$40 DIY Range Hood "Slipcover"
I wanted a custom hood cover for years but we have a tiny space between our vent and the cabinet doors. So the traditional way of building one with a wood frame was out of the cards for me. We would have to move our upper cabinets, which in our case, just isn’t practical. I kind of let it go, but if you know me… you know I never really let these ideas go. I lay in bed thinking of how I can make things work until I A) lose my mind or B) come up with a solution. AND I DID IT!!!! And it only costs about $40 in supplies to build!!!!
I made that!!!!!!!!!!! :)
I’ve been doing DIY projects for such a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about a project as I am about this one. DIY is all about solving problems and this hood solves so many of them! Not enough room… not wanting to demo… not being able to make major changes because you’re renting your home… not having $800++ to spend on a hood…THIS DESIGN FIXES ALL OF THAT!! And I’m thrilled about it: for myself and for all of you! I hope so many of you make this or a version of this for your kitchens! I can’t wait to see!!!
In this post I will go over what I did for my kitchen, and also problem solve for you with ideas for some other set ups and designs. All will still be affordable and removeable.
Materials:
PVC cove molding (or whatever “baby crown” you like for your kitchen style
Primer
Cabinet Paint
Wood filler
Caulk
Optional:
contour gage tool (if you have crown to trace around)
Getting Started:
The most difficult part of this for me was just figuring out what I wanted and then how to make that work. It needed to be lightweight, flexible, yet sturdy. Now that I’ve done the trial and error, hopefully this will be an easy project for you.
I started by making a hood out of cardboard. This really helped me to decide on the shape of my hood. Then I measured everything and drew out my design. Please note, I’m including this drawing to give you can idea of how I planned this out. Your measurements will be different than mine as I’m sure your current hood, cabinets, crown, and ceiling all play a part in how your hood will be made.
Once I got the math to work…I drew everything out onto my hardboard using a straight edge. Then I traced the crown shape with this tool and it actually worked!!! I drew it onto the hardboard and cut it all out with my cordless jigsaw.
Before I moved on, I dry fit those to make sure they were correct. When to my surprise they actually fit, I may have screamed. Ok I did. I screamed a lot! hah
When I first thought of how to attach the front pieces to the sides, I used L brackets. Which did work, but the screws had to go from the inside to the out so they wouldn’t hit my stainless hood, and so they stuck through the thin hardboard. I may have been able to cover those up with trim, but then I thought of the idea that changed everything and made it so easy- wood blocks!!
I used a 1x2 piece of wood and cut it into pieces that were about 3” long. Then I glued those along the edge of my side pieces, making sure they lined up perfectly to the edge. Once those were dry, I was able to attach my face pieces with a brad nailer. I LOVE THIS TOOL!
I dry fit that as well to be sure it all worked, and then I added the “extensions” to the top sides so that the hood would look completely built in once installed. If you look closely you can see I cut a scrap piece of wood and glued and clamped it to the back of the two pieces I was joining to get this to stay. I also used some Gorilla tape to help me temporarily hold it together. (You may or may not have to do this step. If your cabinets reach the ceiling, you can skip this!)
Once that was done, I added this melamine edge banding to the front to cover any uneven edges and give it a finished look. You just iron it on! Super easy. I used this corner pvc molding for my bottom trim and a cove molding for the top. I love that it looks like a baby version of my crown molding.
I caulked all of the edges, filled the nail holes, and primed using this spray shellac primer. If I could do over, I may use the roll on version as I don’t love the coverage this gave me even after two cans.
I sanded it all with 150 grit until it felt super smooth to the touch. Then I took a cabinet door in to my paint store and we color matched my cabinets to Benjamin Moore Snowfall White in a satin finish. I used Benjamin Moore Advance paint for this as I used it for my kitchen island and had great results. (Blog post on how to paint cabinets can be found here)
Once the paint dried, I was able to just slide this right over my crown molding and I now have a beautiful custom hood!!!!!! I can’t believe it!!
It’s so thin I can still open my cabinet doors!!
I am so happy with this and I want you to be able to do it too!!
So, as I said at the start of this post, I want to help problem solve if your cabinet situation differs from mine. I’ve included some sketches to help explain my thoughts.
If your cabinets touch the ceiling and you want the hood over your crown molding, install a wood block right in front of your crown or cabinets. Use a stud finder to be sure you’re screwing into a stud or use anchors. Then use your brad nailer to secure the face and sides into the wood block. This will give you a look similar to the blue kitchen below. Photo from Cousins Co Maine.
If you want to have your hood stop under your crown, remove your cabinet doors and install the wood block into the top of your cabinet. Then attach the face to that. This method will give you a result similar to this light blue hood below. Photo from truegritwood.com
You will need a drill to get this on and off but it’s nothing some wood filler/spackle can’t cover up if you need to take it down. Still renter friendly!
Another idea I wanted to mention is how you can cover your custom hood with wood veneer sheeting and stain it if you want it to be wood and not painted. I’m pretty sure you could even do the very popular roman clay look over the hardboard if you wanted to as well.
Ok let’s look at the before and after to sum this up because that’s always so fun!
BEFORE:
AFTER!!!!
What a difference!!!!!
I’ve got a story highlight over on my instagram @hartley_home if you are more visual and would like to check that out. Let me know if you have any questions or think of something I may not have covered in this post. If you make a hood, please show me!! I’d love to see. And if you share your “Hartley Hood” to your social media, please tag me so I can see it as well! It makes me so happy!
Thanks for stopping by!
*Update: Someone left a comment, almost a year ago now, that the hood would be “perfection” with the same crown as the cabinets. She was right. I knew she was right. But I didn’t want to work on the hood anymore so I let it bother me for a year. Ha! But I finally got around to adding larger crown and IT’S SO MUCH BETTER!!!! Had to add it here.
*Links in this post are affiliate links which means I will get a small percentage of $ if you buy through this post. It doesn’t cost you anything, but just wanted to let you know.