Day 15: Exercise a Little Cord Control
Day 15: Tuesday, January 22
Assignment: Wrangle your cords
Cords are necessary, of course, but even though they’re highly functional they look like clutter. No matter how well organized an area is otherwise, if there is a visible mess of wires and cords, things look unfinished and visually chaotic. Take a quick twirl through your home and see if you can spot some cord trouble spots and, if you do, work on getting them under control. Trust me – it will make a bigger difference in how your home looks than you would expect. It’s one of those “worth it!’ tasks to tackle.
Maxwell refers to this mess as a “cord octopus”. Here are some tips from The Eight Step Home Cure on how to wrestle it under control…
Today’s Assignment:
• Take a look around your house and view the main cord-heavy areas from a few different angles. Select your problem areas and get to work on your plan of attack.
1. Make sure all the cords are in current use. Sometimes outdated cords and wires remain long after you’ve stopped using the equipment they belonged to. Remove them, along with any equipment that you no longer use – this is also a perfect time to clear out outdated tech that is past its useful life for you and move it to the outbox.
2. Minimize the length of all cords if possible by keeping devices near each other; that way you can deal with them together and reduce the distance cords need to span.
3. Bind cords together into a central cable with cord managers. Maxwell recommends using easily removable cord managers that are flexible and wrap tightly around the cable of cords.
4. Tack up bundled cables that run along the wall with special staples (Maxwell suggests Arrow T-25 staple gun) that go around the wires and cords, to secure them without damage.
5. Get creative. Run cords down behind legs or other visual barriers if possible, consider securing along the underside of desk or table tops to get them up off the floor and into a hidden area.
Have good cord control tips or tricks to share? Please let us all know in the comments.
Helpful Links:
• Cord Wars: How I Won the Fight Against Nasty Cords
• Our Favorite Cord Control Gutters & Trays
Liveblogging the January Cure:
• Nightstand Charging Station
Go to January Cure Main Page for links to all the posts so far.
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Questions? Comments? Pictures? Email us about your progress at januarycure@apartmenttherapy.com
January Cure Calendar:
• Download our PDFGet the Book: Apartment Therapy’s The Eight Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
Follow and Tweet! The January Cure: #januarycure
(Image: Bethany NauertRodellee’s Tiny Vintage Studio House Tour)