Living rooms have always been a puzzle. Architects and builders often took liberties when designing the living space in your home. Sometimes they would add unnecessary doors that nobody would ever use. And there it would stand for ages looking unsightly and unused while denying you the opportunity to reclaim that space or use it in an aesthetic way.
But that’s about to change as we teach you how to cover a door in a living room. Instead of keeping an ugly door that sticks out like a sore thumb, we offer you this list of ideas and tips to cover a living room door with fabric, decor items, furniture, and other creative ways. We’ll also answer the puzzling question: can you cover a living room door with art?
In This Article We'll Discuss
How Can You Hide an Unwanted Door in a Living Room
If you’re like me and you prefer that every corner in the living room add to the aesthetic value of the whole room, then that unwanted door must be giving you nightmares. You probably have even considered taking drastic and costly measures, such as removing the door or building it shut.
Luckily, the field of interior design comes to the rescue and provides more aesthetically pleasing and cost-effective ways to hide an unwanted door in your living room. Take your pick off one of the following creative ways to cover that space and turn an ugly spot into a focal point in the living room.
Mirrors
A mirror is a go-to solution to cover any flaw in your living room. A stain on the wall that no amount of paint can hide? You cover it with a mirror and forget about it. Or you might have an ugly corner that is too dark and narrow to allow a nice piece of furniture to fit in and add some beauty to it. Here, too, a mirror is the ideal solution.
Mirrors not just hide ugly spots, they also increase the luminescence of the room as they reflect light and enrich the colors in the decor. And for that to work, you’ll need to make sure that the mirror reflects a source of light (a lamp on the opposite side of the room is a good option), a rug, or a nice piece of art.
Mirrors also add space and make the living room look bigger. However, if the mirror reflects a blank wall or worse, the other door of the living room, then a mirror is not the best option. You might, however, find a better idea below.
Curtains
If mirrors pull up double duty, hiding ugly spots while reflecting beauty, curtains and drapes have one job. They hide that unused door in your living room while looking pretty at the same time. Drapes offer you many more options in terms of color, design, and texture than the flat mirror.
And like a mirror, drapes, and curtains are easy to install. You won’t have to do extensive renovation work or change the layout of the living room to achieve your goal of hiding that ugly door. Moreover, the new curtains will become an added asset to the room. If you choose the right curtain that goes well with the prevailing style and theme of the room, you will have hit the two proverbial birds with one stone.
Wine Store
That’s when things get a little more complicated. You’re no longer just hiding an unused door, but transforming the whole space that door takes and turning it into something more useful and functional. We’re talking about adding a wine store to replace that good-for-nothing door.
When your kitchen cabinet can no longer hold your wine collection, why not create a space dedicated to displaying that fine collection to your guests right in the living room? Again, this elaborate project will require its own budget and you’ll definitely need the help of a landscaper to pull this one off. But it’s an attractive idea to get rid of that unused door in the living room once and for all.
Family Pictures
When you run out of ideas to hide that door and you don’t have the time, inclination, or budget to perform some large-scale redecorating work, then family pictures are a good option. The idea is to direct the attention of the onlooker from the empty space of the door to the pictures of the family members.
The one drawback to this idea is that your guests and friends will tend to look in the direction of the door more often. The door will stay there and will become even more visible now that you have a reason to look at it. But if you do it right, you can get the door to blend into the background.
Art
For artistic people and art lovers, art seems to hold the answer to every home decor problem. A painting will transform a blank wall and a piece of art will add new life to a shabby corner. So when it comes to hiding an unwanted door, art can be the right solution.
A mural is the most obvious option here. It can make the offensive door become invisible and your guests would have to screw their eyes to find the door behind the beautiful mural. But if murals are too expensive for your budget, then a large painting will do the job nicely without costing you an arm and a leg.
Library
This is another elaborate endeavor that takes up more time and resources than the other options listed here. But book lovers would jump at the idea of having a bookcase right there in their living rooms. How else would you brag about your rare collection of first editions to your visitors?
With this home library, you get to find new space for your growing collection of books while also improving the look and feel of the living room. It’s a win-win situation.
Media Door
Since we’re talking about some unused and wasted space in the precious real estate that is your living room, you can reclaim that space and turn it into the perfect spot for your home theater. Place your screen or home theater right on the door.
This will have the advantage of hiding the door while also making use of that space.
Paint
When all else fails and you still have an unused door to hide, then by allowing your creative juices to flow and with the help of the medium of paint, you can come up with the perfect solution for the adamant problem.
Of course, this will only work if you know your way around a paintbrush and know how to mix paints and splash them on the wall without making a total mess of things. But even if you’re not a painter at heart, simply painting the door the same color as the surrounding wall will do the job for you.
Final Thoughts
An unused or unwanted door in your living room is a persistent problem that needs a permanent solution. Depending on your budget, temperament, taste, and the time on your hands, you can choose from the list of solutions and tips above. They range from the easy and cost-effective such as drapes, family photos, and mirrors to the more elaborate and transformative, such as making a wine store or painting a mural over the door.