How to Hide Those Messy Wires
Untangle Yourself From Ugly Electrical Cords With a Few Tricks and Accessories
Killy Scheer
July 1, 2011
As we all become more and more tethered to our electronic devices, wire management is a challenge almost everyone faces. It's especially tough when trying to achieve timeless, uncluttered design. Who wants to see wires mucking up a beautiful composition?
Thankfully, our reliance on technology has created a market for managing it all – there are tons of products on the market to help us out, while creative homeowners and designers are coming up with solutions of their own to keep wires under control and out of sight.
Of course, the best solution is to fully integrate wires into a design (where possible), which requires a lot of planning and and healthy dose of construction. Let's look at some examples of how to build in wire management, as well as working it into homes, for those of us who can't make permanent changes to our homes, for one reason or another.
Thankfully, our reliance on technology has created a market for managing it all – there are tons of products on the market to help us out, while creative homeowners and designers are coming up with solutions of their own to keep wires under control and out of sight.
Of course, the best solution is to fully integrate wires into a design (where possible), which requires a lot of planning and and healthy dose of construction. Let's look at some examples of how to build in wire management, as well as working it into homes, for those of us who can't make permanent changes to our homes, for one reason or another.
In my last apartment, my husband took great pains to keep the floors in our home office wire-free. He used zip ties and eye hooks to mount all of our components to the underside of our wood desk. If you're not the DIY/handy type and would rather buy something to manage wires, you're in luck ...
Room & Board
Room and Board's cord management products (leg, horizontal and flexible) are great solutions for those pesky-but-essential computer wires.
If you're anything like me, keeping components nearby and accessible is ideal, but they can be unsightly, or drop to the floor and quickly become "lost." Blue Lounge's clever CableDrop is a nice solution.
Don't have the option of mounting wires and other components to a hidden-away place? Pop your power strip (and the mangled wires attached to it) into this tidy little box and the problem is solved. Vacuum, dust, mop — do what you need to do; this little guy is on your side.
Everyone seems to want to mount their flat screen TV on a wall these days, and it's easier than you think — even if you're a renter and you're not supposed to penetrate walls.
A small hole can be bored in drywall and wires can be brought up to the desired height without much fuss. Of course, it helps to have built-in bookcases like these, which provide a little more room for pulling wires around.
A small hole can be bored in drywall and wires can be brought up to the desired height without much fuss. Of course, it helps to have built-in bookcases like these, which provide a little more room for pulling wires around.
If you're in love with a light fixture or a sconce like this one, but don't have the option to hardwire it, install it near window or door trim, where you can often staple the wire and even paint it so it blends in a bit.
Take a queue from lofts and let conduits do the hiding.
Some wall-mounted light fixtures come complete with a conduit that matches the finish and is more than presentable.
Like built-in shelving, wood paneling gives you a little extra play in terms of wire-hiding and electronics-mounting capabilities.
If your house or apartment didn't come complete with floor outlets, put area rugs to work to hide cords and wires so you can float furniture without worrying about how to plug in such things as lamps, computers and clocks.
Furniture with back panels make our lives easier. If your outlets are located a little high on the wall, a table like this will help conceal any wires. If outlets are closer to the baseboard, the panel still shields a lot of the wire, making it far more inconspicuous!
Wires are an inescapable part of our lives, but minimizing how much we see of them makes our living spaces so much more serene. This little table lamp has to plug in somewhere, but hiding the outlet behind the drawer portion of the desk conceals the "ugly" part of the lamp.
Roger Hirsch Architect
Desks with extra thickness, like this one, which has pencil drawers, give us more flexibility in terms of hiding wires, as the lip of the desk can conceal all kinds of industrial-looking wiring.
Made in Design
Untangling wires probably eats up 15 percent of my day — an unacceptable percentage. I'm very seriously considering getting Pop Corn's Cable Turtle to keep my iPod and hands-free cell phone ear buds in check. The less time I have to spend unfurling them, the better off we ALL are.
More:
5 Ways to Decorate Around a Flat-Screen TV
Well-Styled Electronics
More:
5 Ways to Decorate Around a Flat-Screen TV
Well-Styled Electronics
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Ouch. Autocorrupt did it again....this does keep them relatively dust free and stops my son's cats playing with them.
Apologies. That one really got away!
It was almost impossible for me to hide a long cable. So, I decorated it with leaves cut from green plastic bottles.Best part is it's free.
Many wonderful ideas but RUNNING CORDS UNDER RUGS IS A VERY BAD IDEA. Ideas should be approved by a knowledgeable person before printing.