a difference a little bit of trim added!
Let me know if you have any questions about this project.
