Major Clutter Buster: A Clever Way to Conceal Lots of Ugly Stuff
While our dream homes are clutter-free sanctuaries that would make Marie Kondo proud, our real homes are where we store our mismatched bedding sets, bulk paper towels from Costco, and Backstreet Boys CDs from circa 1999. To keep all of this mess out of sight and give the illusion of an organized home, try one of our favorite DIY clutter concealers. Curtains, roller shades, no-sew table skirts—these are the easiest ways to keep the chaos under wraps.
Above: Just in case your bathroom storage isn’t as tidy as HGTV‘s perfectly appointed shelves, hang a couple curtain panels to mask the mess.
To conceal her craft storage, Anita from Cedar Hill Farmhouse gave an old IKEA bookcase a swipe of white paint and covered it with a fabric curtain. The striped fabric lends a farmhouse feel, but you could also pick a graphic design for a more modern look.
To form this makeshift closet, a set of old IKEA cabinets are topped with wire tension rods and fitted with semi-sheer curtains. After an expensive bedroom makeover on Syrinveien, this cheap closet hack helped keep the budget under control. If you want even more uses for tension rods, check out our 15 (!) favorite ideas.
When Homepolish designer Paige Morse transformed her backyard shed into a homey cottage, she hid the exposed pipes under the bathroom sink with a simple handmade sink skirt. Tour the rest of this charmingly tiny home on Popsugar.
A bulky washing machine and dryer blend into the room after House Tweaking topped them with folding wooden slabs and added sliding curtains.
If your shoe collection is way too impressive to cram inside a closet, devote an unused nook to the cause. Hang a curtain across the area, as shown above on Decor Pad, so you can hide the jumble whenever it’s unorganized.
I’m willing to bet a bunch of us have an old LACK side table left over from our college days. With some rope, a tension rod, and a window valence, Zillow Porchlight hacked the $10 IKEA table into the perfect hiding space for your cat’s litter box. Kitty will definitely appreciate the extra privacy.
To craft a no-sew skirt for her bar cart, Beth from Calling It Home secured a tablecloth around the top of the table using strips of Velcro. Cake stands and extra bottles hide below.
This table skirt from So Haute looks sophisticated – and covers an IKEA EXPEDIT shelving system that could be neat or a wreck — when you can’t see it, it doesn’t matter!
In this vibrant Boston apartment, two roller shades stand in for traditional closet doors. This solution is a space saver, because the homeowners don’t have to worry about positioning furniture away from swing-out doors.