Ten Ways to Hide Cluttered Areas: Hide the Clutter or Disguise It

Ten Ways to Hide Cluttered Areas - You have cleaned the whole house in record time but as you look around you are appalled that it looks little better than it did before you started. Why you may ask? One word sums it up, clutter! It is everywhere you look from the top of the refrigerator to the dining table. There is precious little you can do to hide this type of clutter so my best advice is to bite the bullet and organize the piles of mail, books and whatever else landed there. For other areas that are cluttered here are ten tips for hiding it away.

1) If you have cubbies or small cabinets that have no doors such as you might find under the bathroom sink in an older home I suggest a relatively easy fix. Measure the opening across the front; go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart to find bungee cords of the correct length. They should actually be a bit smaller so that they will stretch tight. Next, find a small curtain that will fit with your décor and hang using the bungee. This is accomplished by threading the bungee cord through the hem that your curtain rod would normally slide threw. If you are lucky enough to have a curtain that is hemmed on the bottom as well, you can run another bungee through the bottom and have a nice snug fit. The bungee' have hooks on each end that makes them easy to affix, get a couple of hook hangers and screw them in to your cabinet now hook the bungee ends in. It is a snap and easily removed for washing of your curtains.

2) If you have, a larger cluttered area you would like to disguise a beautiful way to do this is with Japanese room dividers. They are beautiful as well as portable and are perfect way to hide those areas you would rather no one see.

3) Of course, there is the age-old standby to hide clutter especially under the bed, what is better than a dust ruffle? They come with many bedding set and are color coordinated.

4) While we are on beds so to speak, another all time favorite clutter hider is the plastic storage bin. Yes, they now make them small enough to fit under your bed! When all other efforts to rid the mess have failed put it in a tub and slide it under the bed, behind the dust ruffle of course.

5) I have been known in a pinch throw everything into boxes then stack them neatly and through a decorative sheet over them. Looks like a piece of furniture and if you have the time brace it next to a wall and add a lamp in top to complete the illusion.

6) Another nifty invention that I have used are the coffee tables with built in storage. They are stylish and give you much needed space to hide all those magazines and mail you are going to read later. Hint: Clean these out once a week whether they need it or not, this will keep you from having more coffee tables than coffee cups in your home!

7) In our home mail seems to be one of the largest clutter creators. To combat this I placed a decorative wire basket on the bar for the mail to go in. At the end of a week, it is all there in front of me where I have to go through it before it falls in the floor. My tricky self-motivator for getting rid of junk.

8) Is your teenagers room a scene from tales from the dark side? Run down to the local Dollar General and pick you up some stackable crates or bins. They come in a variety of colors and styles furthermore they are a great way to get the kids involved in spring clutter busting.

9) Another good way to hide your clutter is to organize it into boxes and store it in the attic or the garage. I advise that you spend the extra time labeling each box as well as grouping like items together. In other words, the Christmas tree will be stored near the lights ECT.

10) Finally, this tip really will not help you hide your clutter but maybe it is the better idea. Anything you have had stored or hidden away for six months or more, except seasonal, get it out put a price on it and have a Yard Sale!!! You will free up much needed space in your home and you might make a few bucks in the process. Now here is the hard part, when the yard sale is over take all, yes ALL the stuff that is left and donate it to a worthy organization! This will permanently "hide" your clutter as well as giving someone less fortunate a chance to utilize what has been molding in your garage.