The Wall A/C Cover

Sometimes there are "things" on the wall that we would like to cover, permanently or by season, such as this air conditioner unit in our bedroom wall. In this case, the cover also works as an insulator, keeping out cold air.

My first job was to find a fabric that I felt would go well with the decor. I found a print with a somewhat southwestern theme online. I had done some final dimension calculating and made sure I ordered enough. You will read about the fabric dimensions later on in this post.

For the wood pieces, I then measured around the unit in the wall, adding about 3" to each width and length dimension (or 1-1/2" per each outside edge). This is so that there is plenty of clearance between the wood framing and the outside of the wall unit. So if the width was 20", I called it 23". The length 18", I called it 21". Add up the total inches of wood needed (+23" +23" +21" +21" = 88") and purchase 1/2" X 2" wood boards in lengths that will allow you to cut whole sections of the final required 4 lengths of framing. Cut the wood pieces to the predetermined lengths and using metal brackets inside each corner, assemble them so that the wide wood dimension comes out from the wall surface (you want depth). It may be that the item you are covering is deeper. In that case, just adjust the size of wood board you will need. If you are handy with a table saw, you can cut custom sizes. It should be noted that the larger the wood, the heavier the final product will be, so using a 2"x 4" board would probably not work well.

If this needs to be an insulating frame, use some type of heavy material for the first layer of covering. I used a table cloth padding material I found at the fabric store. Add an extra 10" to each overall dimension previously calculated so that you will have about 5" per side to pull over and staple to the back of the frame. Lay the material face UP on the floor, making sure that if there is a pattern, that it is straight. Cut it to dimension.

Turn the material face down and center the wooden frame on it. Starting with one side, staple the material in to the back in the middle of the board. Go to the opposite side and pull the material slightly to remove slack and staple it also to the back in the middle of the board. Do this on the other two edges and then work your way around the frame until the side edges are stapled. Finish it by making a neat corner as shown below.

It should now be ready to hang.