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
Lisa Frederick
March 23, 2012
Houzz Contributor. After 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. After journalism school, I fell into decorating media and immediately... 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.
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.
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.
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.
5. Add an industrial edge. These corrugated units put an urban-chic twist on standard metal pails.
Urban Earth Design
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.
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.
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.
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Curb appeal is very important to all of us. That is the reason we at RubbishWrap found solution for outdoor bin problems. Rubbish Wrap is a Connecticut company that manufactures an innovative line of plastic enclosures that hides all sizes of household waste and recycling containers. The unique, patented and first to market RubbishWrap™ design allows the homeowner to assemble the enclosure in under three minutes with no tools or hardware. We also manufacture an add-on unit that snaps on to a single unit for homeowners who desire to also hide the recycle container or multiple containers. In addition to improving curb appeal, RubbishWrap™ will serve to get the containers out the garage where odors and pests can be a problem.
I like the idea to conceal your trash cans with a screen or fence. I feel like big, plastic bins really take away from the natural beauty of your yard. However they are necessary for trash collection, so finding a way to make them attractive is a great idea. When I get a house of my own, I'd love to do this. https://www.xswastetransport.com/roll-off
Well, hiding waste baskets is a nice idea, but if the baskets are beautiful there is no need to hide them. :) I found some nice models here: https://www.urban360gradi.it