Hidden in PLAIN SIGHT

Don't let design challenges like radiators or power cords get in the way of your aesthetic. Try these creative hacks and DIYs to blend style and function seamlessly.

- MONIQUE VALERIS

Cover a radiator with a stylish shelf.

It's never easy making a radiator in a historic home look good. But Lauren Macke of Home Theology, a design blog, and interior design firm, pulled it off in her 105-year old Bluffton, OH, home with a DIY cane radiator cover. "The natural cane allows heat to easily escape and warm the room, while the faux doors and brass hardware give the look of a pretty piece of furniture," she says of the entryway space.

Disguise a support column with a duplicate.

Rather than view a support column as a challenge, designer Kim Armstrong chose to add another one even though it wasn't a necessity. "I kept the color white instead of painting it the color of the island because I wanted it to feel visually as light as possible," Armstrong says. "I worked the column into the end panel design so that we have balance and proportion, and it camouflaged what could have been an awkward structure."