Say goodbye to clutter with my 10 favorite techniques
Friends, you know I hate clutter just as much as the next minimalist architect. But let’s face it—we spend a bunch of time and energy filling our space with the right furniture in the right layout, and then often run out of steam when it comes to our electronics. In the end, we’re left with electrical spiderwebs scattered through the house. Fear not, if you missed my last video or need a recap, here are my top tips for taming the tangle.
1. Box yourself in: Who knew white plastic boxes could save the day? These electrical safe plastic boxes are a game-changer and perfect for hiding my nemesis, the power strip. Use these to keep the cable mess in check. These are especially useful when you’re feeling lazy. Of course, use common sense and don’t overstuff them, we’re still dealing with electricity!
2. Hook and loop to the rescue: For places where a chunky plastic box won’t do, I reach for Velcro (or hook and loop) straps to keep cables from taking over my space. You can get a pack of 100 for a couple of bucks—yes, please! I put them everywhere to make multiple wires seem like one, like the seemingly endless desktop cables—you’ve got one for your monitor, speakers, keyboard, you get the idea.
3. Sleaves: Not the tattoo kind either—these come in a variety, from zippered ones to clingy self-closing ones. They’re even better than Velcro at making multiple cables seem like one. But they’re admittedly a bit of a pain to wrangle with sometimes. Still, worth it.
4. Travel pouches: Okay, this isn’t a strictly at-home tip, but still, they’re a total must-have for travel. Newer accessory pouches will keep your bits and bobs neatly tucked away, so you never find yourself without that proprietary cable on a trip.
5. Cable clips everywhere: Maybe not everywhere, but almost. What good is having a charging box or neat solution if the end of your charging cable is either sloppily on your desk or you must reach behind a desk to find it? These clips will attach to the edge of a table and keep the ends of your charging cables out of sight but within reach.
6. Charging stations: Why not pair the clips with a dedicated USB box? Tuck it behind a desk and keep the cable ends easily reachable.
7. Cable conduits: For when you really need to hide an unsightly mess. You can even use these to run wires across a room or for wall-mounted TVs. They’re a bit of a process to set up, but worth it.
8. Under-desk cable trays: These attach to the back of desks and are great for keeping cables flush against the tops of the worksurface, out of sight, but still easy to access when needed.
9. Camouflage: I’m not suggesting you paint everything dark green (although you could), I mean sometimes all it takes is moving a potted plant in front of a socket, or maybe a piece of furniture. Better yet, why not match the color of your extension cords to your wall?
10. Use what you have: Binder clips, rubber bands, twisty ties from bread tops, for the laziest among us, sometimes all it takes is a little creativity to get those messy cables under control.
Have any tips of your own? Reply to this email and share! If you liked this newsletter, why not sign up for the premium version where I go even more in-depth with my minimalist home décor tips?
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Daniel
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