Cabinet shoe moulding - installing wood vent

[John Pariseau]

I have a cold air return that is built into the side of a cabinet. I also have a cold air vent under a toe kick with the same issue.

As with these sorts of things, I'm not sure what wold look best. My inclination is to:

Install the vent so it touches the floor - cut the bottom edge 1/4" so that it sits flush at the bottom and stop the trim on either side, coping the trim a little bit so it covers up the gap between the flooring and kitchen island. Because I'd be cutting the vent, this means the top of the vent would be taller than the bottom of the vent.

I could stack the vent right on top of the trim, but this would create a little crevice for dust to collect, and I feel like it would look less professional.

Thoughts? Any other solutions? I don't think I can match the radius on the vent - otherwise I'd consider cutting the top of the vent and round it with my router.

I have to cut new shoe molding and stain - I presume I go with the cabinet color with the new flooring.

Thanks!

IMG_5517.jpg

[John Pariseau]

Some quick CAD sketches of what I feel my options are:

This is what I originally wanted to do, but am having second thoughts:

Screenshot 2023-08-13 at 11.23.58 AM.jpg

I like this option, but I'm unsure how easy this would be to fabricate. For this vent, I'm buying new molding so if I screw up it's a short piece - but where the other vent is, it is a longer/original piece and I'd prefer not to mess with it

Screenshot 2023-08-13 at 11.24.07 AM.jpg

This would be by far the easiest way - but the double line seems ugly:

Screenshot 2023-08-13 at 11.23.46 AM.jpg

[Kent A Bathurst]

Take the easiest way, and move on.

For the first 5 weeks, only you will notice it.

Starting week 6, you won't either

[Jim Becker]

I'd install the vent cover so it's removable for leaning and stop the shoe with a little angle detail to make it look more finished. And as Kent said, it's going to be "out of sight; out of mind" pretty quickly, especially if you use a vent cover that disappears into the finish color.

[John Pariseau]

I think I'm going to go with option #3 - the easy route - but trim the vent at the bottom so that it's thickness matches that of the cove molding. That way it doesn't create a v-groove for dust to settle in.

[Tom Bender]

I'd go with the third pic and not worry about the v-groove

BTW those look like supply vents not cold air vents...well this time of year they would be cold air vents

[John Pariseau]

BTW those look like supply vents not cold air vents...well this time of year they would be cold air vents

Well... one is a supply vent - the smaller one under the sink toe kick.

The larger one built into this cabinet is, strangely, a cold air return. I do not know why it was done this way, but it was.