Tricking The Eye Home Hack
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Recently, I devised what I will call a “tricking the eye home hack.” This came about because the wall shelf that was once just below the mirror in my kitchen came loose.
It was right above my sink. I would normally have patched the drywall. But as you can see, the backsplash isn’t made of drywall. So I didn’t know quite what to do.
The anchored screws holding up the shelf became loose over time. Rather than wait for the shelf to fall, I went ahead and took it down.
I was left with bright blue round holes surrounding the outside of the anchor that I had to look at every day.
So I decided to do a little DIY so the problem wouldn’t be so obvious any longer.
I began looking at adhesive storage/organization utensil hooks for the kitchen on Amazon. I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but I knew I’d know when I found it.
After looking online for about a day or so, I found a suitable solution.
I knew the fix would not be perfect, and it wouldn’t completely cover the anchor screw holes. But surely it had to be better than staring at those blue holes while I washed dishes.
The Fix: Adhesive Wall Hook Kitchen Rail
I ordered these two adhesive wall rail hooks from Amazon. They came in a package of two and were $9.99.
The package includes adhesive hooks for attaching them to the wall. You can also buy them in black.
First, I found a small bottle of brown paint in my craft room and tried painting over the blue anchor holes. It helped a little, but not much.
I hoped to paint the holes a color to blend into the background.
Then I cleaned the backsplash and attached the adhesive hooks over the four blue holes the best I could.
Easy & Cheap Fix For Renters:
If you rent your home, this is also an easy and cheap way to hang items and avoid drilling holes in the wall.
Look at the photos below. You can see the blue anchor holes if you look closely. I’m hoping people coming into my kitchen don’t look too closely!
Once you distract the eye from the four blue holes with something more interesting, they seem to fade away a bit. They just aren’t as prominent. At least that’s what I tell myself!
Yes, you can still see them. But you also see the kitchen items I hung on these adhesive wall hooks. Just don’t look too hard at the wall behind them.
So not only was I partially able to cover the ugly holes, I gained a place to organize utensils in my kitchen.
I also added greenery to make it look more decorative.
Tricking The Eye:
This was the best plan I could devise, and I’m happy enough with how it turned out. I just couldn’t line up the adhesive to cover the four blue holes entirely.
But for $10, I was able to accomplish this by “tricking the eye.” I distracted the eye from the holes in the wall by diverting it to look somewhere else first.
You could use these wall hooks in any room where the wall surface is flat, such as a bathroom, inside cabinet doors, or the shower.
You have to devise a fix, or a home hack, that will somewhat hide what you don’t want to see. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough. And it gives me more storage space.
For the total of $10, I think the home hack did the trick.
When I can’t fix a problem, I usually try to devise a way to cover it up.
Cover Up What You Can’t Fix Or Hide:
For instance, a big pink stain on my countertop is underneath my toaster convection oven.
When I first moved into my apartment, I tried to scrub the stain off the counter, but it wasn’t budging.
So I put my toaster convection oven on top of it to hide it.
If you’re not a perfectionist, this is usually your best bet in finding a way to live with something you don’t like.
That was quite clever, Brenda. Smart thinking. It looks good, it’s functional, and it’s solving a problem. When I bought my house, there was some damage (scratches) to the wood floors in the living room. I decided that was a perfect spot for an area rug.
I love then little lamp on the counter. Where did you find it.
Hi Brenda
I love your utensil solution! One thing I thought of is to purchase some wood grained wall covering and match to cover the blue holes. Might be worth a try.
Brenda, this is a very cleaver solution! It is great for you and for renters in the future.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Your solution looks good but have you tried pulling out the wall anchors? You could use a small pliers of some kind and pull it out. Pull it out straight rather than wiggle it too much otherwise you might make a mess. Then I would fill it with ‘wood filler’ or wood stain filler of some kind and gently sand it down. That’s only a suggestion if you are up to it and if you’re looking for an alternative. Otherwise your solution is cost effective and I think does it’s job.
I did try once to pull them out. But the lip of the rubber on the anchor was hard to get a grip on.
I understand. Sometimes it’s easy to pull them out and sometimes not.
I thought it was a very nice storage solution…never noticed the blue holes until you told us!! We have rented since Dec 1999, somewhere…most places we have left some kind of improvement and always got our damage deposits back. I think most renters never leave improvements of any kind…so even if there are imperfections somewhere, maybe then they are not noticed. I had my grandson install on the inside door of the pantry a 6 level storage rack…I keep that full of course and since I had him screw it in place, we plan to leave it when we move.
I left a lot at my old apartment.
What a fantastic solution! I didn’t even notice the blue anchor holes until you mentioned it.
It looks good. Maybe you will find some small utensil that you can hook over the top rail to block the blue. Also, try more paint.
The paint keeps coming off the blue when I try to put the adhesive part on. I keep trying to figure out something to put higher. I haven’t figured anything out yet.
What about the blue spot/holes when/if you move? Will you lose your deposit?
I’ll just leave the rail hooks on the wall and hope for the best.
Looks so good…I really had to look at your closeups to see the blue holes…love the greenery and tin pots…adorable…💕
The tins holding the greenery are so cute, as is the lamp!
I looked with interest at all the things hanging from your hooks and never noticed the little blue things until I read on and realized what you were doing. So good job! If you don’t tell, most likely no one will notice. I’ve done plenty of “distractions” over the years out of necessity.
Great job Brenda. Looks like it was always suppose to look like it does now.
Good solution for the problem. Like that you made it functional, but also added some greenery too. Your lamp is so cute. Do you remember where you got it? Would love to have one like it.
I got it from Amazon after we had the power out here and I wanted something that ran off battery power. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8GVVR1B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This looks so nice. I love the lamp, greens and the “soap drainer” under the soap pumps. I need that. Have a good day all!