I'm finally starting to style up my plumbing pipe shelving unit, adding things here and there as I get them. One day I put this black lamp, which we already owned, on the shelf for temporary lighting. When I stepped back from the shelves, I decided I liked the look of the lamp. I did not, however, like the look of the cord hanging down the back of the shelves.
Part of the charm of the open shelving is being able to see the blue wall behind it. The long black cord of the lamp running down the wall was totally ruining that effect. Now, if I had known I was going to put this lamp on the shelves, I could have run the cord through the plumbing pipes as I put them together. Since I didn't do that, I had to settle for the next best thing: a plastic cord hider.
I picked up this 5 foot long cord hider in the electrical department of my hardware store. It's basically a plastic tube with an opening on one side (for inserting the cord) and super-duper sticky tape on the back (more on that later). Before I did anything, I painted the raceway (how fab that it's called a raceway!) with the same paint I used on the walls.
Once the paint had dried, I cut the raceway to the desired length and then positioned it in place on the wall. I then inserted the cord into the hider before peeling the tape off the back of it. And this is where I should have paused to think about what I was doing. I peeled all of the tape off the back of the raceway when I should have peeled it off in sections. With all of the tape exposed, I ended up applying the cord hider to the wall in a crooked pattern that was especially apparent behind the vertical lines of the pipe shelving. D'oh! Peeling the raceway back off the wall so that I could fix it was a trial, which is how I know this is super-duper sticky tape!
After I finally got the cord hider straightened out, I went back and touched up paint that had gotten chipped off during installation. The look is still not as seamless as I would like but it's definitely better than having a thick, black cord trailing down the back of the shelving unit.
If I stand directly in front of the shelves the cord hider itself is hidden by the vertical line of the plumbing pipe. (Mental note: make guests stand in this very spot to admire the shelving unit!)
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nice! i would take it a step further and tape the black cord thats left to the back of the shelving unit so its also hidden ;-)
Looks better! I would have hidden the cord in the pipes. Drill a few holes in them. The insulation on the wire would be good enough to be safe. The shelving looks really good:)
I love the simplicity of the iron pipe shelves, industrial, raw. I've built a set myself. Given the utilitarian nature of them, why be concerned about the cord? Lights require electricity - acknowledge it. I anything, change out the cord for a yellow or orange heavy duty style. Don't go to such extremes to hide it - too contrived - grandmotherly even. And definitely don't go about taping up the remaining bit of cord to hide it even further as one responder suggests.
That came out pretty good! But the cord didn't bother me, it was an industrial look anyway so the black cord didn't look out of place or messy, it went with the whole look.
Looks great!
Thanks for this useful tutorial.
You have a unit literally made of pipes and you're using a cord hider thing. Come on now. I would have run it from the bottom up through the pipe to the back of the shelf and drill a hole in the wood so it pops out right there.
If a bit of cord hider is a good thing, then do more of it! I'd go back and buy enough for a couple runs up and down the wall. That way it would look like a feature, and your cord would be well hidden.
Oh - and what did you do with the extra cord that hung below the plug? I cannot see the plug in any of the "after" pictures.
I like it!! ... industrial look or not, I'm distracted by cord.
I'm not sure, but it seems that the options to hide it in the pipe are more work and may leave you with cord sticking out somewhere, anyway.
This looks like an easy DIY fix that even I could do!!!
zip ties
It looks fine! And she said she would've hidden the cord in the pipes if she'd thought of it before she built the bookcase.
That said, I think I would've opted to run the cord along the back of the shelf and then down the side pipe, held in place with something like super-sticky double-stick tape or black tape (if it matches the pipe). But then I'll do almost anything to avoid painting.
I would have taped the cord along the back of the shelf over to the corner of the walls, and then placed the cord-hider there, so it's even less noticeable.
argh i know your frustration! good job!
we mounted a flat screen on our brick fireplace... (i know, i know... but it really was the only place it could go since we knocked down a wall) and we're still looking for a way to hide the bulk cord (cable, tv, x-box). i've been told some cord hiders are sold are Wal-Mart but I don't shop there. ugh.
I might have tried wrapping it around the pipe, I think it could work with the industrial look.
This is absolutely genius! Thank you for sharing.
Any tutorials on building those shelves?
It looks good but be careful when you remove that cord cover. When I removed mine, the tape took 1/2 the wall with it.
Looks good. But simply putting things on the shelves (that's why you have shelves, right? to put things on?) would also help to obscure the cord.
Nice job! And nice shade of blue!
@flaca, you can find great cord hiders at Lowe's and Home Depot. That's where we got our big one to hide our Monster Cables from our mounted TV.
Ditto roger v. Tell us about building the shelving.
Good job but why not just place some books on the shelves to hide the cord?
I can still see the runway in the final pic, mwahahaha!
I think the fabric-wrapped cord would have been better... I mean, what if you find a lamp you like even more later on? You'd have to do it over again....
You can't run the cord down the pipes unless you want to rewire the lamp. Sure, the cord would fit down the pipe, but not the plug portion. So, you'd have to rewire the lightbulb portion. If you don't know what you're doing, this is a fire hazard being created.
My first instinct was get some large picture books. Perhaps running the cord along under the horizontal shelf support then down the rear of the vertical front pipe would have worked too, all the while painted the same colour as that on the pipe.
Lots of great suggestions, too. The tapey thing worked for you - good job!
But it looked like there was enough cord just to be taped to the back of shelves & pipes - save a bit of money.
I love love love your plumbing pipe shelving unit! So very cool! Nice fix on the wire and it's good to know that the raceway can be bought at a hardware store. Also, a great online source for some wire management products is mockett.com. And here are some other fun products for dealing with wires that I featured on my blog: http://interiormonkey.com/?s=cord
Did I mention I LOVE the shelving unit?
Wow, love that product AND those shelves. So beautiful!
Sarah
http://sadiedesigns.blogspot.com
Yeah, there's enough cord to tape it along the pipes. If you didn't want to use zip ties, then black electrical tape -- just enough to hold it to the back of the pipe -- would work very well. And then you wouldn't have to position guests in the right spot. Most views would be fine.
i would have just piled things in front of the cord, maybe some books, a plant, a antique record.. but i do this all the time to hide the "mistakes" of my decorating.. Good job, and now im looking at one of my cords.. hmm..
This is a super helpful tutorial, but I've gotta ask: who is the artist that did that can-can girl print next to your lamp? I. Must. Have!!!
Is it me or is that just an odd place for a lamp to begin with? I love the shelve but the lamps is just not cohesive.
I think I just would have fixed the chord somehow to the backs of the shelves then run it flush with pipes, etc. No runway, no chord.
You could have used www.flatwireready.com. It saved my life and just paint it any color you want. :) and same cost just spotless.
Artist is Elaine Hanelock, I have a set of her posters in my kitchen. Check ebay, that's where I got mine.
I don't understand why you didn't tape the cord to the back of the shelf and one of the pipes. Now you can never move the lamp without taking apart the shelves and repainting the wall, after you rip that thing off the wall. Ever.
Flatwire! Love it. Thanks for the link!
Good idea! I was just thinking about lamp cords. I'm going to do kind of a swag thing over my bed with 2 lamps (on either side), run the cord through chain and cover the shades with Marrimekko fabric. Did you build your shelves? They really look gorgeous!
Humm...let's see...a very simple problem, that can be solved -like many have already said-, by taping the cord to the back of the shelves/pipes, has now turned into a whole production...really??? How can anybody find this "helpful!" "good job!" "genius"...you gotta be kidding me. Wast of time.
I think once you had the shelves stocked, you wouldn't even notice the cord. But it looks fine now, and I just LOVE the shelves, the blue paint too! :)
Apartment Therapy had a link to this DIY back in 2009:
http://www.the-brick-house.com/2009/09/shelving-unit.html
I love this so much - I'm going to convince my fiance help me build one of these in our new home!
For years it really bugged me that lamp cords were left visible in so many otherwise meticulously styled interiors I saw in French magazines, but gradually I realized it was intentional.
http://www.cotemaison.fr/atelier-deco/diaporama/style-brocante-les-blogs-font-du-neuf-avec-du-vieux_9058.html?p=8
Now I think it can look good, in certain contexts.
Nice fix!
I've just commented on another post about radiator covers. This is a similar idea, and I agree with Ettienne Greige - it's unnecessary, and a bit grandmotherly.
I'm not sure if anyone has looked at these shelves, but the pipes on the shelves are not in the best place to hide anything. I think you did a great job, and the sticky tape actually comes off very easily. I've moved my cord covers to several different locations. Although, ours are along the floor and used mostly to prevent tripping and our pets chewing on them.
did not read all the comments but i have been using hook and loop tape to fix my cord problems, and to keep my power strips on the wall or hidden somewhere. its great and it you need to move it you can disconnect the two parts. just a suggestion for the future you could have used it and ran the cord on the back of the shelf over to the pipe and down the pipe thus removing the strip down your wall and allowing you to easily move the lamp at a later date.
I'm lazy so I would have just taped the cord to the shelf and pipe and have been done with it. But I have a thing about cords being seen and things sticking out of the corner of a drawer. It makes me crazy! Cords are an awful distraction.
There seems to be a lot of hate in here regarding the use of the track. Wow! I think it looks great!
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http://avantgardenernyc.blogspot.com/
Ugh, so many harsh and even personal comments about an individual design decision. I love your shelving, your lamp, and your solution. Kudos!
Would love to know the paint color! Also interested in knowing more about the shelving like many others.
I think that you might as well have used more pipe to hide the cord in rather than that plastic thingy. You could then have mounted the pipe onto the wall just like you did with the plastic thingy. Since the pipe would look the same as the rest of the shelving, people would be seeing a pipe and not an effort to hide the cord. It's just a matter of matching your materials. Looks classier than camouflage...
Nice job on the shelving and great colour choice for the wall!
I totally agree with RustyPatina: put more stuff on the shelves, and you completely hide the cord without any need to buy a plastic hidey thing or drill holes in the pipes or the wood or whatever.
Sometimes the simplest solution truly is the best one! :)