7 cable management ideas for your TV and desk space
Keep your cables under control with our list of hacks and solutions.
For all the amazing advances in wireless technology, we still have an awful lot of cables to contend with in our everyday lives. And they’re not without their problems.
Cables can be a real pest to keep organised and tidy. One of the most common issues is TV cable management – but there’s also the home computer or the power cords in the garage to contend with. Any mains point that is used as a charging station is rarely an orderly place, and less said about extension cables, the better.
On top of that, many of us are continuing to work from home and make do with provisional office setups that tend to involve lots of cables, wires, plug sockets and expletives. Then there are all those charging wires that come with devices that we never end up using, but still keep squirrelled away. (Because you definitely need all seventeen of those mini-USB cables, right?)
Luckily there are several straightforward ways you can keep your wires and cables under control at home. We’ve laid out a few simple tricks and solutions below – thank us later!
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Ways to tidy cables around your TV and desk
Keep your TV cords together with a cable sleeve
Best TV cable management
This cable sleeve is the go-to solution for all the cables behind your TV or home computer, which can be bundled neatly together in a single length of 50cm durable neoprene. Annvchi’s sleeve opens and closes with a zip, and so is incredibly easy to add to and remove from. This pack contains four separate sleeves.
Get tactical with these stick-on wall hooks
Best small cable management
It’s not the prettiest solution and is best used in office and workspace areas, but one very easy way to deal with smaller cables is by hanging them from the wall. These silicone stick-on hooks from Siquk are a cheap, quick fix. Since they don’t leave any tack marks when removed, they’re easy to adjust.
Keep your extension cables out of sight
Best for extension cords
We often need to rig up extension cables at power points simply for the extra sockets they afford – but with that often comes a real eyesore of excess cable. The best solution to this is simply tucking the extension cord away in one of these cable tidy boxes from D-Line. They’re available in two sizes, black and white, and with a choice of accessories like a cable trunk and spiral wrap. A bit of a game-changer, we’d say.
Keep your computer cables in an under-desk tray
Best cable management for home computers
If you work from a desktop computer, chances are you have several cables plugged into a 4-way splitter behind your monitor. And if the cables are gathering around your feet, then pick this wire mesh tray from Annvchi, which can be screwed to the underside of your desk. In a permanent position there, you can keep all those annoying power and AV cables off the floor: out of sight, out of mind.
Turn the edge of your desk into a charging station
Best for phone chargers
If you’re someone who often has several devices charging at the same time, and you're constantly disentangling them – you’ll appreciate this simple solution from Pzoz. The brand’s pack of three adhesive desk tidies will each keep each of your charging cables clipped together in place. They can each hold up to 11 cables: a perfect addition to most people’s workspaces.
Hang up your unused cables on an H-frame
Best for managing long cables
This solution is intended for longer-length cables not in regular use, such as those of garden equipment or spare extension cords. One simple way to store these in workable order is by keeping them neatly wrapped around this H-frame cable tidy from Masterplug. This handy little storage device can be hung in a cupboard or on a wall in the garage.
Travel with your cables in a gadget bag
Best cable management for travel
Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on our part, but we wanted to include a travel option for cable management. If you tend to travel lots of devices – Kindle, phone, laptop, camera: they start to add up – then it’s worth investing in a cable bag for their assorted charging cords, such as this nylon gadget bag. This can be a handy little home for other things like memory cards, earphones, power banks and hard drives.
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