Electronics have a funny way of cluttering up your home. Even if you don’t have a big electronics collection, the cords, wires, plugs, and spare parts really start to add up. Don’t worry, we have solutions for you and ways to get organised, hide the eyesores and keep your home clutter-free. Here are some hacks and tips to help hideaway and organise your home electronics. You are sure to find one or more that will make your life more organised for little to no cost at all.
Hide Away Boxes
Almost every home has cable boxes, modems, printers, or other electronic eyesores that don’t necessarily have to be out on display all the time. You can use decorative boxes like these pictured that you can find at craft stores or specialty stores and hide away your home entertainment electronics inside them. It is easy to drill or even poke holes in the back of the boxes so that the cords can come out of the back of them to be plugged in. Use caution with electronics that run hot, in those cases, cut vents into the boxes to make sufficient ventilation.
Hide Your Printer
If you have a printer or other electronics, they don’t necessarily have to be out on display, if you have an entertainment unit or a dresser in your bedroom, then you can hide the electronics away in the draw and instantly de-clutter your space. This works for home entertainment setups, home offices, or any room. This is especially helpful in making your home look less busy and cluttered when people have less need for printing since everything and everyone is going digital.
Cord Hideaway Boxes
Most of us can relate to long cords just laying around, looking terrible, getting tangles, catching dust, and possibly even being a tripping hazard. Instead of having these long cables causing all of these problems, this is a clever way to keep your long cords organised and out of the way. The box is fairly simple to make, or you can read on to find some other neat tricks for hiding and keeping electronics cords.
Pipe Insulation
If you have a situation where your cords are in use but can’t just be rolled up and hidden in a box, then this insulation idea is a great way to hide them from being eyesores. When you have to run a long wire from the electronic device to the plug, or even through a wall, you can hide them in an insulation pipe and then paint the pipe to match the wall. Even though they are not completely hidden, the cords and wires are still organised and virtually unnoticeable.
Picket Fence Cord Cover
If the piping insulation idea above is not feasible or if you have to run wires and cords along the floor, this picket fence idea is an adorable solution. Just use double sided tape fasteners and cut thin pieces of wood or baseboard material to make up your “fence” and conceal away your cords and wires.
Toilet Paper Roll Cord Holders
Some things that you normally throw away without a second thought can be used to help organise your electronics. Toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls can make great “free” wire and cord organisers. You can label them so that you don’t have to unravel a cord to see what it is and keep them all tucked away so that they won’t ever get tangled or lost. You an even use colored craft paper to help with the labeling and make them easily recognisable without even having to take them out of your box.
Bread Tie Cord Labels
Bread ties are another item that you probably throw away without realising how they can help you get organised. When you have a power strip with up to 5 or 6 plugs in it, you are likely always trying to figure out which plug goes with what. Those bread ties are the perfect, easy, free labels you can use in this case. No more plugging and unplugging everything using the process of elimination.
Flags for Labeling Plugs
If you have gone carb free, then you may not have those bread ties lying around. Small post-it flag labels also do the trick for labeling the plugs in an outlet strip.
Makeup Bag Organiser
Makeup bags like this are usually used to organise makeup items, like makeup brushes. However, they make great cases for all of those little USB cords that are always getting lost. The pouch is perfect for the charging bases or other small pieces that should be kept together with the cords. This bag rolls up and stores small.
Clips
Just about every office these days has an abundance of these types of clips. They hold larger bundles of paper than traditional paper clips, but if your office is anything like ours, there are more of them than you need. Make good use of them by using them to clip together bundles of cords instead. Most USB plugs are the perfect size to fit inside these clips. You can even label the cords on the clip.
In addition to helping with storage for cords, you might need a better organisation system for the cords you use on your desk. You probably have enough clips to use a few extra in this fashion to help keep all of your connection cables for your computer at your fingertips rather than in a jumbled mess on the floor.
Eyeglass Cases
If clips and old toilet paper rolls aren’t your thing, then try these assorted types of eyeglass cases that can be found at most dollar stores or discount outlets for super cheap. You can easily label the cord that fits in each one and keep everything organised and tidy.
For more briliant ideas on organizing your home theatre accessories, check out Selby Acoustics.
