Yesterday, I shared our list of remaining kitchen tasks.

The first one we tackled was the vent cover for the vent over the stove.

We had to move this vent in order to accommodate the range hood. And, since it was only moved the minimum amount, we didn’t *quite* leave enough room for a standard vent cover.

Call it a rookie mistake. Or an oversight. Or, a tough break considering we were barely able to fit it in as it was. Either way, we were left looking at a hole in the ceiling while we figured out a solution.

Our first plan was to simply cut a regular metal vent cover. That seemed like a reasonable plan, but we had pretty bad results.

After trying several metal-cutting options, Wyatt decided it wasn’t going to work. Even if we could get it trimmed to the right size, the edge would be too mangled and bent to ever give us a nice, finished edge.

So, we turned to a different material vent cover that would be easier to cut. Unfortunately, our Home Depot doesn’t carry wooden or plastic ceiling and wall vent covers. Only metal. So, we had to get a plastic floor vent cover. Which worked to cut down to size…but it didn’t have any screw holes.

That was a pretty easy fix, though. Power drills are wonderful things. And with a couple hours of work, we had this:

Then, I added two dabs of white paint to cover the screws and we were back in business.

We know a vent cover may not seem like much, but the view from the living room is suddenly minus one big black hole, which was really, really refreshing to see.

A pretty easy hack if we say so ourselves, although I hate to say that because it makes me a little frustrated we waited so long to do this. That’s just how life goes, right?

We’d love to hear about any rookie mistakes you’ve made. Share in a comment below!