apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I like the boxes but to be honest, now it just looks like 2 boxes dumped under the desk. Could these cables and routers be hidden to the right of the desk behind something, and the floor lamp moved to the left where the plant is?

Hi Michelle, what a beautiful vignette; dressing table chair and accessories. I really like your ewe ring too! I struggled with a cord medusa also and I solved it by using sticky back velcro on the back of the power strip and sticking it to the back of the desk. I also mounted my router to the wall and trimmed out the extra cable (VERY easy to do).

nice solution, great disguise.

I painted a board (the same size- height/width of the table) the same color as the wall and just leaned up against the cords. You can't even tell its there.

I'll bet you could use the smaller box on top for storage. And/or you could cut out the entire side of the box which faces the wall if your box is on the small side and you'd like more air circulation.

Not sure how this would work for me, since I tend to fidget my feet around at my desk! But for other areas in the house, it's great.

I have done this exact thing using black filing boxes. I have super wire overload in my bedroom and this made it so much neater.

Love that dressing table...but I'm not feeling the boxes. I'd be kicking them with my feet all the time.

A better solution would be to put the router, power strip, etc. in a small storage unit, with an open back (but with doors in front) to the left of the desk. As it is, she's just added more visual clutter, albeit attractive clutter, and doesn't solve the problem.

But where do your feet go when you sit at the desk?

Echoing those who say "They look odd and in the way under the desk." I think it is a great idea and almost there. A little more re-arranging and it will look finished, not just hidden. I love how the green echos the green of the mini-chair on the vanity.

I would just be afraid about a spark that ignites the cardboard.

For $30 you can get the same thing at A R Store. It's $30 but it's smaller and plastic. I use it for my television, cable box, dvd player, internet, etc. It comes in white and black (I have the white one and I don't even notice it).

http://aplusrstore.com/product.php?id=370&cid=106

This seems very strange to me...why would anyone want to cut up beautiful boxes, and make them completely useless? They should just wrap up the cords neatly, and use cord organizers to connect them all together...having two large boxes like this makes it so:1) you can't push the chair in all the way, 2) automatic house for dust bunnies 3) you are wasting space because the boxes actually can't be used for anything.

I am surprised AT posted on this because they are always saying only have what you need, etc etc and this box thing just seems bulky and wasteful - especially when there are so many other options out there for cord organization.

http://www.abbeycatchat.com

Belkin has a concealing surge protector as an alternative.
http://www.belkin.com/surgeprotection/concealed/

There's also BlueLounge's CableBox.
http://www.bluelounge.com/cablebox.php

Alternatively, you can hang a cable organization rack (IKEA sells one), or build a shelf with a plinth to attach to the underside of the desk or to the wall.

But the router is still visible! I'd suggest putting those boxes to the right of the desk so you don't hit them with your feet.

I wouldn't feel comfortable putting anything electrical in a cardboard box...Belkin makes some nice wire concealing surge protectors. Here's the compact version of the one Rob Gomes linked to: http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=400729

I just tackled this problem at my desk, using the Belkin one. It's pretty large, but very handy with a bunch of hidden outlets plus one bonus outlet on the exterior if you just want to plug something in without opening the whole thing.

Just found these folks who make custom wooden boxes:
http://www.hidemycables.com/

We have a framed piece of beautiful fabric that we've propped up against the wall in front of the cords under the desk. Not perfect but not bad, either. Best of all...free.

Emh.......... Are you even half-serious? The whole desk is rendered useless since one can no longer sit!

i used storage baskets to hide my cords (saw this idea on tv). i even put the router and modem in there. i don't know why she can't put her modem and router in the boxes.

Thanks for the Belkin suggestion, it's super cheap on Amazon and on its way to me now...

Yay!

Michelle here; I wanted to let folks know that I appreciate the discussion--it seems like lots of people have cord-control issues, as well as creative solutions.

A couple of points for clarification:
** this solution was meant only to be cheap and cheerful; I really love the BlueLounge cable box, but it doesn't currently have priority in my budget. I'm also a sucker for the green color, and enjoy looking at it.
**I do use the upper box for storage, and only cut out the bottom of the biggest box. since the $3.99 price included four nesting boxes, I use all the others for storage.
**lastly, yes-- I imagine that this is not an optimal solution for all you normal- and tallish-sized people out there. for better or worse, I stand a hair under 60 inches tall, so only my toes touch the floor when I'm sitting. also, I tend to sit in lotus position when sitting in that spot-- it's comfortable and works for me!

Thanks!

What are we hiding? I see one lamp and 1 router....there's nothing else plugged in. The desk top doesn't have anything that needs plugged in on it...or much space to put something. Not a great example.

I did something similar to hide the emergency power supply and other stuff under my tiny desk. (I'm on the vertically challenged side, myself.) I don't actually SIT at the computer desk much, and so not being tucked in works just fine for me. It's not a one size fits all solution, but for some it's very useful.

Wow, that Belkin thing is EXPENSIVE!

I thought the bluelounge cable box was pricy ($42 bucks, delivered with CA sales tax) But I bought one for my computer desk and liked it so much I bought another for my TV.
I'd be too worried about fire to use cardboard in this application.

I think it's a great solution and one to build off or edit for many cases around the home, not that you'd want boxes everywhere. If you look at the before and after there is a nice difference and I agree the splash of green was a nice addition. I am always challenged by cords, the people that owned my house before me loved to drill a nice size hole in the moulding and when we ripped up the carpet to refinish the beautiful wood floors...holes every few feet!!! So it's been ongoing for generations. How to hide the flippin' ungly cords. We should be WIRELESS by now with everything.
Wouldn't that be lovely, like those photoshopped catalogue pages.

Put our junk in that box...

I want to see more of your house.

LOL @ cord medusa. How perfectly descriptive.

It seems like most of the stuff to be hidden didn't even make it into the box. She could have just used a cable turtle type thingy.

@djt. That's exactly what I first thought when I saw this. Step 1...cut a hole in the box.

I hide a lot of stuff like that in ceramic flower pots. The boxes do look nice, though. Thanks for the tip.

I think the boxes are a bit too obtrusive like this. A good starting point though- better than the cord tangle.

For some reason my husband and I argue about this every time we have something new that needs to be plugged it. Cords everywhere do not bother him at all, and they make me completely mental. We do have the Belkin strip mentioned above for our living room electronics, and I love it! There is a fair amount of room to tuck extra cord length in there, and everything is nicely covered.

I use the ceramic flower pot idea, too, and put the large pot outside the knee hole so I can still pull up to the desk. I use a pot on my kitchen counter for the jumble of phone/camera chargers.

we do this under our entertainment system, it works well-- but maybe not under a desk

I've had this elaborate plan for ages- intending to construct and paint a box for hiding cords out of molding that will perfectly match the 8" tall molding that runs along the bottom of our walls. It's one of those projects I can never seem to get to with all the other work to be done. I never thought of just using some colorful boxes! I love this idea! So much easier :)

I would like to know where that desk/vanity is from. I have been looking for something just like that forever.

Hi--

The vanity was purchased in 1995 at the Brimfield flea market. I had to refinish it (my first refinishing job). I have no idea who made it, but there is a very faded half-stamp on the back of the mirror-- it looks like a ship--with the date JUL 18 1950 stamped in the belly of the ship. I think it cost something like $100 or $110, which was a lot for me at the time--especially for something that needed refinishing.

Best,

Michelle