No Comments »

Design Dilemma: Making the Most of Radiators

• Tweet

• Tweet

It’s a fact of life in cold weather climes — radiators are an important home feature.  So why are radiators so ugly? In Europe, radiators are celebrated with sleek or whimsical designs that resemble sculpture. For instance, the radiator below, “Twisted Radiator” by Marco Dessi, could easily adorn a wall at a Museum of Contemporary Art.

The same could be said of this pretzel-like radiator by Oreca Design:

Or this Rock and Roll radiator by Karim Rashid:

And just because radiators are cool doesn’t mean they have to be “loud.” Cool, sculptural radiators can also be different, while remaining quietly in the background, like the curvaceous beauty below. In a bathroom, it can serve as a place to keep towels warm:

 

Or the Spring hydraulic radiator from Hellos:

Or this radiator, resembling a wall sculpture by Kwart:

See how much creativity can be applied to something as simple as keeping warm? Unfortunately, in the United States, utilitarianism has completely usurped the potential for beauty when it comes to home radiators. And most of us, unfortunately, are stuck with functional but ugly radiators. If that’s your case, the next possibility is making them disasppear. Here are a few ideas:

Invest in a custom cover like the one below:

 

Or perhaps a radiator bookshelf, like these:

Or this:

Although radiator covers lack the “cool” factor of the European designs, they do permit the radiator area to be used as storage and display space, which can be critical in the small apartments in the Northeast in which conventional radiators are usually found.

Even if you can’t cover a radiator completely, you can still add a little beauty and functionality by adding something as simple as a marble shelf on top, or covering a radiator with a furniture piece that helps the radiator disappear. Here is a good example below:

So you see, radiators offer a whole lot of possibilities. Enjoy the warmth and a little beauty too!