For those renters who do not have the option of making permanent changes to the walls, woodwork, floors or architecture of their home or apartment, there are several quick fixes which can be used to dress up or hide the 'uglies' or to create more storage. All of these are affordable and within the abilities of everyone.

One of the most useful is screening. You can buy or have decorative room screens made, but they are very expensive and have some drawbacks. You can also go to your local home store and in the section devoted to closet doors pick up pre-hinged, bi-fold doors in various widths. These come in plain flush doors as well as louvered, paneled and even mirrored. They come finished and unfinished. You can paint them, cover them in fabric, or simply place them as they are in front of anything which throws a room off or is just unfortunate to look at. You can hide an ugly view from a window, create a work area for a computer or hide the children's toys. The advantage to these closet doors is that they are taller than most decorative screens and therefore tend to look more like a part of the room. Shorter hinged shelves which are made for windows or pass-throughs can be set on low bookshelves, desks or tables as dividers or simply to hide items which need to be accessible but don