No matter how put-together your space, there is one mess you can expect in nearly every room in your house: that tangled web of cables and cords covering desktops, lurking behind entertainment centers, and piling up on the floor.
It’s inevitable, because you do love your electronics!
But it doesn’t take much to hide the unsightly necessities that come with TVs, computers, video game consoles, audio equipment, and lamps. Check out these four easy, low-cost solutions for keeping those cables and cords out of sight and out of mind.
Tuck the cords into something pretty.
Turntables and smartphones are fun. The cords running to the outlet and covering up the surface of your desk or shelf are not.
A decorative bowl or vase in a color that matches your décor, like the yellow ceramic planter in the top photo, is the perfect place to tuck those cords. Bonus: You can also use the planter to prop up your favorite albums.
Hide the cords in a plastic tube.
You’ve managed to keep a tidy desktop. (Pat yourself on the back.) But when you pull out your chair, there they are: intertwined cords for your computer, monitor, and printer.
An inexpensive way to manage them is to thread them through 1-inch braided tubing, available in the plumbing section of most hardware stores. Use a serrated knife to slice through the tubing lengthwise. Cut along the full length of tubing, on the inside of the curve.
Thread the cords through the length of the tubing, until all of them are consolidated inside. The braided tube helps masks the various colors of the cords and keeps them from tangling.
Wrap the cords around a stick-on hook.
All the TV cables behind your entertainment center can — and do — get tangled. They also pile up on the floor, so they are visible underneath your furniture.
First things first: detangle the cords. Then stick an inexpensive adhesive hook, available at most big-box retailers, on the back of your entertainment center or TV stand.
Wrap the cords around the hook, keeping in mind the slack needed to reach the wall plug or surge protector. Add more stick-on hooks as necessary. Although the cords aren’t totally hidden, this solution keeps them tightly grouped and organized.
Hide the cords in plain sight.
Sometimes the easiest solution is the most obvious. Try hanging your hairdryer or hair straightener on a wall or mirror using a stick-on adhesive hook. Here we chose a clear one, so you can still see the wall color.
Create a catch for hanging your items by looping your cord and tightly fastening a short strip of Velcro roughly two inches below the loop. (Some hairdryers come with a Velcro tab.) Hang lesser-used items toward the back of the hook.
A basket at the bottom keeps cord slack out of view. With this solution, the stuff you use every day is within reach but not adding to the clutter.
You can find more ingenious hacks for hiding cables and cords here.