Give HVAC Registers and Light Switches a Mid Century Modern Look

Matching modern style HVAC registers replaced the mismatched registers in our Streng Bros home.

Replacing switches and vents isn’t as exciting or as fun as buying vintage furniture or finding just the right paint color for the interior, but as designer Charles Eames said, “The details are not the details, they make the design.”

In other words, the small details make a big difference. These items can blend into your decor or spoil the look of even the most modern decor if they are the wrong color or style.

Grilles, Vents, Registers and Grates oh my!

Perhaps because ours were primarily white metal vents, they stood out like a sore thumb once we had painted the interior of the house. Your eye naturally goes to the brightest item, and this was certainly true. It didn’t help that the vents were standard issue white metal with the exception of one vent that was black and in an elaborate design.So the search began for a more mid century modern design option.

But first, we had to figure out the right terminology so we could start our search. Just exactly what are these things called— vents, registers, grilles, grates? I used all those terms when scouring the Internet for ideas.

Much to my surprise, my search resulted in numerous companies specializing in the humble register. And the choices! Louvers, dampers, levers, custom, metal wood, and more. And did we want a scroll design, square design or perhaps we should go with our own custom design. And what color should we pick?

So, we took a step back and looked at the patterns and colors in our house so far. Many of our hard surfaces like appliances and finishes on lamps were a brushed nickel. We naturally had a lot of square patterns that repeated such as in pillows and in furniture items.

With this information, we decided to order from Reggio Registers. We liked their designs, and we also liked that they manufactured their products in the USA. They offer a metal register in a square pattern in gray aluminum that we thought would be perfect.

The next step was to figure out how to measure our current registers correctly so we knew what size to order. Not as easy as it sounds. We thought the correct way was to measure the current register, but that is not the case. You actually have to measure the opening without the register in it. Reggio has a handy guide to help you.

Don’t think that all the registers in your home are the same size. Our Streng home is more than 60 years old, so each room was a bit different. We only ordered three registers to make certain they fit and to see if we liked the design. It took a bit of tugging and pulling on the old duct work, but we think they look great.

The Salon wall with Reggio registers and Leviton Decora switches.

Making the Switch

Our next challenge was to replace the light switches and electrical outlets. Most were a standard toggle switch and standard outlet with a beige plate.  But we also had a few that were huge wood switch plate covers in an Arts and Crafts design.

You could trace the technology updates throughout the years as we had round outlets for telephone land lines and cable TV, outdated alarm systems and some in shapes that we had no idea what they were originally for. We replaced those nonfunctional outlets with blank switch plates.

What we thought would be an easy and quick project turned out to be time consuming and fraught with delays. We decided we wanted a simple brushed aluminum switch plate with white nonstandard outlets and rocker switches. But just like with the HVAC registers, there were numerous styles and choices to select from. Our local hardware store had a few styles but limited stock.

Our Internet search yielded a lot of choices but also a wide range of prices. Since we were replacing every switch in the house, paying $30 per outlet was not an option. We decided on Leviton Decora switched and outlets that offered the style and color we wanted in the price range we needed. We went with stainless steel cover plates. They offer countless options here including plastic screw less models which are very popular. They also manufacture in the USA.

We are very happy with how both the switches and registers blend into the wall and keep the focus on the artwork.

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Atomic Ranch Magazine on April 25, 2021.