If you’re a fellow neat freak, you probably don’t need too much guidance about how to arrange your home for optimum organization. However, there is one subject that has stumped house cleaners for centuries now: wires. Since the dawn of electricity, wires have been invading our homes, creating a dangerous tripping hazard and just looking downright ugly.
Unless you’re willing to forgo modern technology, there’s basically nothing you can do about eliminating the presence of unsightly wires taking over every room. What you can do is damage control. With some smart tips on how to camouflage for different scenarios, you can now watch your movies in peace without giving side-eye to the TV wires.
Use your furniture.
The one upperhand you have in the fight against electrical wires is that the wires are usually in close contact with some furniture. You can easily use furniture to obscure your wires from view. How you go about it really depends on what type of furniture you’re working with.
For example, couches don’t need much explanation. Tuck the wire behind the couch and, if necessary, tape parts of the wire down with gaff tape to make sure you don’t get any adhesive on your floor.
Install mini hooks on the back of your TV stand to run the wires through the back of the stand and keep them out of sight. You can use the same technique for router or lighting wires near a bookcase.
Drill holes into the back of your desk.
If it’s your home office that has you most concerned, you can try this trick that requires a little familiarity with power tools. It also works for nightstands. For wires that you can stow inside of a drawer, drill a small hole in the back panel of the drawer to run the wires through. To hide wires for lamps or other items on top of the desk, you might make a hole on the top of your desk and the back panel, but this isn’t for the faint of heart. Or you could make your life way easier and just buy a desk that already has pre-cut holes to run wires through. Either way.
Install a baseboard cord channel.
This is a great technique for wires that have to run from one end of the room to the other. Instead of having bulky wires stapled to the perimeter of the room, use a baseboard cord channel to disguise them. You can even paint them if white doesn’t match your wall.
Consider rearranging your space.
Sometimes the best way to hide wires is to reconsider your layout. Having certain items far away from a router or other wired device makes hiding them feel impossible. But if you reconceptualize how the room is configured, you can stow away wires with less hassle.
No one likes to look at wires when you’re watching TV or just trying to enjoy your space. But technology isn’t going anywhere and neither are you. It’s time to coexist peacefully with electricity without getting tangled up. Follow these tips to restore order to your organized haven.