Quick Fixes for Awkward Corners in Your Home

Those quirky corners were part of the charm that attracted you to the house. Now you wonder what to do with them. What ever you put there looks wrong. Nothing fits, you think. Don't give up, there are solutions for those awkward corners in every room in the house. Plants are a quick fix for almost any area. Real or artificial, a medium to tall plant fills a corner instantly. To add more interest to the corner, put flowering plants, statues, or a small easel with a favorite work of art on the floor around the plant. If you're using live plants, consider the lighting needs of the plant before you make you buy. The Peace Lily will grow with no natural light while Dracaenas need bright indirect light.

Three panel screens are another quick solution for a bleak corner. Screens are also called room dividers and come in three or more panels. Screens can be plain, patterned, fabric, painted, lacquer, delicate, or whatever compliments your décor. A mirrored screen will give the illusion of more space. Screens with opening for photos can solve two problems, the corner and where to display photos. Photo screens are perfect for a teenager's room.

Photos are great for corners. Add corner shelves and a small low table to display framed photos or fill the wall space with your favorites, as high and low as you want. Before hanging, arrange photos on the floor and move them around until you get the look you want.

There are furniture pieces made just for corners. Chairs, tables, desks, hutches, bookcases, storage benches, bathroom storage, and ladders. A corner ladder is wide at the bottom and narrows toward the top. The shelves won't hold a lot but fill them with small treasures and it's an interesting addition to a dismal corner. Most corner storage pieces don't have as much interior space as those that fit flat against a wall, so check it out before you buy.

Use seasonal items, decorations, and foliage to brighten drab corners. Tack season appropriate fabric to the wall and drape it so that it creates a background for your display. Think flowers, flags, pumpkins and gourds, a lighted reindeer, bunnies and baskets. Use both tall and short items in your display.

Fill your corners with stuff. Start with a stool, chair, or a wicker trunk. Drape a throw over it. Place a framed photo, painting, or folk art sign on the stool or floor. Maybe a vase of tulips. Your childhood doll or Pooh Bear. Whatever feels right. A lot or a little. Add or remove stuff as it suits you.

A corner in the kids room is the perfect place to use an unframed chalkboard and cork tiles. Use trim from your local home improvement store to make a border around the chalkboard and tiles. Kids will love having a place to doodle and to show off their artwork.

The odd corner near an entry door is the perfect place for a corner storage bench and decorative hooks for hanging jackets, caps, and umbrellas. Store winter gloves, mittens, and hats in the storage bench.

Now you remember why you liked all those quirky corners. They can be useful, decorative, functional, or fun but they never need to be unused.