Hiding Unsightly Wires When You're On A Budget

Hiding Unsightly Wires When You’re On a Budget

As you know, when we did our home theater upgrade, we installed a lot of wireless tech (and boosters to keep our movies from dying slow, mood-killing, buffering deaths).  But what if you don’t have the budget for that extensive an upgrade? What if you don’t have the money for running Ethernet and other cables behind your walls? How do you get the connectivity you want, without turning your entire house into a web of wire and cable?

Go As Wireless as Possible

God bless blue tooth, right? Between wireless routers and blue tooth technology, most things can be networked without requiring you to run hundreds of feet of cable around your home. AT&T’s UVerse, for example, runs through a wireless router. Thanks to wireless converter “dongles,” you shouldn’t have to run any cables between it and the devices that require its signal (and in case you were wondering “hey, got a U-verse Internet coupon code to share?” Yes, yes we do! There you go!).

Still, wireless routers, televisions and sound systems do require electricity to operate. 

Here is how you can camouflage those unsightly electrical cords.

1. Run Them Through Trim

There is a great tutorial that will teach you how to hide cords in trim over at Sawdust Girl. Their television was mounted over their fireplace. Even if you are planning on mounting your television on a plain wall or on a fixture unit, you can still use mounting to cover up the cords. In fact, you could probably turn the mounting into a really great art installation!

If you don’t want to worry about making a huge installation don’t worry, you can still use trim to create ad hoc base boarding near the floor to help your cords blend in.

2. Make Them Decorative

You can buy decorative wire clips really cheaply through outlets like Amazon. The great thing about these clips is that, in addition to holding your wires in place, they turn those cables and wires into decorative touches.

3. Backdrop Cloth

Probably the worst offender, when it comes to wires, is a desktop computer. There are so many wires and cables that are required for all of a desktop computer’s different components. Those wires are all different lengths and widths, so even if you did bundle them up to try to relieve some of the chaos, the bundle would likely be clumpy and odd shaped. The best way to hide this mess is with a backdrop cloth.

If you don’t like the idea of there being fabric that close to your cords and power strips, you can also use very light weight boards. Simply paint them to match your wall or go with something decorative that you pick up in a home décor section.

4. Clip Them Up

Part of what makes wires so ugly is that they dangle and, often, get tangled up together. To keep this from happening, tie all of your cables and wires together to form a single cord that extends down to your outlet or power strip. Then, instead of trying to hide the “extra” within that single cord (making it unnecessarily bulky), clip the longer bits up to the underside of your table, desk or cabinet. This way everything looks organized and nothing hangs down to gather dust and mar the otherwise beautiful appearance of your home.

-Judy