5 Ways to Hide Your Home’s Exterior Untouchables
You hate the look of them, but you can’t go without them: your home’s exterior is full of necessary utility eyesores like trash cans, meters, units, downspouts, wires, and more. These indispensable tools help us keep our homes running smoothly and comfortably, but that doesn’t make their negative impact on curb appeal much more palatable.
As homeowners jump on Pinterest trends and HGTV tips to turn their ordinary homes into neighborhood gems, they might accidentally end up doing more harm than good. We can’t remove these eyesores, but we can find creative ways to hide or camouflage them so the ugliness doesn’t assault passersby.
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Hiding Outdoor Utility Boxes
One of the hardest eyesores to cover up on your home’s exterior are outdoor utility boxes. Utility companies require a certain amount of clearance around utility boxes so that they can access them during routine checks or maintenance. While this poses a challenge, it doesn’t make it impossible to lessen the utility box’s effect on your curb appeal.
Think about the rest of your home’s exterior like your siding and landscaping. If you already have a natural look to your home with abundant plants, adding some more bushes around the utility box area would be an organic way to blend the unsightly area into the rest of your exterior. If a random set of bushes would look odd, then painting the utility box the same color as your home or a muted natural color might be a better option.
Creative Ways to Hide the Gas Meter
Similar to utility boxes, you won’t be able to cover up the gas meter in a way that impairs utility company access. You can, however, get creative with ways to blend it into your home’s exterior or tuck it away.
If you have leftover scrap wood, stone, shutters, or other types of construction materials, you might decide to get creative and make a decorative element that hides the gas meter. You could decorate the area with a combination of plants, a screen to hide the meter, and some other decorations like garden gnomes, lanterns, pots, and water elements. Suddenly, your gas meter has become a serene area for entertainment or relaxation.
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Camouflaging Your Garbage Cans
Garbage cans are difficult to hide because of their size and your need to access and move them around regularly. The best solution is to create an outcove for your cans that matches the style of your home. Some homeowners build out from the side of their home using the same siding or stone materials as their home’s exterior. Others choose to use screens or walls painted in a muted or similar color to their home. Finally, homeowners who have preexisting landscaping might choose to add a few more trees, bushes, or other landscaping elements to mask the trash cans.
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Make Your Garden Hoses and Tools Prettier
For the handymen and landscaping pros out there, keeping your garden hoses and tools readily available is a must. At the same time, a mess of tangled hoses and garden tool chaos can take away from your home’s curb appeal. A quick upgrade to your home’s exterior could be as easy as a few smart organizational solutions.
Add some stylish shelving or tool chests to your space for all your tools. You might even decide to buy outdoor seating that acts as storage solutions, such as benches that are also storage chests.
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Don’t Remove Your Downspouts – Do This Instead
Many homeowners hate their downspouts, so they remove them. While downspouts can be unsightly, they are essential to keeping your home safe from water damage. Instead of removing your downspout, try out a pleasing alternative. Consider adding a French drain, buying a better-looking pipe, or choosing rain chains.
Level Up Your Home’s Exterior the Safe Way
“Quick fixes” for ugly home necessities like meters, downspouts, and trash cans might immediately satisfy a homeowner but could cause huge problems later. Remember to always consider safety and easy access to your utilities and tools before you remove or hide anything.
Advance Inc. is committed to helping homeowners upgrade their home’s exterior using professional and safe techniques and materials. If you’re looking to lessen the negative impact of eyesores on your curb appeal, consider new siding, windows, roofing, or doors that can upstage them and draw the eye away.
Contact Advance Inc. to schedule an in-home consultation for your next project.