We've stripped the paint off our original wall registers and found a pretty neat tiger stripe pattern underneath. We've also purchased wall registers at salvage stores. And we have a new return cover from ReggiorRegister.com.

We've been most happy with stripping the paint off the original registers...and this was the best for our budget.

For your ceiling needs, check out Reggio.

we had a couple left in our house. We stripped off the paint and repainted them. They look very nice. There are way more designs to choose from than the ones you have a link too.
check out flea markets and salvage stores. We found one that matched ours at the flea market and I stripped it and placed it where a new register cover had been.

There are covers that are made to go on the ceiling. The ones I have seen are round tho.
my two fave places to show are www.historichouseparts.com and www.rehouseny.com
I don't know if rehouse would ship to you but their prices are much cheaper that house parts. House parts has great pics though and you can see how many styles there are!

You're right, I think we will try to see what's under all the gunk & layers of paint before discounting them...
Thanks for the tips!

kec01 - are you in the Chicago area? what salvage stores do you go to? (We're in Waukegan)

Thanks,
Jen

You would never put an air/heating duct anywhere near a cold air return. That's not even up to code.

kimcoco - was this in response to my post? If so, sorry for the confusion. Our heating is hot water radiators (and a few baseboards) and sometime in the last few decades a central a/c system was also put in. So the ducts/returns are only for the a/c.

Hmmm, thinking aloud, maybe antique-looking registers on an a/c system would look out of place/time?

Jen

jench, yes, we're in the Chicago area allright - Oak Park, in fact. We regularly go to Jan's Antiques at about 200 N. Racine in Chicago and Salvage One on Hubbard. Another place that isn't legitimately a salvage place, but they always have tons 'o stuff is Cavalier Lighting at about 4400 N. Ashland. The Kane County Flea Market in Geneva is usally another good source for old house items. Any/all of these would be a bit of a drive for you, but with a good shopping list, it might be worth the trek.