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10 Clever Ways to Hide Outdoor Eyesores

By: Catherine Strawn

Utility boxes, lawn equipment and trash bins are necessities, but they don't deserve to share the spotlight with your gorgeous garden. Here's how to make these and other blights fade into the background.

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Hide Trash Cans With a Wooden Lattice Planter

Photo: Rowlinson Garden Products

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Prettify Trash Cans

When storing garbage and recycling bins inside the garage isn’t an option, make lemonade out of lemons and transform their hiding place into a flower bed. This wooden lattice enclosure from Rowlinson Garden Products features a lined plant trough on top.

Photo: Gardener's Supply Company

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Pick Camouflage That Rocks

Sometimes function gets in the way of form. When a well head, vent pipe or meter simply must sit in the middle of your yard or garden bed, a faux rock that fits on top offers a natural disguise. Choose from a variety of stone sizes at Gardener's Supply Company.

Charming Tool Cupboard Hides Garden Supplies

Photo: Gardener's Supply Company

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Tuck Tools Away

Keep trowels, weeders and other frequently used garden supplies in a handily-located home that meshes with your house's charming style. The door of Gardener's Supply Company's tool cupboard even opens flat to create an impromptu potting station.

Spacious Patio With Pergola and Fireplace

Photo: King Landscaping

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Build a Functional Barrier

Neighbor's jam-packed garage a little too close for comfort? A taller fireplace like this one designed by Atlanta's King Landscaping can hide an unwanted view and up your patio's coziness.

Photo: Land Art Design

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Don't Forget to Go Low

Turn the area below an elevated deck into storage space for outdoor equipment and garden supplies like McLean, Virginia's Land Art Design did for a client. The wide doorway gives easy access when it's time to fetch a rake or trowel, and a padlock keeps everything secure.

Photo: Land Art Design

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Build a Shed Under the Stairs

Another clever place to hide equipment is below your deck's staircase, the way Land Art Design did here. This hideaway functions as a tool shed that can handle taller equipment, and it doesn't take up any of your precious yard space.

Photo: Lowe's

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Stack Wood Under a Seat

Instead of piling logs along the side of your house for all to see, slide them under a bench with built-in storage, like this DIY design from Lowe's. Positioned near your fire pit or outdoor oven, the seat gives easy access to fuel when it's time to stoke the fire.

Small Patio With Decorative Privacy Panel

Photo: Lowe's

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Artfully Add Seclusion

A decorative window provides privacy without offending your neighbors or blocking out natural light the way a full-blown wall would. This stylish DIY idea from Lowe's costs less than $100, and you can customize the glass with any stencil design you like.

Photo: Signature Hardware

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Contain Your Garden Hose

If your hose is forever strewn in a messy jumble across your garden bed, try a pot near the spigot. This one from Signature Hardware is specially designed for the purpose, with a back hole to feed the hose through. After you're done watering for the day, simply corral the tube inside — out of sight, out of mind.

Photo: Real Life Products

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Go Undercover With Greenery

The thing about air conditioners: You can't cover them with real climbers, which could damage the equipment. But a faux bush made of recycled plastic? That's a plant it can handle! The TRiCC protective cover even tilts forward for easy access to the unit.

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