Love the look of vintage cabinet vent holes in furniture? Here’s how to get the look using stencils, without drilling holes into your piece!
If I were to ever change out my kitchen cabinetry again, there’s a particular look that I’d totally go for.
Check out my Pinterest board “Vintage cabinet vent holes” HERE and you’ll see what I mean.
It’s said that if your old house was built between 1895 and 1930, you’ll likely have or had pantry or kitchen cabinets that have some drilled holes. This allowed for increased air circulation around produce or dry goods.
The holes can appear everywhere ventilation was desired, such as on the fronts of tall cabinet uppers, sides of pie safes and across the front of drawers.
In today’s world, I can see it being a benefit for furniture that houses electronics or potatoes and onions for storage, however if you ever changed your mind on those furniture pieces, you’d be left with… well, holes.
So I’ve come up with a fix for that!
About the Vent Holes stencil
Now you can stencil the look on anything desired without actually drilling holes with this Vent Holes stencil!
These ventilation holes are sized for larger furniture pieces right down to smaller projects to offer a punched tin look. In fact, the star burst image was inspired by my own vintage minnow bucket!
And with a new stencil, that meant a test run was needed on a few projects, and boy oh boy, do those ventilation holes look authentic!
Here’s a few way to use this unique stencil:
Vent Holes on projects
Supplies you’ll need:
Fusion Mineral Paint in Coal Black (get 10% off if ordering from HERE)
(or locate a local Fusion merchant HERE)
Measuring tape to center the stencil
Masking tape to hold the stencil into desired position
Tall dresser plant stand with vent holes
I recently picked up this tall and skinny dresser for free that had seen better days. I could think of all kinds of things to do with it, but I like to marry the use with the final outcome.
So I started to play with it as-is…
And after stencilling on a few select vent holes and painting the handles black, and adding a few plants, this is how it turned into a dresser plant stand!
How to stencil vent holes:
- Position the Vent Holes stencil where desired.
- Use masking tape to hold the stencil in place.
- Load stencil brush with black paint, removing most onto a rag until brush feels dry.
- Tap paint through the stencil for the desired images.
- Overlap and align like-minded images to continue the pattern length.
In fact, one of the pulls was missing, so that’s where I started a vent hole, and stenciled out from there. With the black hole, you don’t even miss the knob! Well, until you need to open it for something of course. LOL
And then I ran a few vent holes down the sides just for fun.
I personally love the look!
And did you also spot other ventilation holes in the mix?
View: Scrap wood Christmas ornaments post HERE
Stenciled punched tin bucket
I’ve had this little vintage galvanized bucket for years.
However I felt it was the perfect candidate for a few punched tin holes, without ruining the integrity of the antique long term.
And the end result is a very realistic starburst punched tin look that is easy to scratch off when desired!
It’s a small statement but totally changes the look, don’t you think?
And another…
Metal tin planter with vent holes
You may remember these tin plant pots I used for the Chestnuts snack box…
Here’s one of those galvanized pots with a few stenciled vent holes, dressed up with a white rope glued on along the rim.
It takes on a whole new personality, and the punched tin look is spot on!
And… one more final project!
Visit: Vintage cabinet wall gallery HERE
Vintage wall cabinet with stylish vent hole
Way back, I shared how I gathered up various vintage cupboards to create a wall storage gallery of sorts. So I decided to revamp the bottom cabinet for a fresh look…
I really liked the raw wood look of the cabinet, so all I did to the piece was brush on some black paint to the edges of the cabinet frame using a stencil brush.
Then with a centered stenciled Vent Hole in black, this was the result!
Find some really cool vintage wood wall cabinets to get this look HERE
Which made me realize I ought to hang this cute cabinet up once again because this refreshed look is so sharp!
Adding stenciled Vent Holes is a quick and easy update that can be stenciled on in just a few minutes!
More ideas to add vent holes to:
- bird houses
- tall skinny shaker cabinets
- crate sides or tops
- bookcase sides
- tall cabinet doors
- larger armoire doors and sides
- ammunition crates
- any enclosed cabinet sides
- drawer fronts
- vintage suitcases
- cheese boxes
- tin panels
- galvanized pots or buckets
Have I encouraged you to update a few old cabinets or pieces of your own to see if you can enhance them with a few vintage vent holes?
What enclosed item do you have that could work?
Other unique cabinet ideas:
Pallet-styled firewood storage cabinet
Side table with removable houndstooth panels
Coffee bean sack rustic storage cabinet
Visit many other unique furniture projects HERE
Love these! That vent hole stencil is so cool; what a great idea.
Thanks Sara, no tin or furniture piece is safe any longer… they’re gettin’ holes! haha
What a cool stencil to come up with. The vent holes I didn’t know about. Interesting history. I’m sure I’ve seen them but never knew. The stencil design on the dresser is perfect. Love it as a plant stand. Gets one to thinking….
Thanks Joanne! I am having so much fun playing with it! And I already have a new idea for the tall dresser so I may have to do another makeover on it yet! haha
Very creative. For some reason I’m thinking pie tins. I’m not sure what a person would do with them though except hang them as wall art.
Neat idea Teddee! Any collection can absolutely turn into wall art. As for something productive, they could be used to serve things, or turn one into a clock!
You know, I never really paid any attention to vent holes. They were just there 😀 But after seeing what you did they’re now going to take center stage. How lovely.