I Tried This Free, Easy, 10-Minute Cord Wrangling Hack in My Living Room

Cords are the bane of my existence. If it were up to me, everything would be cordless. But when I’ve gone searching for cord-wrangling hacks, I often find solutions that cost more money than I’m willing to spend or require me to drill a hole in my wall (no, thank you). That’s why I was happy to stumble upon a trick by Ashley Goldman of The Gold Hive. 

Lurking in the corner of our living room is a fierce beast of cords. Cords for our internet, television, speaker system, and who-knows-what are jumbled in the corner. When guests come, I artfully maneuver a potted plant, but I know I’m not fooling anyone. 

Since we moved into this house three years ago, the corner has bothered me, but I’ve never wanted to spend money on a solution. Additionally, the idea of sitting down with a tangle of cords never sounded fun, so it was hard to find the motivation. 

Goldman’s trick is to simply route all your cords to be in one space and have that pile be hidden by a basket. Admittedly, I have more baskets than any person needs, so this cord solution was free and easy! I selected a round basket in natural fibers in a size that seemed big enough to fit and hide the cords. Then, I prepared myself — nothing can get me quite as worked up as cords gone haywire. After a cup of chamomile, I sat down to do the work. 

First, I unplugged everything and made sure I knew the function of each cord. I even found a cord that had just been thrown back there, serving no purpose! (That’s the thing with messy corners, they tend to collect more mess.) Then, working cord by cord, I trained the cords through the basket’s handle, circled up excess length, and fed the end out the other handle until it met its plug in. 

In about 10 minutes, I solved my problem. Bonus: I now have a better sense of each cord’s purpose. Although the cords peek out and the cable box is visible, I no longer have an unsightly pile of mixed cords. In my journey to a more organized home, I’ve realized that perfection does not exist. I accept this solution because, hey, cords are part of our life whether I like it or not. Finding a simple, cost-friendly solution that made my corner a tad more organized is just what I needed.