Home Organization: Hiding Cords

I didn’t know it when 2016 started, but this year has become “The Year of the Cords” for me, as I continue to conquer the task of concealing all of those pesky cords we have around our house.  This is a project I have wanted to do for many years, so I decided to finally tackle this.  I started with two, high-priority areas.  And, then I moved onto a few other areas.  I still have a couple of areas where I’d like to “conquer the cord!”

There are several good cord-hiding products on the market now, which make this project inexpensive and relatively easy.  The most difficult part of the project is just moving your furniture to access the cords, and then getting a handle on all of the cords that you have.

Don’t be intimidated.  Start small.  Any areas where you have unsightly cords will look so much better, so much cleaner, and so much more fabulous.

Mellie’s Tips for Hiding Cords

What I Used:

1. I used 3M Command Strips, my go-to organizing tool around the house.  I use these everywhere!  I bought mine on Amazon, because most stores don’t sell the “cord-organizing” Command Strips.  It’s difficult to know how many, and exactly which kind, you will need for your projects.  Just estimate it.  I bought a variety of sizes and types.  Your cord clips should be concealed and not seen, so the color probably won’t matter.  I used:
   1. Small Cord Clips-clear
   2. Medium Cord Clips-clear
   3. Large Cord Clips-clear
   4. Flat Cord Clips-clear
   5. Refill Strips–white
2. I used some Velcro-style cord wraps/cord ties.  I bought some at The Container Store many years ago, and still had them.  You can use any kind.  I like the colored ones, because it is just easier to organize that way.

Most of the cord clips come with the clear, sticky-strips, which don’t stick as well as the soft, white sticky strips, in my opinion.  So, I bought a bunch of Refill Strips (white) so that I could use those with the clips in this project, instead of the clear strips that come with the clips.  Just test it and see what works for you.

What To Do:

1. You will need to have access to your cords.  I use furniture sliders to easily move my heavier furniture away from the wall. (And the neat-freak in me took advantage of having the furniture moved away from the wall to clean behind it, so go ahead and clean behind your furniture while you’re back there! 🙂 ) Smaller furniture will be much easier to move.  So, if you are hesitant to tackle the big furniture, just start with something smaller, such as a night-stand or end-table.
2. It is easiest to start by just unplugging everything.  It is probably safer too.
3. Attach your cord clips/hooks to the back of your furniture, strategically placing them so that when you attach your cords to the clips, no cords will be showing from the front.  You can attach cords to the wall too, just be careful when moving your furniture so that you don’t pull the clips off the wall.
4. Start placing your cords into the cord clips.
5. For really long cords, I like to wrap them in the Velcro cord wraps first.  Then, you can just clip away those cord wraps.  You are almost just hanging up your wrapped-up cord onto the cord clip.
6. There is no “rhyme or reason” to this process.  It just depends on your furniture, how many cords you have, how long the cords are.  It is a little bit of trial and error.  Several times, I tried to use a Small Cord Clip, and it was too small, so I swapped it out for a larger clip.

Here is a view of my Entertainment Center while I was working on clipping all of the cords up:

Not only was I trying to get the cords off of the floor.  But, I was also trying to conceal them so that you could not see them through the openings from the front view.

My number one area that I wanted to conquer was under the entertainment center in our family room.  My second area was our office desk.  Check out the Before and After.

Entertainment Center Before:

Entertainment Center After:

Office Desk Before:

Office Desk After:

Happy Organizing!!

–Mellie