Hiding Those Eyesores Around Your Home
My friend, Kelly, inspired this post today - she was looking for opinions online about these pieces of magnetic artwork that attach to a fusebox cover to hide that gray eyesore. I had never heard of those so I wanted to do a little research and also include some info about other ways to hide some less-than-attractive, but necessary items you may have in your home.
1. Fusebox/Electrical Panel Covers
Plenty of people have electrical panels in the basement or garage where they're out of sight, but for those that have them right in the middle of an otherwise cozy, attractive room, what do you do? You have several options here - paint it, hang a piece of artwork over it, attach artwork over it with a hinge, order an artistic magnetic cover that pops off when you want to open it, enclose it in a box with a door (as seen above), purchase a custom-sized sticker for it (or buy stick-on wallpaper and cut it out yourself!). Tons of ways to hide it while still giving easy access in case a breaker trips. You can use a similar technique to hide other things like alarm systems, thermostats, etc.
2. TV Wires
Here's another common one - wires everywhere! What do you do? One easy way is to mount a narrow box on the wall (or even a shower curtain rod!) and feed your wires through it, then paint the box to match the wall. It'll blend right in. (See picture below) Another sneaky technique that will complete hide your wires is to actually cut two holes in your wall - one behind the TV, and one nearer to the ground and the outlet you're plugging into - and feed the wires through the wall so they're totally hidden.
3. Outdoor AC Condenser
Do you see this when you look outside?
A great way to hide these units is to purchase or build a small wooden fence around it (ideally with slats or holes). It's never a good idea to put anything on top or over an AC unit because it needs to ventilate, though. Here's an idea from Home Depot:
4. Hide Your Sponges and Soap
Never know where to put your sponges? How about this?
When we were redoing our kitchen, I suggested this to our reno team and they thought it was a great idea. Ours is split into two fold down drawers, but this can be done in almost any kitchen. Great place to hide sponges or brushes.
I also admittedly have never watched or read any Marie Kondo, but I did see a tip online at one point to spruce up soap containers on top of sinks with reusable glass/plastic ones. I will admit, our nice glass bottle (got it from TJ Maxx) looks nicer than the giant Palmolive container on top of the kitchen sink.
This one from Target will snazz up your kitchen or bathroom sink for $10.
5. Avoid Your Nosy Neighbors
Have some fencing, but it doesn't block your neighbors' view of your intimate BBQs? Here's a product I always recommend to people - faux ivy wrap. It's great to attach to fences or to railings around a deck. It can help provide a bit more privacy.
Find it on Amazon or Privacy Screen
Hopefully this post has inspired you to come up with some interesting home projects to hide those less-desirable areas. Have you done any that weren't mentioned here? Let me know!