Managing This Out of Control Cable Conundrum? Good Questions

Q: I need major design/tech help! I just moved into a new place with one of my friends, and in the minimalist mode I was in, I took the second bedroom. So after a little over 2 months of living in the new space, I'm finally happy with the design aspect of my bedroom/office/chill zone. But this wire situation is OUT OF CONTROL. Help!

I tried using painters tape and just taping wires to the back of my table in-between the table and the wall, but it just wasn't cutting it. I'm not sure what to do to hide all the wires. Keep in mind I'm a clumsy girl in my 20's, so drilling holes into my wall is something I'm not really comfortable with.

Sent by Alexandra

Editor - We've actually got a very simple and affordable answer: IKEA. Get yourself over to their home office section and you'll find the SIGNUM Cable Organiser.

If you want something with a bit more colour and at a smaller size, there's also the Cablebox Mini, available in an assortment of colours.

We've used these extensively for our home office and home entertainment center, and they can either be used on the floor or mounted on the wall (you might be able to use the removable 3M mounting system strips); another idea is to mount the SIGNUM to the underside of your desk, with the top cover facing forward to avoid the need to attach to the wall.

Got a good question you'd like answered? Send your queries and please include a photo or two illustrating your question, and we'll see if the Unplggd team or our readers can help answer your question.

Comments (16)

the other alternative is to make a panel out of this ikea wooden shelf: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00094188

mount your power strip to the back of it and then mount the shelf from one side of the desk to the other. You'll have a cool wooden panel showing with all of the cables on the backside.

I don't have a suggestion for you, but it's crazy how many wires and giant plugs are needed to run our favorite electronics! Sigh.

Doug Mockett has a plethora of cable organizers. They are a wholesaler but will sell to individuals too, with no minimum quantity, I believe.

How exactly are these signum boxes mounted to the underside of the desk? I have a signum box and a besta burs desk exactly like the ones shown in the two photos. Are the 3M mounting strips strong enough to hold the box to the wall?

@clumsy girl in your 20s - as soon as you start giving yourself a little more credit, you'll have the situation figured out. Or you could try just hanging some fabric or even foam core in front of the wires to hide them. (From a clumsy girl in her 30s.)

Head over to Home Depot or any other home improvement store. Grab some rain gutters and some high gloss white paint. The gutters are easily cut to size and attached to your existing desk in the rear. This way, your desk can just be set 3 inches off the wall with a slight trough behind it to gather all the chords.

Now, I may be a bit more savvy when it comes to carpenting, seeing as thats my profession. But, my solution would be to get some wooden plate to exactly fit in between the legs of the pictured desk and maybe in a height of 20-30 cm above the floor. Maybe the place where you would buy this plate could help you cut it ? Then i would paint this plate in a nice color, white or even black/grey ? Depends on taste. You would then screw this plate in between the legs 10 cm in from the back and this way have space to HANG your cables on the backside. You could just screw it from the outside of the desk, and then buy screw hiders (plastik white hiders that fit into the screwhead) so that nothing becomes visible.

Then, with not too long screws you can hang just about anything on the backside. Wires, ekstra outlets, you name it. I´ve done this in my livingroom with my media setup, except I made a wall that seems to float on the wall itself thats got my tv, my mediafurniture containg my Mac Mini, stereo and XBox and ALL the damn wires hidden in the back. No clutter, just pure niceness. The wall itself is cladded in the same material that my floor consist of...oak flooring.

To contain my cables and cords in my home office, I used some wine boxes mounted on to the wall. They were a couple of dollars each at the local wine store.

I stained them to age them a bit and cut a hole in the back to feed the cords in and out of of. It works well for me, as I can divide up the cords into different types (power bar, network cables, etc.). The top box is my charging station, with easy access.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/lh/photo/efhRSPYjHooIK5z2wJuyow?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.ca/lh/photo/FR9PddfuOT5RonyjOUoMSg?feat=directlink

For a way more simpler option, get some really big binder clips that can fit around all or most of your cords at once and then attatch (glue, tape, whatever) the clips to the back of your desk.

Young House Love has some other suggestions:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/07/office-progress-getting-wired/

Hang a few strands of christmas lights, it will camouflage the cords and add a romantic glow.

Fat Max the carpenter has a good idea. I guess I would just call it a "faux wall." I would try getting a piece of plywood cut to fit that wall space and paint it white! Done.

I work as an exhibitions art installer...we use these "cord covers," that are about 1/2" -1" wide white tubing with sticky adhesive on the back and you can cut the strips to custom lengths-i think you can get the cord covers at home depot.

I'd say, find some fun fabric and hand- or machine-sew a seam at the top and bottom. Thread a tension rod through the top seam and hang at the front of your media stand. Wires out of sight, covered storage, and a nice focal point!

Looks like you could just get some white sticky velcro to run along the back edge of your desk. (female side of the velcro) The power strip on the floor could be attached The cords could be wound up and tied with the male velcro and stuck there, as well as the entire power strip that's now sitting on the floor.

best solution ever ... cheap too

in black http://www.amazon.com/Velcro-Reusable-Self-Gripping-Inches-91140/dp/B001E1Y5O6

or in color http://www.amazon.com/Velcro-Multi-Get-Grip-5/dp/B00144CABS

I ordered a sidewired desk from a company out of NYC. It's got outlets built into the desk to plug into and a bottom cord to connect to the wall. http://www.tmrnyc.com/products/