What do you get when you mix a full time Apartment Therapy blogger (me) who likes things to look "just so", a designer who develops video games (my husband) and a 12 year old boy (our son) who loves movies in a not-very-big apartment? The answer: A lot of tech in a small space...and I really don't want to look at it all the time!

I value calm, simple surroundings so coming up with these "hiding" spaces in plain sight makes a big difference to my family's enjoyment of our small home. I love that we can enjoy all that the world of modern home entertainment has to offer without our living room looking like an arcade, movie theater or office!

What You Need

Too much tech!

In our case, a big (ish) tv, multiple game systems, 3 laptops, 2 iphones, 3 cameras, video games, movies and tv shows on DVD.

Equipment

Storage pieces that suit your style, whether they were intended for tech or not.

Instructions

1. First of all, think about what you really use and enjoy regularly. Get rid of whatever you can whenever you can. Pass on games and dvds that you have already enjoyed to friends. When you upgrade your tech, don't hang on to the old (laptop or camera or whatever) - you won't use it again.

2. Make dedicated spots for certain types of functions/items.

In our living room, the credenza holds all the laptops (which are all hooked up to a power bar for easy on/off charging), the cameras are also in there, along with the chargers for the camera batteries and cell phones. It's essentially a giant charging station.

The two small black cabinets (bought ages ago at the Pasadena Flea Market) are perfect for our current collection of games, movies and tv shows. Its plenty of room for a nice sized collection and at this point we are on the "one comes in, one goes out" plan.

We sacrificed the storage space of the (oddly situated in the living room!) closet to house our tv, game systems and associated equipment. A simple metal metro shelving unit is functional and allows for air flow. It's not the prettiest solution but, hidden behind the folding doors, that doesn't matter.

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(Images: Janel Laban)