DIY wood vent hood with a coastal modern vibe
Hello! Today I am sharing a DIY vent hood we made for the kitchen while renovating the Airbnb house. It is definitely the number one thing I’ve gotten asked about on Instagram since we showed the reveal a few weeks ago. It was a quick weekend project and ended up costing about $200.00. I think it’s perfect for the vibe of this kitchen, which is a coastal modern feel.
I wanted a hood vent that added warmth to the kitchen
When we purchased the house, one of the newer items in the kitchen was the existing stainless hood vent. While it was in decent shape, the stainless steel was too stark and cold for the warm cozy space I envisioned. We ended up selling it on FB Marketplace.
The yucky stuff on the counters came with the house.
I had a very specific vision of what I wanted a new hood vent to look like. Clean lines that were modern and warm. After scouring Pinterest, I was able to show my husband what I had in mind. We decided to buy a new vent and build around it. We chose this 30” vent by Broan because it was highly rated, inexpensive, and convertible. We ended up venting ours into the garage.
The hood is convertible and works both vented or unvented.
My husband used 1 x 4’s to build a frame (basically a box) around the installed vent hood. From there, he framed the box with plywood. At this point, I have to say I almost had him stop because I loved this look! I think stained just like this would be amazing. Perfect for a modern home. However, I was looking for a little more coastal cottage feel.
We found 2 x 4 poplar boards online at Home Depot that had beautiful grain. We probably could have searched out less expensive options, but we were using Home Depots’ curbside service due to the pandemic and had to use what was available online. A side note: The entire renovation would not have been possible without a curbside pickup. We were in deep quarantine because both of our daughters were pregnant.
After trimming the boards to size we used a pneumatic nailer to attach the boards to the plywood.
We also trimmed the inside bottom of the frame to make it feel finished. I totally forgot to photograph that, but it shows in the final pics. :-
Then it was time to stain. I used Minwax natural and added a bit of English Walnut to brown it up a bit. I like to mix my own stain from open cans I have on hand. It’s great for finding a particular tone.
Stained Wood Range Hood
And here is the final result! I LOVE it.
That is it! The hardest part was finding the lightbulbs that were not included with the vent! We love the warmth it adds to the kitchen, and it feels so much better than the stainless steel. If you are interested in how we stained these countertops you can find that here.
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Until next time,
xx,
Libbie
