i always paint mine the wall color!

I also painted mine the wall color to blend in.

Wall color. I wouldn't want them to stand out.

4 to 1... I think he's going to be out numbered. Thank you!

Wall color!

Wall color. It's not a "feature" you want to call attention to in the room.

wall color

Wall color, you want them to 'disappear' ;)

We have one return air that is painted the wall color (a faux finish), two that are white (but will paint the wall color next time we repaint) and one return air in the ceiling. Ceiling and return air are white. Paint it! :)

Wall color, definitely.

I'm the odd man out but painted or not they are never going to be hidden and IMO it looks really tacky when the wall plates are painted. Like the painter got lazy and painted them when they should have come off, besides, not painting them makes it easier to take them off and clean them. (sorry just being honest.). Mine are white, the same color as my trim, they look perfectly fine and definitely clean.

i always take mine off to paint them! (you definitely don't want to paint them onto the wall!!) that way they can be taken off and cleaned if needed!

I am with the few that don't like them to be painted. I've seen too many that were sloppily done, and/or obviously had many coats of paint applied over the years. Painted ones tend to be more difficult to dust, because the paint used is usually the eggshell or flat wall paint, not glossy in the same color as the wall. However, since yours are already painted, I would say keep, or paint, them the color of the wall and not change them to white. Painting them white now serves no purpose.

I don't mine with wall paint. If there is a big contrast between the wall color and the wall plate, I will spray paint it with a glossy paint that is close to the wall color. So, in one house with brown walls, I spray painted them with a similar brown color.

I have those same kind of heat registers in my apartment, except they have trim around them. I vote for painting them the same color as the trim. Wall colors come and go, but neutral trim usually does not. On the flip side, I usually paint my switch colors to match the walls! It's probably all good.

Wall color. I don't want the focal point of the room (eye catcher) to be a heat duct/vent.

That's exactly what I'm contemplating. Surprised only response spoke to this.

For a house that is soon going on the market, it isn't as if the owner would get to enjoy them for long, and the financial outlay for custom registers would not be recouped when the house was sold.

I went with custom registers and they look amazing! For $200 I got three of them and only put them on the main level in the wall where you can see them. I guess it depends on the neighborhood -- higher end homes would recoup the cost.