Use a Storage Box To Hide Unsightly Wires (and childproof!)
Ingredients: Advanced >> Organization >>
One of the biggest problems of being a gadget freak and audiophile is that every gadget seems to come with an endless supply of wires and cables. OH, THE WIRES. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. We can’t also forget the endless supply of chargers, extensions, cables, and large power packs that go along with them.
We have a horrible living room to work with when it comes to arranging - one wall only goes up halfway, and the other wall contains a fireplace, leaving the only option for our TV is to sit on a diagonal in the room.
This is not so great for two reasons. 
1. Wires, wires everywhere. It’s unsightly, messy, and it just looks unkempt. It can’t be that safe, either. It can’t be. No, I’m sure of it. It’s probably bad. Yeah.
Let’s take a moment to admire the chaos above.
2. It may look unsightly to me, but to a budding toddler, it looks as enticing as the brightly colored ball pit in a Chucky Cheese’s restaurant. And did I mention it’s on a diagonal? It’s not exactly hidden, nor is it anywhere remotely inaccessible.
To combat this, I needed to find a way to corral them and childproof them at the same time. And, as this is in plain sight, I would like it to be as inconspicuous as possible. A tall order perhaps, but certainly not impossible. All it took was a trip to my local Staples office supply store, and a walk down their storage aisle.
Before your trip to Staples, measure your power strip! Mine is a huge bulky surge protector. Whatever storage container I came home with, the power supply had to fit inside of it. I wanted to make sure Zoë would not be able to get at this once I was finished.
I came home with this sturdy black mesh storage container from Staples. 
While at the store, I realized I could flip it upside down and use the handles to corral wires through, while the entire power strip could fit safely inside the little shelter. And, as it is a mesh container, I won’t have any sleepless nights worrying about heat building up, or anything irrational like I usually do. The wires will be inside the storage container, which will be upside down in my entertainment unit. Zoë will have no way to access the surge protector at all.
To start, I unplugged everything and untangled all the existing wires. When putting them back in order, I made sure to use good judgment in order of operations to make sure the wire overlap was as tidy and clean as possible. The least amount of tangles inside the corral, the better!
Once everything is ready to be put back, turn your storage box upside down and put your power unit (or surge protector, or whatever you want to call it) inside it. Take your first item to plug in, and tie up any excess wire.
Once they are tied up, thread them through the carry handles and then plug them into the power unit. The more you start plugging items in, the more crowded it’s going to get under there. What I found helpful was to keep the entire thing slightly pushed out towards the floor and going in underneath instead of constantly lifting the unit for access.
Here’s the finished corral in full-flash view to see what I’ve actually done:
Here it is in the usual fashion, quite well hidden, and toddler-safe!
What have you done to hide wires? To protect them from kids? What methods do you use to keep your kids safe from your technology, and your technology safe from your kids? I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s to come, I’ll need all the advice I can get!
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July 25th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Brilliant solution.
For those with designer homes there is the somewhat iconic “WOOFY”, as endorsed by supermodels and rockstars.
http://www.notcot.org/post/5145/
Comes in white too.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I did a Google search. I’m not sure which is funnier… the concept, or the photo shoots of Woofy with all the models. Although, it’s worth it just to have something in my house that’s actually called ‘Woofy’.
August 17th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
This is a cool idea. I can’t stand the sight of cords laying all over.
August 21st, 2008 at 7:09 am
Sweet! You’ve got Zelda Collector’s Edition!
August 21st, 2008 at 7:57 am
LOL, Covarr! Never thought I’d ever watch it on a widescreen TV, that’s for sure. But that’s how we roll.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I do not have children, but when my puppy was still in the chewy stage I put my cell phone, lamp and alarm clock cords thru a mailing tube and capped thenm top with a gatorade lid with a slice out of it so the charger did not fall back in. Kept everything at table top level and n bite marks
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
terrific idea, would be great for pets too!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Yea those wires are a mess, tying them is the best to reduce clutter. Often these cables are very lengthy, making them a bunch nearer to the gadget so that the bunch don’t hang around is what I do when I setup something and it works out well. Idea of box is also good but I never did that.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
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September 7th, 2008 at 12:55 am
A very useful idea! Thanks for sharing.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
September 12th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
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October 1st, 2008 at 3:20 pm
This is an excellent idea. My son is always turning of the power strip or um-plugging things.
Brad
Paper Assistant
October 5th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Great - this is exactly what I need. I’m on my way to Staples.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Nice innovation. Its devenetly useful in small workplaces!
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
I thought it was bad to put power cables in a bunch, they like heat up and melt or something.
Not sure how true it was. I remember reading that in the manual for a power extension cord. Don’t use if it’s still rolled up!
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Hi James! Wow… I was concerned enough that I had to go look it up. As it turns out from a few sources I found (from Yahoo! answers, so take it as you will), bunching cables IS dangerous, but it is directly related to the current of what is going through the cables, and computers/peripherals/basic electronics aren’t really generating enough current to make a big problem.
One electrician also said that extension cords generate more current, so I could see how an extension cord manual would tell you to be careful.
Here’s the link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080307151000AAh9TnN