Design Dilemma: How to Hide an AC Wall Unit

Answer: a wood pallet and a faux “living” wall!

In Megan’s Lash Studio, smack in the center of the wall just below the ceiling is a large AC unit, 20” x 29” to be exact. Now, that may not ordinarily seem like an oversized beast to tame, and in a larger space it’s really not, but you have to consider the room itself is only 12′ x 9′. And it’s the first thing you see as you open the door. Add on to that those walls I painstakingly watercolored and the AC unit became bigfoot with an ankle monitor, the monitor being one of the largest plugs I’ve ever encountered 4 inches below big Bertha. And every day, for the last 3 weeks I have obsessed over the perfect jail in which to banish the two and hide them in plain sight.

Back and forth I went from wicker basket to wooden crate until I finally ended up constructing my own purgatory out of a 1/4 pallet and an 1/8 pallet. And once I combined the two, after a touch and go surgery to remove some of the slats and fuse others together, I had one perfectly imperfect prison for which to hide them while still allowing the AC unit to work perfectly.

Because this is LA, and she’s technically even hotter in the valley, that AC will be cranking each and every month, so I couldn’t just hide the unit completely. I had to expect it’s use and therefore, I needed to go faux as well.

The crate itself comes easily off the wall and it’s super light, but it’s not realistic to think the studio will get adequate light nor did I want to add the maintenance of a true living wall Megan’s agenda. And who knows what the AC would have done to the live plants anyway, I have no idea how the cacti would have reacted to being blasted with Arctic air in hourly intervals. So I hit up Rolling Greens in Culver City for the best faux finds in succulents and went to work.

And I have to admit, after a few alterations and some stain, the crate couldn’t fit better and the succulents add just enough drama to draw your eye away from what’s underneath that crate. Adding more to the idea of everything is exactly as it should be and every bit intentional, I added a few more smaller pallets and and crates to complete the wall and keep one single large crate from looking out of place. Added bonus, I was then also able to cover an unused outlet and the hole in the wall for the cable.

Then, because I either love the pain, or I love my friend, I created a real living “wall” to finish it off perfectly with a balance and faux and live.