Masking the Undesirable Without Breaking the Bank
A few weeks ago we talked about how to distract the eye from decor un-pleasantries, today it's time to talk about how to conceal them. Some people can only deal with so much visual clutter, and prefer the out-of-sight approach. Our friend Melissa of the Inspired Room, is constantly amassing ideas for what she calls, "creative concealment," a budget friendly, space-saving alternative to a house full of cabinets. Here are a few of her favorite tricks for hiding the undesirable...
FIRST ROW
• 1 A breaker box gets an attractive AND useful facade when owners attached an oversize bulletin board and chalkboard walls on tracks.
• 2 For those of you who can't get on board with exposing your TV, Roman and Matchstick blinds are an easy DIY alternative doored media cabinets. Tie the shelf into the rest of the room by picking a shade material that coordinates with the rest of your decor.
• 3 Or if you don't want the bulk of a media canbents, but still don't like the look of a screen vying for visual attention, this Martha Stewart special is like a fitted sheet for your computer.
• 4 Another shade trick. This one makes the concealed tool cabinet look like another shaded window.
• 5 Adding a fabric skirt to low lying storage shelves is one of the most popular concealment tricks. It's also a good way to introduce color and pattern interest to a room.
SECOND ROW
• 6 Coordinating multiple storage units with fabric is one of the easiest ways to dress up a functional space. In this example, fabric is simply hung with clothes pins.
(Images: 1: Southern Living via The Inspired Room, 2,3,6: Martha StewartThe Inspired Room, 4,5: Cottage LivingThe Inspired Room)
Comments (21)
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I love the sliding chalkboard! I wonder how easy it is to do...
view wanderinglight's profile
So sneaky!
I live (rent) in a 50's brick and cement hi-rise apartment building with exquisitely tall ceilings and original parquet flooring. Unfortunately, it does have some eye-catching fixtures and features that have remained stark against my current decor because I've simply not known how to work them into my space.
As soon as I saw the roller chalkboard/corkboard, I knew it was the perfect solution for one such area! Love it.
view Graceless's profile
I hung a picture over an ugly dimmer switch in my dining room, to turn it on I click the picture...
view ec05's profile
Yes, the sliding chalkboard/corkboard is brilliant.
http://www.swankydigs.blogspot.com/
view Tara77's profile
Love it.
Anyone know who makes/sells the rolling corkboard - blackboard?
CC
view clickchick's profile
I hung pictures over my breaker box and this weird phone plug that is built into the wall. The slipcover for the TV is kind of weird, though. It reminds me of a toaster or kleenex cozy. ick.
view first5times's profile
corkboard/blackboard is pretty darned awesome. i've been tryign to figure out what i can do with that area of my house and still get some use out of it.
view creative*type's profile
What about those utility boxes in the yard? I'm trying to figure out a way to hide them, without making it look like a big clump of weeds have surrounded them...
view jamiemichelle2's profile
The fabric panels on #6 are pretty, but if I had storage that well organized in boxes that pretty I wouldn't be all that concerned with hiding it!
view cedargr0's profile
haha tv kozy....you're right that's horrible.
view ec05's profile
I keep a china cabinet in front of my breaker box (it easily slides).
I have some pretty hideous utilities on the side of my house. They cannot be blocked (power entry, and cable box), but I am thinking of using a trellis of some sort to hide them. Never let the cable/phone company install something without watching them like a hawk--they put a "robot" on the side of my house is a highly visible place and ran cables across the house, so unsightly!
view ValHalla's profile
the chalkboard/corkboard one is awesome!
view erinpearce's profile
one of these things is not classy like the others...
view frozenemotion9's profile
I like the TV cozy.
view orangecookie's profile
I like the unique ideas posted since I'm a person who hates to look at personal storage clutter.
view baileyb's profile
How do I achieve that look of the first image????
view birkinbabe's profile
The computer monitor cozy is a hoot! This is probably how my grandma would have gotten started...
view quiltmaster's profile
The hanging fabric solutions don't work if you have cats... (Clawing, getting stuck clawing etc)
view gryt's profile
Covering utility boxes? Get one of these!
http://brookstone.com/sl/product/3110-faux-landscaping-rock-pump-utility-box-covers.html
I really think shrubbery or groups of different flowers (with tall ones strategically placed around the box) look better though.
view eeka's profile
Since I have inattentive ADD it's very important to me to have an uncluttered looking home, even though I have a lot of stuff. I recently bought a curtain to surround a bookshelf of chaotic art supplies. Now the shelf blends with its surroundings instead of screaming "LOOK AT ME!" So I was pretty happy with that.
I'm not so sure about hiding TVs though, I think if I went into someone's home and they had some kind of "TV cozy" I'd be like "mmm....hm." But that's just me.
view Rebecca_J's profile
Hmmm, maybe I like the *idea* of a cozy because I'm so drawn to looking a screen (embarrassed to admit) and this could be an alternative to a cupboard. Also, as someone brought up in the original Martha Stewart post, there's the issue of the "instant on" feature and venting that could be a problem.
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/tv-cozy-how-to?lnc=1a89cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&rsc=cf_link&comments_page=1&rsc=comments_more#conversation-container
view orangecookie's profile