2 Attachment(s)
What to do with a hole in the wall made for an old box AC unit?
About two years ago I purchased an old (circa 1910) house in the lower Hunter Valley of NSW, and have since been renovating it whenever I get the chance. Like a lot of old houses around here it’s built almost totally from hardwood timber inside & out. It has a lot of attractive original features – such as 3.6m ceilings, picture rails, 4 pane sash windows, four panel or stained glass doors, a fretwork archway, and hand-painted timber fireplaces with a faux marble finish (pic #1). Unfortunately most of these, as well as almost every surface in the house, were in a fairly dilapidated state and needed a lot of attention.
Because I’m a female, working largely on my own, fairly unskilled but something of a perfectionist, progress has been quite slow. Nonetheless, work on three bedrooms, hallway and lounge room have now just about been completed and I’m pretty happy with the way it looks.
However, I’m now faced with the problem of what to do with the hole left in one of the walls after a very old box-type air conditioning unit in the lounge room was removed. It was replaced by a new split-system AC high up on the wall near the ceiling in a different location. This hole is roughly 84cm(w) x 52cm(h), and is located about 50cm below the picture rail, between a window and the corner of the room. The walls are made of tongue & groove lining boards, around 10cm wide.
The AC installation men have put a temporary sheet metal covering over the gap in the external weatherboards, but so far the only thing I have done with the inside is to hang a painting over the hole as a temporary disguise while I try to come up with a solution (pic #2). I imagine the best thing to do would be to try and find some identical lining boards to install. But to make this look good, rather than an obvious patch, I would then have to pull apart the window framing on one side to fit in the new boards, plus the corner timber covering as well.
So although this process would be the best solution, it’s probably way above my very limited carpentry skills, and therefore I have held off doing anything while trying to come up with some other idea.
I haven’t had any great flashes of inspiration, but the following possibilities are now on my list:
(i) getting a window to fill in the gap (but would a small window in this position could look quite weird?);
(ii) filling the gap in with glass bricks (but this might look hideous in an old house?);
(iii) making up a small ‘traditional looking’ shelving unit that would fit into the gap, possibly protruding 3-4cm out from the wall; or (iv) or simply patching up the hole with some sort of timber sheeting then covering it up with a painting or wall hanging.
Is there any woodworking guru out there who could offer any advice about what would be the best way to go, keeping in mind that it would be done by someone who’s very much a carpentry novice but likes to do as much as possible herself? Or better still, provide some alternative suggestions? I would be very appreciative of any ideas whatsoever, especially if they don't detract from the 'federation-era' look I'm trying to maintain.
Many thanks in advance to whoever has taken the time to respond.
