The Four Ways I Always Recommend to Hide Plugs and Cables

A few decades ago, in Europe, household appliances were used, such as the television, the microwave or the refrigerator. They were all using electricity, as usual, having their power cords attached to the wall. But since these devices weren’t moving, the cables could be behind them or hidden, and at no time were they a problem.

With the advent of cell phones, this changed dramatically, as we needed a charger with its cable to recharge the mobile battery. At first, this was done once a week, so charging the phone at a specific location was not a problem either. But the move to smartphones changed everything.

The normal thing now is to charge the phone every dayand even more. This means that the charger must always be accessible. Of course, we are not always in the same room when we need to charge our cell phone, so we have the option of moving the charger from one room to another or leaving the chargers throughout the house.

When these chargers are wireless there is no problem, but when they are wired it is ugly. Furthermore, no we just need to charge our phones. The use of tablets and battery-powered devices, such as emergency lights, watches, cameras or portable batteries, has exploded and sometimes we even need different connectors, although little by little USB -C takes over.

To this we add other cables from devices that we do not have to charge but that are in our house, such as the air fryer, computer speakers, living room router, smart speakers. And all this makes the cables visible throughout the house unless we take action.

Hidden on the desktop

The first form of organization is one of the most misunderstood. It is about use boxes of different types to store cables even though we don’t use them. There are models that are designed for this, but it is also possible to take a box that you like as a decorative element, make a hole in it, and pass the cables through it.

If we are going to charge a device and the box is big, we can even charge it insidewithout him being in sight. This can be useful if we have young children at home, for example. In addition, there are boxes of different types, some with covers, others with cable glands already integrated, in different colors, materials…

A variation of this option is wicker baskets.which have the same use, but have a different aesthetic. These boxes can be placed next to the TV, on a shelf or even in a desk and can be used to store items as well as house our cables. There are some at all prices, but for less than 15 dollars we have some with a very good design.

Organize under the table

When we are organize a desk or office There are a lot of things we’re going to want to plug in. The most obvious is the computer, which if it is a laptop will only have one cable but if it is another type it may have more cables, high -speakers, webcam, etc.

Of course, we must add to this computer peripherals and items that are almost impossible not to have, such as a lamp or a flexo on the work table. To organize these cables, it is best use table steps, which are structures, usually made of metal, screwed to the table and where we can place the cables so they don’t dangle and bother us. They can also be used to put transformers on certain cables, which are quite heavy and bulky. There are screwed storage trays and others that do not damage the table, like this one which costs less than 17 dollars.

Your cables, in one

If we have a lot of cables under a computer table, for example, this is a good idea collect them all and use a spiral organizer so that all the cables behave as one. It doesn’t hide them completely but it organizes the mess of cables we may have much better.

Plus, it’s always a possibility use velcro or double-sided tape to attach the cable gland to the wall or furniturewithout this implying that we cannot move the cables inside. It would be a sort of cable gland, like those used in masonry work, but for domestic use. Its price is less than 2 dollars.

Fixed and does not move

This last option is the most economical, although it is not always the most appropriate. But to always have the cables available with a simple pull and not have to open or close boxes or move objects, it is preferable to use cable ties. These are very inexpensive silicone elements (six units cost less than 6 dollars) which allow install the cables and be able to pull them to use them whenever we want.

The main thing is that while sticking to the edge of the table, The cable is slightly visible but does not interferealways being nearby when we need them. It’s even possible to run two cables through the same clip, with two different connectors if we need to. To this, it is always a good idea to add power strips that allow us to use a single cable when the socket is far away and to leave all the devices that we need to connect in the same place, with the cables hidden behind a piece of furniture.