From the Desk of Clearissa Coward’s Command Center ~ Divinely Organized
Taming the Wires – Office Project II
I have been ashamed of this corner for over 2-years now and if I am honest, I cannot for the life of me, tell you how it became this tangled, messy, chaotic jumble of wires. When I first put my office together, there were just a few wires for my PC, printer, shredder and lamp. But somehow, the wires multiplied as I added my labeler, speakers, and other gadgets. Also, I had a little help with this mess from my cable company and internet service as they added the modem and other little doodads to make things work properly. But in the end, I ended up with this mess.
You have no idea, or perhaps you do if you have a corner like this in your home, how this has bothered me. You cannot see it unless you are behind my desk but I knew it was there and the room never seemed clean or tidy to me once this mess was in place. Oh everyone else thought the room was perfectly clean, but I knew my dirty little secret. This week, I alleviated this problem and it did not cost me one penny. Welll update…it did cost a dollar.
Supplies:
Garbage bag ties $0.00 (had them in the house
Washi Tape $0.00 (had it in the house)
My Time Priceless 🙂
Trash Receptacle $1.00
The first thing I did was to take all of the wires apart. I did not have a clue as to which wire belonged to which gadget. Once all of the wires were disassembled, guess what I found? I had wires still plugged in and tangled into this web of wires that were no longer attached to any device in the office. An old printer wire, of which the printer was replaced with a wireless one, an old phone cord to a phone we no longer have, etc.
After discarding the useless wires, I labeled each wire that was going back with washi tape. I simply wrote the name of the item the wire belonged to and if it was an ATT wire, I labeled it as such so I know which wires belong to ATT and which belong to my personal devices. That will make it easier if/when we switch carriers again.
Once labeled, I grouped like wires together with garbage ties to make them look neater as they snaked down the wall. Once the wires were reconfigured, I had condensed them down from three surge protectors to two and I even had empty plugs. That was a happy dance moment! Celebration over, back to work. 🙂
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have 2 laptops but hubs is attached to the PC but after looking at all the wiring, I am even more determined to convince him to give it up. Or maybe we could at least get a more compact one to replace it. Afterall, this one is at least 9 years old.
Once the project was complete, I felt 20lbs lighter. Note, although I felt 20lbs lighter, this did not result in any actual shrinkage from my waistline. 🙂 However, it did result in shrinkage of stress related to this corner in its original state.
There are two items that I have in my aStore cart to order to complete this project. One is a USB station where I can plug in all of the USB cords and USB adapters for wireless components. You can order it here. This device has 10 USB ports and will centralize all of my USB devices.
Another item I am thinking of purchasing from my Amazon aStore is the cable management sleeve. Although I have corralled the cords, I am thinking the sleeves, painted the same buttery yellow as the wall will blend in seamlessly and none of the cords will be visible. You can order the sleeves here.
The project is complete. The next project is also an office project. My focus this month is on the office only. I am planning to have gone through and organized and/or refreshed most spaces in my home within a four month period this year. But hey, if it takes 6 months, I will not beat myself up about and neither should you. If you take your time and do it right the first time, chances are you will not have to do it again for quite some time. I will, because that is simply what I do, but you won’t. 🙂
What are you working on? Do you have an area that makes you crazy every time you see it? What’s your plan to fix the issue? Need help figuring it out? Contact me. I’m here to help.
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Thank You for the Visit!
You have inspired me to do the same Clearissa. I hate all of those wires and it is hard to keep them looking tidy. Not anymore though with your tips have a great day xx
Yaaay Sue!!! I am so glad I was able to help. I was beginning to feel like I was the only person plagued by wire clutter. 🙂 Share pictures when you get your wire clutter under control. 🙂
I can so relate to this post! Years ago I had a similar situation and I found the zip ties worked wonders! My new desk in my new office isn’t forgiving when it comes to wires as the desk doesn’t cover it, but it keeps me accountable to keep that whole area neat. 🙂
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Karen,
I hope I never get into a mess like that again. I am moving toward wireless and it will be just fine once hubs lets go of that PC. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by.
Oh my goodness – that corner looks familiar!!!!! I have been thinking I need to get to work on my office because it is a hot mess. How did it get that way. Thanks for the inspiration!
Clearissa, this is fabulous! Thank you so much for not just the clear directions but the inspiration! Keep up the good work.
I need to do this so badly in my own office! Thank you for the information and ideas.
Hi Carol. It is so good to know I am not alone in this mess. Well, I sort of cleaned mine up, but at least I “was” not alone. You are welcome for the ideas and I hope they will help you with your little secret corner too. 🙂
Hi Jean. Thank you for the kind words and for stopping by. I hope you will stop in again soon.
Hi Cathy, I think the junk fairy sneaks into our neat and organized offices and makes a mess while we are sleeping. That is the only logical explanation as to how our offices can get into such disarray. 🙂 Yeah, that’s it, the junk fairy. Good luck with taking your office space back from the junk fairy and thank you for stopping by and reading along.
Looks like you got that all under control. Cords can turn out to be a big mess unless we harness them like you did. Thank you Clearissa for sharing this post at the Wednesday AIM Link Party. I shared it on my social media sites.
Thank you for reading along and for sharing Dee. Yes, wires can get out of control if we aren’t careful. 🙂 I am going to keep an eye on this corner from now on. No more wire madness for me.
I hate wires and it is a never-ending battle to try and stay on top.
Hi Carol, I agree with you. My corner was a hot mess but as I said, a lot of the wires are connected to stuff that is required to run my office. Like my modem, TV (can’t work without that background noise) and other electronics. They are necessary, but they can be a nuisance. Thanks for dropping by.
I love this!!! We are such a plugged in generation now. I want to do this but behind our tv, and a charging station for all our ipads and phones.
Hey Haley. My next wire project will be behind our TV in the family room as well. I ordered the USB station mentioned in the article just this week. Can’t wait for it to come in. Thanks for reading along. 🙂
Wonderful idea as I sit here seeing a bunch of cables lying in front of me.
Thank you Candy. Yes it was a good idea for me too. As you can see, I had a mess. 🙂
Wow what a mess when you started. 😳 Looks much better. The key is to keep it neat from the start. I label all my cables, wires and cords at set up and hide the excess in a small box attached to my desk. Invisible. And I can vacuum without all the clutter on the floor.
I aleays think I have my cable wires, TV, Modem, DVR, etc. all nice and neat, tied nicely, and yet every time I move the TV unit away from the wall, they all seem to be all tangled up. I always say the gremlins are at it again. 😃
check out shrink tubeing ,and don’t let a uninformed clerk steer you wrong or to a little handi-pak thingy….it’s out there in almost any size big enough for your needs check with a commercial elec. contractor where to get it in your area then all you need is a hair dryer or rent a heat gun…. even more sano then now….
Hi Kathy. Your comment made me laugh. I think we all have gremlins. I have a closet gremlin, a kitchen cabinet gremlin, a pantry gremlin, and the list oges on. Glad I’m not alone.
Hi Donna. Girl you need to share your process. It sounds great! Share your box in the comments and thank you for sharing. Thank you.
Thank you. Shrink tubeing is a definite possibility. Thank you for sharing.
Gee, I thought I was looking behind my own desk in that first before pic! Thanks. Great idea. Go to MAKE myself do it now. 😎
Hi Dee,
You sound like a girl after my own heart! lol Let me tell you, you will feel much better once you complete this little project. Good luck and I would love to see pictures. 🙂