Hiding AC ducting along wall-need suggestions

[TBM]

Please.  And TIA


The wall on the right is the one in question (mls photo-pre fireplace removal and new cork floors)



There is a doorway to the kitchen, and another small wall beyond that that aren't shown.  It is a fairly symmetrical layout (not may favorite, but it is what it is), and the TV is on the wall between the kitchen and hall, so we look at that wall a lot. ;p

There was no way to get AC into the kitchen without putting on an external duct, so right now there is a hole above the hallway, (around 2/3 of the way up the 12' wall) with a big flexible tube (a silver large intestine) going along the wall, past (and just above) the kitchen door, almost to the corner.  Not ideal, but it was the only solution to the no air in the kitchen issue, so I am more than willing to work with it.

The first suggestion was a drywalled soffit/shelf running the full length of the wall.  Sort of a plant/art shelf (which I don't have a problem with), but drywall seemed too 80s to me.lol

I wondered if we couldn't make it look like something structural, and maybe do something with wood, but now we have another problem to consider.

Where the ducting enters the wall to go into the kitchen, the lower part of the opening is below the top of the trim on the door.  So now that end has to have an even bigger box, faux support or something.  And since the wall is symmetrical, then the other end probably winds up with the same treatment.

I am open to suggestions.   I just want to keep it more toward the modern end of the style spectrum.  Oh...and if it makes a difference, the painted white rough sawn cedar trim is not going to stay white, it is going dark.  The current front runner wall color is SW  Antiquity..a weird gold-ish green that reads green in the space.

[mrs.jacinthe]

So, if the TV goes on that wall, what about building built-in bookcases/tv storage on that wall to disguise the ducting and provide extra storage?

Something like this (because I suck at explaining things with words):



Probably you'd want a style more modern, but I think the *idea* would work.

[TBM]

Yeah Mrs J....that is way too traditional and kind of makes me anxious.lol

I thought about built-ins on the two side walls, but if we did it on the part with the tv too it might be a bit much, with the doorways and everything else going on. I couldn't quite figure out materials that would keep it feeling light and open, since we have the teak modular units going on on the big plain wall.

[mrs.jacinthe]

LOL. I figured but I'm too tired this morning to put extra effort into googling for something more modern.

Hmmm. If you wanted to just hide it, you could probably get away with just boxing it in with a finishable wood and then finishing it, so it looks like a fake beam. (VERY popular in the 70s, you know). But a fake beam might look strange if it was the only one. How big diameter is the ducting?

[mrs.jacinthe]

In other news, google image search for "hide ducting" resulted in the following, which I now present for your random amusement:

[TBM]

Jun 7, 2013 11:35:03 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Hmmm. If you wanted to just hide it, you could probably get away with just boxing it in with a finishable wood and then finishing it, so it looks like a fake beam. (VERY popular in the 70s, you know). But a fake beam might look strange if it was the only one. How big diameter is the ducting?

The beam was my first thought, but once the hole in the wall going into the kitchen had to be lowered, it threw me, since that ruined the 'one beam' idea.  I wasn't so sure about the beam either since it is in such an odd place on the wall.  The ceiling in the living room is 12 ft, but in the hall it is 7 1/2 feet and is 8 ft in the kitchen, so everything is all over the place.

I think the ducting is 8" diameter.  The ac guys said that they were going to try 6", but it looks bigger to me.  I think they said 6" to ward off a freak out on my part.lol