Radiator Cabinet Update

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After a year of lockdown, whilst I am very grateful for our lovely house that’s kept us safe, and allowed us to stay at home, there’s chipped paint, muddy walls, and clutter all over. It’s been well lived in and whilst I don’t believe any of these things to be a bad thing, it’s starting to feel like it needs some TLC now that Spring has arrived.  

I wrote a list of everything I’d like to do in the house, and have started planning a bit of a rough schedule of work. Obviously, as we rent there’s nothing structural on the list, but we do have plans to update the kitchen which we are hoping to do in April. Whilst I can’t wait to go through the list, I wanted a quick DIY, something that wouldn’t involve too much effort but make a big difference to the feel of the house: enter the radiator cabinet. 

When I was younger, amongst the many jobs my dad has had, one of them was making radiator cabinets. As a child, there was always photos of radiator cabinets around (no mobile phones meant he’d, of course, take photos of them and get them developed to show other people his work). I thought it was an extremely grown-up thing, why on earth would anyone want a radiator cabinet…life really does come at you fast.

Our hallway has always been a bit of a dumping ground, we did have a nice plant in there until we welcomed our puppy, who thought a rattan plant holder was excellent for teething. It’s at the bottom of the stairs, so you see it multiple times a day, and once I’d decided it needed a spruce up I couldn’t get it out my head. I started to look for radiator cabinets and was surprised at how affordable they were. 

I found my cabinet on OnBuy.com which I have never used before, but luckily they had lots of reviews, which I always find so helpful. I later saw that it was a curated market place, so you were buying from mostly small businesses. They have lots of radiator cabinets on there, and I was going to go for an uncoated plain MDF one but decided on a pre-coated white one to save me the job of painting it. 

It arrived in a couple of days, much quicker than they had advised, and I set to work. It took two of us to assemble it, as some parts required someone holding something whilst the other drilled it, but I think you could manage on your own if you don’t have anyone to help you. I also used a drill, which I think you do need, especially when fixing it to the wall. I really love this drill and find I use it for lots of things around the house, so it’s worth investing in one if you are able. 

The instructions were really clear, and the whole thing took about 45 minutes to assemble, all the screws and brackets were included. Attaching it to the wall was the most difficult part, and in hindsight, I should’ve attached the front panels until after marking out and drilling the wall fixings. I know not everyone in rented accommodation is able to drill into the walls, I loved this radiator shelf that I saw on GrilloDesigns, that needs no screws or drilling. 

The space was looking so good after I cleaned the walls, and the cabinet was in place, but my favourite part of any interior project is the styling! I had bought this Rose London print a few weeks previously, intending it for our living room but knew once I’d put the cabinet up that it was going to brighten up the hallway no end. I love seeing it so much every day. 

The little mirror has always been there, it’s to hide one of many random electric boxes that I have no idea what it does. I tied string to the back of the mirror and tied it around the box, it can come off really easily, just in case it’s super important. The photo frames are a great way to display the polaroids and Insta photos that we have quite a few of, search Etsy or Trouva for similar. They are hung on vintage ribbon that I purchased from a shop in Lincoln called Follie.

Overall I think this is one of my favourite transformations in the house so far. I have had a lot of comments about it affecting the heat coming out, but so far I haven’t noticed a massive difference, but will keep an eye on it over the coldest winter months. If you’ve been thinking about it, I definitely would recommend it, have you got any radiator cabinets in your space? Let me know in the comments below. 

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