Hello World! Welcome Friends! If you’re going for more of an industrial look, then you might not mind a few exposed pipes on your home’s walls and ceilings.
However, most people don’t want their living room to look like a warehouse or their bedroom to look like a factory floor. You can’t exactly get rid of your home or apartment’s exposed plumbing, but you also can’t deny that it’s a bit of an eyesore.
The good news?
You don’t have to just accept exposed pipes and try to draw attention away from them with other decor elements. Instead, you can figure out ways to actively incorporate them into a room’s design.
Ready to learn how?
Read on to find out — and get ready to be surprised by just how good exposed plumbing can look.
1. Invest in Decorative Pipe Wrap
Looking for a fast, easy, and affordable way to cover up exposed pipes?
One of the simplest things you can do is to pick up some decorative pipe wrap and wind it around your exposed pipes to create a chic cover.
If you’re going for more of a rustic or nautical look, you can wrap some thick rope around your piping. This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
Not only does this make it much easier to blend your pipes into your decor theme. It also provides a bit of insulation and helps you to prevent those nasty and painful pipe burns.
You can also pick up some bamboo heat pipe covers that will wrap around your pipes and click into place. We do suggest that, if you go this route, you first cover the pipe in some foam insulation to prevent the bamboo from overheating.
Nervous about using pipe covers and wraps?
An even easier solution is simply to paint your pipes a bright, bold color. Consider them an alternative to an accent wall.
2. Make Use of the Pipes
While decorative pipe wrap and covers might work well for smaller pipe systems in your bedroom or bathroom, larger systems in high-traffic rooms will require different solutions.
We love the idea of hanging things from your pipe (provided that you avoid placing too much weight on them.)
For example, instead of a hanging pot rack above your stove, you can hang some lovely copper pots and pans from your exposed kitchen pipe.
If the pipe is in your living room, invest in a few air plants or hanging flowers and hang them from the pipe. If you’re more of a sentimental type, you could even hang clipped family photos from your pipes.
However, if you want to adjust or cut certain pipes that don’t fit your home’s architecture, consider buying a pipe threader to make adjustments.
3. Create a Shelf
It’s easy to look at the location of some of the exposed pipes in your home and wonder, “What were they thinking?”
When you learn more about heat pumps, you can start to understand why these seemingly bizarre locations are necessary, but that doesn’t solve the eyesore issue.
No one enjoys having an exposed pipe in the middle of their game room or den, but there are ways that you can hide them — and make them useful at the same time.
One of the best solutions is to build a shelf or small tabletop around exposed pipes that somehow end up in the worst possible locations.
That way, people can have a convenient place to put their drinks and you can show off some of your favorite tchotchkes.
If you go the shelf route, you can hide most of the piping system by adding more shelves further and further up the wall. Plus, you’ll give yourself a little bit of extra storage space in the process.
4. “Grow” a Vine
One of the more creative ways to learn how to cover exposed plumbing is to find a way to turn it into a vine.
You can paint it a green color and then invest in some fake plastic vines from a local craft store. You can cover parts of the pipe in rope, as we mentioned above, and then tuck in artificial flowers or even fake grape leaves to give things a more natural look.
To really make the pipe look like an intentional part of your decor, paint some leaves or even an outdoor scene directly behind the exposed pipe.
5. Try a Knitted Cover
Looking for your next craft project?
Want to spend the winter knitting something other than a scarf?
Knitted pipe covers have become increasingly popular in the last few years, especially as the idea of “yarn bombing” has become a new public art form.
You can opt to use multiple colors and patterns, create stripes, and even play around with texture when it comes to knitted pipe covers. Plus, it’s a great way to keep yourself busy on an otherwise dull afternoon.
It’s True: Exposed Pipes Can Be Glamorous
Now that you have plenty of possible solutions for covering exposed pipes in your home, it’s time to get to work.
Don’t be afraid to use bold, bright colors, to play around with wrapping material, and to make your pipes useful. When all else fails, the best thing to do is to find a way to incorporate the pipes into your existing design.
Need more advice on how to give your home a quick upgrade?
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Toodles,
These are great ideas? LOVE the one about growing a vine, totally fits into the “nature indoors” aesthetic. Thanks for sharing!