7 of the Best Tips for Hiding Your Home’s Biggest Design Eyesores

Eugene Chrinian

7 of the Best Tips for Hiding Your Home’s Biggest Design Eyesores

Do you look around your house and see the same eyesores that plague countless homeowners? Items like stray cords, thermostat controls, and air vents can take away from the otherwise well-decorated appearance of any space. Thankfully, there are a number of creative tricks that you can use to hide these unsightly objects and create a more elegant home.

From covers to cover-ups, here are a few of the design-friendly ways in which you can improve the appearance of these items:

Mask your router. Virtually every home has an Internet

router, but most homeowners do not pay attention to it unless they are experiencing a technical issue. You can give your bulky router a bit of a design upgrade by cleverly masking it from sight. One of the best ways to do this is to store it away in a decorative box with a small hole cut out in the back through which you can feed necessary cords. Otherwise, you can use the box to hide both the router itself and all its excess wiring. You can also stow this piece of equipment inside an old book cover for a quick disguise that still allows for easy access.

Beautify your vents. Homes with central air systems often have large vents in each room. You

can easily conceal these unsightly pieces and beautify your home without needing to purchase a pricey cover. In a few simple steps, you can turn an old door mat into an elegant air vent concealer. Start with any lace-style mat that won’t cover the entire vent to allow air to still flow through. Then, all you need to do is apply a few coats of spray paint in whatever color will best fit your home and mount it to the vent. The detail and color of the door mat will perfectly mask its bulkiness and add new elegance.

Cover up messy cables. From televisions to cell phones, countless

household items need cables to function, and these cords tend to accumulate into unattractive piles around the home. There are, however, ways that you can prevent this from happening and bring order back into the design of your home. An easy solution to this problem is to create a charger drawer that houses an extension lead. When you need to charge something, you can place it (and its cord) inside the drawer to keep it out of plain sight. Similarly, you can feed important cords to a power adaptor inside a decorative box. Simply put a top on the box and slide it underneath your television stand or desk to conceal the cords.

Plank a ceiling. A popular design feature in many old homes, popcorn ceilings are often

tricky to remove. Instead of undertaking this laborious process, you can simply opt to cover up the textured surface. Installing tongue-and-groove wooden planks is an excellent way to mask the popcorn look and make the entire room look more finished. Begin by finding your ceiling studs to ensure that the planks do not fall off after application. Using adhesive and a nail gun, attach each piece to the ceiling like you would with a wood floor. When finished, the outdated popcorn ceiling will be completely concealed under the coziness of the new, planked ceiling.

Hide wall controls using art. Temperature control panels, pool controls, and

alarm keypads are all things that adorn the walls of homes, but their plain appearance can take away from a room’s design scheme. To make the most out of the space, you can hide these features behind a carefully placed canvas. All you need to do is choose a piece of art that will complement the design of the room and attach it to the wall using hinges. When you need to use the control panel, you can simply swing the painting aside. Another clever way of masking mounted controls is to hide them among a collage of different artistic pieces. By placing your light switch and thermostat among an array of picture frames, you will notice the wall’s more beautiful features first.

Conceal your air conditioner. Some homes have in-wall air conditioning units that go unused for the

majority of the year and stand out as an eyesore in the room. However, you can easily turn this space into one with design appeal. After covering the unit with plastic to keep out dust, construct a wooden frame to securely encase it. Cover the entire box with chalkboard paint to create a surface that can house everything from dinner menus to decorative drawings. Even better, the top of the air conditioning cover provides enough space for you to store a few books and other decorations.

Tuck away the litterbox. Another common household eyesore is the litterbox. Both messy and smelly,

this feline necessity can be a creative DIY project. For example, you can use the inside of a table or cabinet as a home for your cat’s litterbox. Create a hinged door on the side through which you can access the box for cleaning and make sure to leave an opening for your cat to fit inside. You can still use the top of the table to hold accessories while the messy litterbox remains tucked away.