55 mistakes that are making your home look tacky — & what to do instead

Don’t let a snarl of wires, chargers, and power bricks mar the appearance of your desktop. Pack it all into this cable management box and hide it from sight. It’s big enough to hold a full-sized power strip, so you can have power right on the desk without the mess. You can use the top to set things on, too. This is a two-pack in two sizes. It comes in four colors.

Just because the window panes in your home have seen better days, doesn’t mean you have to hang curtains. You can have your privacy and keep the light and view by using this window privacy film to turn that window into stained glass. No blinds to clean. No curtains to wash. No fussy, light-blocking materials between you and the outdoors. Choose from 10 patterns and seven sizes.

Is there a weird smell in the kitchen? It is probably coming from the garbage disposal. If you don’t clean it, things get nasty in there. Fortunately, cleaning that dark, choppy cavern is easy with these disposal cleaner deodorizer tablets. Just drop one in and run the disposal. Watch as it foams up and cleans every corner and crevice. This is a pack of 24.

Sometimes you inherit hardwood floors that are worn down or stained. Don’t ruin the look with ugly wall-to-wall carpeting. These nonslip stair treads prevent falls and look beautiful doing it. The patterns look like custom carpet and their rubber backing makes them safe. And they come in six colors and four size options, so you can match them to your decor and stairs.

Letting dust accumulate on the ceiling fans looks bad and sends dust scattering around the room when you turn those fans on. This ceiling fan duster makes it easy to keep those blades dust-free. The long handle telescopes to over 60 inches, and the double-sided duster slides over the blades, grabbing dust from all sides at once. It comes with four washable mop heads, making it a useful tool in other scenarios, too.

Screw holes in furniture and cabinets betray the fact that those pieces are not of the highest quality. These screw hole covers hide that ugly truth. Just peel and stick them right over the screws and they will disappear from view. “I easily covered the screws in an assembled bookshelf,” said one reviewer. Each kit comes with lots of colors, so you can use them for multiple pieces.

Messy crud around the faucet, toilet seat, and other difficult-to-clean places might feel impossible to clean. Arm yourself with the right tool, though, and getting those small, awkward spaces clean is easy. This crevice cleaning brush has narrow, stiff bristles that get into window tracks, under the moving parts of a toilet, and into the nooks and crannies of a sink or faucet. The big ergonomic handle comes in lots of colors. This is a pack of two.

Raw, unfinished tile edges look bad and let water through, but you don’t need a pro to fix that. Finishing the edges in a tub, around tile, at the base of a toilet, or along baseboards is so easy with this self-adhesive caulk trim. Just peel and stick it where you want a clean, waterproof seal. “Worked well to cover a gap between my kitchen counter and wall. It sticks well and gives a clean, professional look,” said one reviewer. It comes in six colors and six sizes.

Spending your days cleaning fingerprints off the fridge handles is no fun. But you don’t have to do it or live with that mess! Wrap them in these refrigerator door handle covers. The plush material absorbs fingerprints and prevents messes from accumulating on the handles. Just toss them in the laundry occasionally, and your days of relentless wiping are done. They come in seven sizes.

If the dog sneaks onto the couch when you aren’t home, it does not have to be a bone of contention between you. This couch cover is soft and plush and looks great on the couch. You will both love it. And you can toss it into the laundry when dirty paw prints give away the game. A grippy underside keeps it in place, and it comes in eight colors and three sizes.

Hard water stains can seem impossible to remove, and they make everything from the tile in your shower to the floors to the sinks look ancient and dingy. This hard water stain remover is the trick for getting rid of that mess. “I used this on a glass shower door that had hard water spots for years,” said one reviewer. “Amazing! It worked when vinegar, lime away, Barkeeper's Friend, Scrubbing Bubbles, and others I tried did not.” It comes in three sizes.

If you like to shop for deals or accept hand-me-down furniture, you don’t have to live with the boring, ugly, and dated handles on that furniture. Changing them can take a piece from bland to glam, and it’s so easy to do. Unscrew the ugly handles and screw in these crystal knobs instead. Choose from four colors.

Getting rid of an ugly or damaged floor does not have to cost a fortune. Tearing it up is a big project, but you can use that old floor as a substrate and install these peel-and-stick floor tiles right over it. It’s fast, easy, and affordable. “It looks fantastic, it's really easy to install, it's groutable, and boy do those tiles stick,” said one reviewer.

Leaving your entire toilet paper stash out can be a tacky look. But it’s easy to keep a hefty quantity handy with this toilet paper storage basket. It holds 12 rolls and creates a useful surface to set a phone or other items on. A window lets you glance to see if it needs a refill. It comes in four colors and three sizes.

Wires snaking from the wall to your furniture or appliances isn’t a good look. It can be dangerous to pets and children, too. This outlet cover system turns that mess into a tidy, nearly invisible power supply. Plug the flat plate into the outlet. Run the cord along the baseboard until it is behind a piece of furniture. Then secure the wire with the included cord concealers. Choose from five cord lengths and two outlet types.

When the sliding door — or windows, garage doors, or hinges — squeaks and stops gliding smoothly along its tracks, this silicone-based, sliding door lubricant will make it open and close beautifully and silently, without repairs. “Our automatic garage door [made] a squeaky, raucous, trembling racket,” said one reviewer. “It’s like a new door again!”

Clean up the jumble of boxes and bags in your pantry by decanting the contents into jars and labeling them with this pack of 144, beautiful vinyl stickers that are preprinted in an elegant and easy-to-read font. “Exactly what I was looking for to get my pantry really organized,” said one reviewer. “The labels are easy to read, look clean and crisp, and adhere well to the plastic containers.” Choose from four colors.

You don’t need to upgrade your garage door to improve the curb appeal of your home. Stick this set of magnetic garage door decorative hardware to the metal exterior and create the illusion that you bought the fancy doors. Add handles, hinges, and even windows (that no one can look into) in seconds. “Legit, looks like the real deal,” said one reviewer. “The magnets are really strong and don't move on their own.” Choose from three options.

Cleaning the garbage disposal is a thankless, difficult, and frightening chore. It’s necessary, though. If you loathe sticking your hand in there, this garbage disposal brush will step in and do it for you. The shape is designed to get in and around the blades and scrub everything clean without risking your digits. “Keeps your rubber flanges of your garbage disposal clean,” said one reviewer. “Prevent smells and other buildup. [...] “Your plumber will thank you.”

Overhead lights often do not throw light on the counter where you execute the work. These under-cabinet lights are the fix you need. They are battery-operated, so there is no need for an electrician. They are easy to mount under the cabinets. You can operate them with a remote or by tapping the light, and they turn off automatically. This is a pack of four.

Cleaning windows is only a dreaded chore if you are using the wrong tools. This water-only window cleaning kit makes it easy. Use one cloth to dampen and wipe away dirt from the windows. The second one removes streaks. “The most amazing glass cleaner ever! Spotless glass with little effort. No streaks, no lint,” said one reviewer. Use it on mirrors, windows, and any glass in your home.

When a door handle is positioned so that it hits a wall when you slam the door open, someone will eventually put a hole in that wall. This door handle stopper prevents that. It also silences the slam of that door. The 2-inch stopper is clear and bouncy, so you can see the wall color under it. Just peel and stick it to the wall. Choose from several sizes and quantities. It also comes in white.

The ugly doorbell chime in your home isn’t going anywhere, which is why it is so old and tired-looking. This chime box cover will make it look fresh and decorative, though. The white wood with leafy cutouts looks pretty on the wall and doesn’t obscure the sound of the bell. Paint it or use it as it is. It comes in two sizes.

When you mounted the TV to the wall, you probably didn’t anticipate that you would have to look at wires dangling from below it. It was meant to be a neat and tidy solution! This TV cord hider gives you the look you were hoping for. It comes with a drill bit so you can cut a hole in the wall, insert the hider into that hole, and snake the wires behind the wall. “Phenomenal kit, great quality, and exactly what is needed to produce the ultimate clean, cable-free install,” said one reviewer. Choose white or black.

Letting water, soap scum, and dirt build up on your shower door makes the bathroom look dirty, even when it’s not. Keep this bathroom squeegee in the shower to make giving that door a wipe fast and easy. It will be right there when you want to clean a mirror or tile, too. It is elegant and ergonomic and comes with a matching hook to hang it on the wall. It comes in four colors.

Some toilet stains are so stubborn that you might conclude the only way to get rid of them is to replace the toilet. That’s not true! This pumice stone can remove rust, mineral deposits, hard water stains, and other discolorations that nothing else can handle. The long handle makes it easy to scrub them away, and it won’t damage the porcelain. “AMAZING!” said one reviewer. “My toilets look new! No more streaks, hard water lines, etc.”

Your plants will not thrive when their leaves are covered in dust, dirt, pollution, and water spots. Those leaves need air and light to perform photosynthesis, which is an essential part of that plant’s life process. These plant cleaning wipes are an easy hack for achieving shiny, healthy greenery. Keep them near your plants so it is easy to grab one and wipe those leaves. They work better than paper towels and are much easier.

If you don’t use an air vent, it’s a bit of an eyesore. It also can cause you to heat or cool rooms of your home that you don’t regularly use. It’s easy to fix, though. Cover that vent with one of these magnetic vent covers, and the air will find another vent to escape through. This is a pack of three. Choose from two colors and 16 sizes.

When your sheets are a jumbled mess, stuffed into a closet or drawer, making the bed is harder than it needs to be. File them away in these tidy, labeled bed sheet organizers that make it so easy to fold the sheets. Making the bed will be a pleasure. There is a window so you can see the color and a label so you know the size. This is a pack of four, and they come in eight colors.

The risers on your staircase are an often-overlooked design opportunity. Transform that space into art with these peel-and-stick stair riser stickers. They are easy to apply and can cover a lot of bad design choices and defects. “An easy, cheap DIY solution to my ugly stair problems,” said one reviewer. Choose from six patterns and three sizes.

An overstuffed closet is an everyday hassle that creates a fashion crisis where there isn’t one and looks unsightly in the process. Create more space by hanging pants and skirts on these wooden skirt hangers that hold five garments on one hanger. Hook both ends to the closet bar to load the hanger with clothes. Then drop on hook off and let them all hang vertically. This is a two-pack, and they come in four colors.

Stainless steel appliances look great when they are sparkling clean, but keeping them that way can be an ongoing chore. Use this stainless steel cleaner kit, though, and that chore gets much easier. The spray is designed for stainless steel, and it gets is clean quickly without a lot of rubbing or buffing. It also leaves a protective coating on the metal to prevent fingerprints, dirt, and smudges. It comes with a microfiber cleaning cloth. Choose from three sizes.

Don’t give up and let pet fur blanket your furniture just because nothing has worked so far. The Chom Chom roller is the one tool that gets the fur off quickly and easily. Roll it back and forth on the couch, carpet, or your pants, and it grabs all the fur. It stashes the fur in the handle and keeps going. No adhesives. No refills. It comes in four colors.

You can set a coffee cup or wine glass on the arm of your favorite armchair without worrying that it will spill or leave a stain. Just put this couch cup holder down first. There is a tray for snacks or your phone and a place to hold your beverage, and it adapts to the surface you set it on, wrapping around an arm or flattening out on the couch cushions. A grippy underside keeps it in place. It comes in three colors.

If you dread cleaning the grout in your kitchen or bathroom tile, maybe that’s because you are trying to do it with an old toothbrush. This grout cleaning brush is a much better idea. The stiff, V-shaped bristles are designed to fit between tiles and hit a lot of grout at once, without asking you to get on your hands and knees. Attach it to a broom handle or pick up the 12-foot telescoping pole to go with it.

When your grout is crumbling, chipped, and falling apart, this tile grout repair kit is the easy — and cheap — way to fix that. It is premixed. All you have to do is squeeze the tube and set a line of it between the tiles. Then flatten it out and wipe away the excess. The kit comes with the tools you need. “Beautiful!” said more than one reviewer. Choose a formula for indoors or outdoors.

If you are hankering for a backsplash but don’t want to fork over a fortune or live through a remodel, these peel-and-stick tiles are the answer. They are easy to install. The adhesive is already on them. And they are easy to cut. Once installed, they are easy to clean, water and heat-resistant, and beautiful. Choose from 12 colors.

If delivery people and emergency services can’t find your house, your packages will go astray, and you risk unnecessary delays if you need help. These solar house numbers are big and easy to read. And, with a solar panel built into the top, they light up at night. Mount them to a wall or stick them into the ground with the included stake.

It is so easy to create slick, modern ambient lighting in your home with this warm-white strip light that peels and sticks under cabinets, on banisters and mantles, behind furniture, and anywhere else you dream up. Plug it into an outlet and use the remote to change the brightness and turn lights on and off. It comes in two lengths and five light colors.

Set this doormat outside your entryway to create a welcoming vibe while keeping dirt from crossing the threshold. The grippy rubber underside prevents it from slipping around, while the abrasive surface grabs dirt from shoes and traps it in its grooves. It looks stylish, too. It comes in four sizes and seven colors.

Hanging pictures is so much easier with this drywall picture hanger that pushes into the drywall and holds tight, with no need for a drywall anchor or stud. “Super easy to use,” said one reviewer. “Just put them against the wall and push.” This is a pack of 20.

Cleaning the tub, shower, and every other space in your home and car that gets dirty and requires elbow grease to clean just got so much easier. This electric spin scrubber does all the work while you drive it around through all sorts of messes. The handle goes from 14 inches to over 53 inches long. It comes with eight brushes, scrubbers, and sponges to attach to the head. And it’s rechargeable.

If your floor has an awkward transition from one type of floor to another, there is more you can do about that than avert your eyes and pretend it's not happening. These floor cover strips cover the gap and tie it all together, making the floors look tidy and complete. Just peel and stick it to the floor. Choose from six colors and nine sizes.

Is there a rug you trip over every time you walk through the house? That curling edge is dangerous and a bit tacky. These rug corner grippers will flatten it, hold the rug in place, and — probably — save your life. Peel and stick them to all four corners of the rug and let them do their thing.

That gap under the door might not seem like a big deal. But it is allowing entry to things you don’t want in your house, including noise, cold air, warm air, bugs, dirt, and even small creatures. This door draft stopper is an easy way to close that entryway and make your home more comfortable, cleaner, and bug-free. Just slide it under the door, and the foam-filled tubes block entry from under the door.

You don’t have to drop a lot of money on a new mirror to update that builder-grade one you have. You don’t have to live with damaged cabinets or furniture simply because you don’t have time or funds to replace them. This wood grain wallpaper border covers so many problems by taping over them. Create a frame on the mirror. Cover the damage. Get creative! It comes in 11 colors and five sizes.

Don’t wait till someone takes a spill to address the problem of those dark stairs. These LED stair lights are an easy, fast, and affordable fix. Load them with batteries and stick them to the stair risers. They light up whenever they sense someone on the stairs. This is a pack of three.

Don’t leave the screws exposed when you install shelves or hooks or assemble furniture. Cover them with these hinged screw cover caps and create a finished look. If you need to access the screw, pop open the cover. “These caps are attractive, drop dead easy to install, and the screw head is still accessible after installation,” said one reviewer. “They look neat and professional.” Choose from three colors and three sizes.

Turn that mess of plastic bags that are accumulating in drawers and corners into a handy bag dispenser by mounting this plastic bag holder to the wall. When you empty a grocery bag, shove it into the top. When you need an empty grocery bag, grab one from the bottom. Choose from six colors.

When disaster — in the form of muddy paws, spilled wine, or melted crayons — hits your carpets, you don’t have to live with it or replace the carpet. Reach for this carpet stain remover and blast it away. All you have to do is aim the spray can at that mess and shoot. It takes it from there. “I have never used anything that works so well,” said one reviewer. “Took out dried blood in an instant.”

Storing sharp knives in a drawer can be dangerous. Keeping them in a block on the counter creates clutter. Mounting them to the wall with this stainless steel magnetic knife holder, though, is genius. It keeps them handy and safe. You can wash a knife and put it away to drip dry. And it turns your knife collection into a display. Choose from eight sizes and mounting styles.

Cleaning the microwave is so much easier if you use this microwave steam cleaner to blast the baked-on mess with steam before you wipe it away. Fill the container with water and vinegar, microwave it for a few minutes, and wipe away the mess. “It has taken off years of grime,” said one reviewer. “The result is outstanding.” This is a pack of two.

A cluttered vanity is an eyesore, and it makes every day harder. Bring order to your vanity, and it will look better and be much easier to find what you need. This makeup organizer is perfect for the task, with a divided surface on top for often-used items and three drawers for everything else. It is elegant and holds plenty of gear. Choose from two styles.

Help your home stay clean while bringing some botanical style to the space with these affordable, floral washable runners. They will grab the dirt before it travels further into your home, soften the sound of your space, and bring a rich accent color to your decor. When it gets dirty, toss it in the wash. Choose from seven colors.

Before you tackle your next DIY project, add this contour gauge to your repair kit, and the results will be so much more professional. Press it against a corner, baseboard, or edge. It will give you a stencil that matches your unique space perfectly, so you can cut tile, flooring, or trim to fit precisely. “Locks and stays in place for accurate results every time,” said one reviewer.