apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The Put-in-cups are a great idea, but depending on the size of your fence, they could get really expensive at $9 for 50.

As for other ideas on dressing up a cyclone fence, there are the plastic strips you can weave into your fence. I remember them as beeing cheezy but they could be made to be more sophisticated.

Another idea is planting ivy and letting it grow up onto the fence, creating a natural disguise.

Ha! I just went to the site- NOooooo, no one here will be likely to add a giant baseball logo to their "outdoor living space."

But the idea is great. When I first say it I thought it was woven ribbon or something- which I think would also work well. If I had a chain link fence, instead of a high rise balcony.

I meant "saw it," not "say it".

I've come back to look at that pic on Making It Lovely a few times myself. Its a really fun way to work with what you have - if what you have is a chain link fence!!

Sorry to rain on this company's parade, but it seems really wasteful to get a bunch of plastic for this purpose, which you'll never be able to use for anything else. Maybe for a permanent feature in a high school ballpark or something, but I'm sure a clever person could figure out how to reuse something without paying that much, both money-wise and ecologically.

I keep thinking puddin' cups.

Why not just put plants along the fence to hide most of it. I imagine honeysuckle would love to climb that.

I think it looks worse, drawing attention to it. I think plants would be much better.

we have a 200' chain link fence ("recycled" from the highway department when they were replacing fencing) to keep our dogs from visiting the neighbors. at first I didn't know what to do with it (old fence = rust!), but a little spray with rustoleum (green) and some plants (tall grasses, vines) and it looks lovely. no need for expensive plastic inserts.
i agree with versinae though, would look ok at a high school or something.

Fine for commercial applications, but nasty for residences that are more intimiate.

We have a neighbor whose chain link fence is entirely hidden behind confederate jasmine. If you didn't know it was chain link, you would never, ever guess it.

The chain link behind my house belongs to the condo complex not to me -- I can put my own fence (estimate: $4k) in front of it, but I can't touch the chain link. Any plants I put in would have to stand free in front. Sigh.

I kind of love that the website shows photos of Marylin Monroe, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jackie Onassis. It makes me want to put up a chain-link fence just to put their pictures on it.

The schools around me have been doing this for years with plastic and Styrofoam cups. The change the messages all the time, from 'Happy Birthday Julie' to 'Go Raiders'. I'm sure if you reused them this way it wouldn't seem that expensive, and would probably be a little more eco-friendly than all those Styrofoam cups, which I'm sure they don't reuse.

I hid most of my chain link with plants. Honeysuckle (if you don't mind that it is invasive), shrubs, perennials, clematis, wisteria, and trees. Now, my backyard is private enough to skinny dip in the hot tub!

I've used climbing plants of various sorts, although I love the idea of a woven design. I saw a photo in a mag once ofdried branches woven through chainlink to make a natural screen (both warp and weft) -- like those willow screens in old-fashioned gardens.

this post reminds me of a twist on regular chain-link fences i blogged about recently — the are made to look like lace!
http://thelulubird.blogspot.com/2009/04/fence-design.html

Andy "Cuprock" Uprock is the master of this.

http://www.cuprocking.com/home

I would like to point out in the second photo of the "Tiger eyes" fence, to the right is an awesome pickup painted in a red, white and blue American flag motif.

All things considered, it looks like someone has decorated with Lego blocks, or made a giant Lite-Brite display. Also, the fish are cute but the pineapples and giraffe motifs kill me.

How about just weaving in some rope for that lovely sisal effect? I mean, that seems cheap and chic, right?

http://www.somethingplanned.com/03.html
This is a nice short video and some pictures of another interpretation of weaving something in the fence. Again it's probably not what most people would want for their backyard, but it's some great execution and an idea you could run with.

To the vine-lovers: I love the plant idea too, but I think a planting on one or both sides that DOESN'T climb the fence but just is against it is less likely to make the chainlink sag and be easier to maintain.

Plants can take too long to grow and climb up the fence or to get tall enough to cover it, especially if you're just renting as I am. I recently bought this reed covering from Home Depot - at $24, it's a bargain, and easy to install. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100661555&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100661555&ci_src=14110944&cm_mmc=shopping-_-google-_-D28X-_-100661555

The plastic cups or webbing are the most colorful and more like folk art.Depending on your tastes and your neighborhood. I personally like the idea of bright colors but would not buy new plastic, would have to find something to recycle. That said any creeping vine is always lovely. I once used carolina jasmine here in Texas for a garden chainlink eyesore and it was solid and blooming profusely by the second summer. Lovely fragrance also. Would love to see someone utilize natural rope.