Storage

How To Hide The Ugly Things In Your Home

To create a relaxing and well designed room, there are just some things that shouldn’t be seen. Like a WiFi router, ironing board, or cords and cables. I’ve put together this post that is full of ideas on how to hide the eye sores and ugly things in your home.

Good Looking Storage Options

Sometimes you can’t store things away in a cabinet or in a closet so they are out of sight. Instead you have to store them out in the open. This doesn’t mean you have to make the space ugly. You can simply get matching good looking storage containers that you can use to hide items with. These good looking storage containers will also act as decor pieces for the room. Here are some ideas:

Wicker baskets, hampers, trunks
Copper or galvanized bucket (can be used as a trashcan, to store magazines, or firewood)
Wooden crates or trunks
Wire baskets
Enamel containers
Matching glass jars
Leather containers

Secret Rooms

Maybe you have things in a room that are too big to store in baskets or wooden crates. Say you have gym equipment in the living room, a home office in the bedroom, or laundry machines in the bathroom. All of this should be hidden away when not in use, that way you can enjoy the rest of the room and make it a relaxing place.

The easiest way to hide everything is to hang up a curtain. Bookshelves or a folding divider are some other options. For more ideas, and for some pictures, have a look at my post here: Ideas Mood Board: DIY Room Dividers.

Don’t forget, you can always give your closet doors a makeover to help style a room: DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover – Ideas and Design Tips.

Cords and Electronics

One of the most common things that people want to hide in their homes are cables and cords. Some quick ideas include hanging up wall trim that blends in with the walls (just like the hidden TV cords in picture (3)), or use copper pipes. For photos and more ideas have a look at my post here: Creative Ideas: How To Hide Wires and Cords.

Picture (2) shows how Ana hollowed out a book to hide her WiFi router. Other ideas for hiding a router include using decorative boxes, putting it inside of a wicker basket, or building a dedicate wall unit.

How To Make Your Router Disappear: 6 Inventive and Creative Ideas on How To Hide A Router and Modem

For items that you don’t use to regularly, like your printer, these can be hidden away in cabinets and consoles or filing cabinets – just like the printer in picture (4)

Simple DIY Idea

Why not hang up a canvas piece, a framed picture or a mirror. But hang it with hinges so that it can swing open. And behind it you can hide thermostats (7), breaker boxes, or even an ironing board if you have a large enough wall piece.

Ironing Board and Hampers

An ironing board can be a pain to store. You can always hide them in the back of a closet, or hang them up on a wall. More creative ideas include hiding them in a decorative wall unit just like the one in picture (6) that folds out. Or how about saving yourself all of the hassle of unfolding and folding the thing up, and have an ironing board fitted into a draw – just like the one in picture (5).

Wrestling With Your Ironing Board: Ideas on How To Store It and Hide It

Clutter Trays

Maybe you have a few items laying about that you can’t really store away. For example TV remotes in the living room, or wallets, keys and glasses on the bedside table. Use clutter trays, nice wooden bowls or trays, to group together these items. This will help create a tidy and clutter free space.

And lastly, get creative with the extra spaces you have in your home. Check out the doghouse that was built under the stairs: Weekend Build: DIY Staircase Dog House.

Here are some other storage posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

June 1, 2016 in Decor, Storage

How To Make Your Router Disappear: 6 Inventive and Creative Ideas on How To Hide A Router and Modem

Electronics can be a bit of an eyesore when it comes to home design. One thing that you can’t really store out of sight and closed off, since you’ll want a strong signal, is your WiFi router and modem. But there are a lot of creative ways you can go about hiding it.

A simple way of hiding it is to stick it behind a tabletop picture frame, just like in picture (1) above.
Another easy way to hide your router is to buy a decorative box. Either cut out the back, or have the opening (the top) of the box be at the back so that the wires can be fed through. Just like the decorative box hiding the router in picture (2).
A popular way to hide a router is to use book covers. You normally see books on shelves, so why not hollow out some book covers (3), or just one (4), that your router can fit into. Or make a faux book cover (see the video below).
You can always hang up a picture frame, canvas piece, or a framed mirror on a wall. And when you do hang it up, use hinges so that it can swing open and you’ll have space behind it to hide your router (5) (or breaker box, thermostat, etc.). Hidden Storage Ideas: James Bond and Home Decor
Or how about building a decorative wall storage unit with shelving and a door (6)
You can stick your router to the underside of a kitchen wall cabinet, or to the underside of your media cabinet or desk (7). Another option is to attach the router to the back of cabinets just like in picture (8).

Just be careful not to cover up the vents on a router that stop it from overheating.

Here are some other posts to get more storage ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

June 1, 2016 in Decor, Storage

Hidden Storage Ideas: James Bond and Home Decor

Maybe you want to hide things away for security reasons. Or things need to be hidden just to make the room look better and keep it clutter free. Either way, this post has a whole list of creative and inventive hidden storage ideas for you to use around the house.

Hinged Wall Storage Poster

A framed picture, mirror, or canvas piece can hang on the wall to hide something. But don’t hang it like you’d normally would. Instead use hinges so that the framed piece can swing open.

You could hide a thermostat, keys just like in picture (1), sockets, a breaker box, or hide a shelf of items (2), a router, use it for gun storage, or anything that’s on the wall. You could even hide an ironing board if you have a tall enough canvas piece.

Going Beyond Draws

Draws are designed to be just one empty box. Things get lost and messy, unless you are able to create some sort of organizer to keep things separated. There are simple draw insert, but you can take it a step further.

It really comes down to what you want to store away. Have a look at the flour and sugar draw in picture (3). The grilled draw in picture (4) lets the vegetables breath in the draws. I’ve seen a draw fitted with a chopping board and a hole in it, and under it was a pull out trash can.

You could fit a knife block in a draw (5). Or how about fitting a fold out ironing board (6).

To create extra draw space, look to the baseboard. This is the space underneath the cabinets, and it can be turned into extra draws – just like the ones in picture (7).

Staircase Storage

The space under each step can have a draw that pulls out (8). Another idea is to give the space under the staircase a makeover.

You can either have a door that opens to a small storage space – which is what most homes will have. Another option is to have a shelf that pulls out with a small room behind it – seen in picture (9). One last option is to have large draws that pull out and have separate storage sections.

Getting Creative With Built In Units

Built in storage units can be fitted and hidden around the home. They can be fitted in between the studs just like the pull out cabinet in picture (10). Another big build would be to fit storage into decorative kitchen molding (11). And floating shelves can be made so that they pull out giving way to hidden storage (12).

Or how about the clever hidden storage space built into the bathroom sink countertop in picture (13). And check out the pull outs under the kitchen sink in picture (14) storing washing up items.

In Plain Sight

Books seem to be a common way of hiding things on a shelf. You normally see books on a shelf, so why not cut the covers off of some books and create a box disguise – just like the one in picture (15).

Hanging up a wall unit is a simple way of storing and hiding away common house hold items, such as laundry supplies (16), a flat screen TV, or electronics.

Another way to store things out in the open but not have them create a cluttered and messy look is to use good looking and matching storage containers. Use matching wicker baskets on a shelf, or glass jars, wire baskets, or galvanized buckets. Wicker hampers and trunks, and wooden crates are some other decorative ways of storing items out in the open.

How about fitting a trap door in the floor. This can either be done outdoors on a deck or patio – seen in picture (17). It can even be done inside. Maybe it’s just a small storage space hidden under the floor. Or it could be a space saving way of getting into your basement.

Under Cabinets, Tables and Desks

You can’t see the underside of your tables, cabinets, or desk. Which means you can hide things away here. Routers can be attached to the underside of a desk. A paper tray can be fitted under the kitchen wall cabinet to store paperwork. You could even fit a small shelf under your desk or cabinet to store small items.

Inside the Closet and Cabinet Doors

The inside of closet and cabinet doors can be modified for extra storage space. Kitchen cabinet doors can be fitted with railings and hooks to store rolls of paper tissue, tin foil, or cling film. While bedroom closet doors can be fitted with railings on the inside to hang up scarves (Creative Ways of How To Store Scarves), jewelry, or other pieces of clothes.

You can also buy over the door storage organizers. These are used mostly over a door to a room, but they can be fitted to the inside of a closet door.

Under the Bed

If you have a bed with space under it, this can be a place to store items too. IKEA has a number of storage units on wheels that slide under the bed. Or use wicker baskets to store things away neatly under the bed.

If you want creative ideas on how to hide wires, then have a look at my post here.
Want to hide a router? Look here.
And here is a post on how to hide the ugly things around your house.
Search all of my storage posts for more ideas

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18

June 1, 2016 in Storage

Creative Ways of How To Store Scarves

It’s pretty surprising the number of ways you can create storage for your scarves. The 15+ scarf storage ideas in this post have been divided up into A) ideas on how to store them out in the bedroom, and B) ideas on how to store and organize them in your closet.

Creative Open Storage Ideas and Solutions

Hang up towel rails or a decorative curtain rail on the wall, and tie scarves to them, just like in picture (1)
You could also use shower curtain rings as hooks on the railing
A more DIY approach would be to hot glue gun clothes pegs (see if you can get some vintage looking ones) onto a plank of wood (2). How about spray painting the whole piece to give it a more uniformed look.
A ladder is a unique way of hanging up scarves in a bedroom (3). If you have extra space on the ladder you could always hang up magazines, blankets, or clothes. You could also screw in some hooks on the sides to add more storage.
A wine rack makes for a good mini cubby system for your scarves (4)
Wooden crates with dividers can hang on the wall, just like the tie holder in picture (5).
Or how about getting draw dividers so you can store your scarves in a draw neatly. You could DIY your own draw dividers by cutting up PVC pipes (6).
Create an accessories wall area by hanging up a mirror and a small shelf. And a railing can be used to hang up your scarves (7).
For a more natural and rustic look, how about framing some dried tree branches that can be used as hangers (8). This can hang in the bedroom of by the front door.
Another rustic idea is to use pallets just like the wall hanger in picture (9)
Your scarves can add a bohemian touch to your bedroom or by the front door. Hang up some string or cord on the wall, and drape your scarves to create a curtain of different fabrics (10).
The PVC pipes or round storage boxes can hang on the wall. Use different size pipes and boxes, and paint them to create a decorative wall storage space (11).

Storing Scarves Inside Your Closet

You could always hang up the towel or curtain rail on the inside of your closet door (A)
A coat hanger can be used with shower rings as a space saving scarf storage idea (B)
A DIY way to create a large stackable mini cubby system is to cut PVC pipes and stack them in your closet (C)
There are over the door storage organizers that have pockets for you to put your scarves into. This can hang over your closet door or over the bedroom door.
You can get your own round coat hanger here and use shower curtain rings to create a space saving scarf hanger, just like the one in picture (D)

Here are some other closet and storage posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11 A/B/C/D