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Let's Talk Trash Bins
No one gazes fondly on garbage cans. Keep your street cred intact and your bins under wraps with these camouflage solutions
Houzz Contributor. Fresh out of journalism school, I fell into decorating media and immediately discovered a new passion. An Atlanta native, I spent several years as an editor for Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine before making the leap to national publications and websites such as Houzz, Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Accents. I live in Birmingham, Alabama, with my husband and son, who’ve gotten used to coming home and finding the furniture rearranged. When I'm not dragging case goods across the floor, I enjoy good food and wine, college football, music of all kinds, and traveling.
Houzz Contributor. Fresh out of journalism school, I fell into decorating... More »
We all have them, and we can't escape them: plastic trash and recycling bins that create a less-than-welcome blot on our home's landscape. Even if they come in a color that actually appears in nature, there's just no getting around it — you can't make them pretty. So what's the best strategy to compensate? Create an attractive screen, fence or other concealing feature that removes these eyesores entirely from view. Here are eight novel approaches that solve the problem.
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| 1. Use a traditional door setup. A niche that's used expressly for those plastic behemoths gets extra polish from a lattice door with an honest-to-goodness knob. Choose a lattice with a tight enough weave that it doesn't defeat the purpose. |
2. Create a solid screen. It would be easy to tuck recycling bins or a compost pail behind this compact design — which looks like an architectural element of the home. It's not high enough to mask a standard wheeled trash can, but a smaller one would fit nicely.
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3. Give climbing vines a framework on which to grow. Over time, these climbers will ascend to a height that can obscure the view of any bins behind them.
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by Birdseye Design
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| 4. Install a sliding door. Are barn-style doors ever not cool? They'd be particularly good at concealing cans — just push them aside and wheel the trash out. |
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| 5. Add an industrial edge. These corrugated units put an urban-chic twist on standard metal pails. |
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6. Channel Asian style. This fence recalls a Japanese shoji screen. If there were bins behind it, you'd never guess — it simply looks like a decorative part of the hardscape.
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| 7. Use a gate as disguise. The panels that conceal the trash cans outside this home look like a classic fence-and-gate combo, thanks in part to the matching section that flanks the steps. |
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8. Mass potted plants together. This solution is quick, inexpensive and portable. If you're planting from scratch, choose foliage that grows quickly and spreads lushly to create the most impact with the least effort.
More:
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12 Great Fences and Gates
Fence It In
More:
Bamboo Screens Make Your Garden Glow
12 Great Fences and Gates
Fence It In
Comments
betappel I was hoping there would be some actual trash cans in this story. We bought ours at Sears over 20 years ago and finally need new ones. Unfortunately, we can't find anything of quality. Can anyone help? We are limited by town ordinance so can't have anything too big for our sanitation workers to lift.
14 months ago · Like
Jennifer Thank you for this article and for providing some ideas/solutions for unsightly garbage cans. The topic has not really been addressed here on Houzz and it is something we are currently struggling with. Would love to see more! Thanks again.
14 months ago · Like
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R. Martin Choate Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this! NOW my husband understands WHY I want to incorporate this idea to our home...nothing less appealing than seeing trash bins!
14 months ago · Like
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Ideabook published on March 23, 2012.
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