# Decorating/organizing: I need something to hide a bunch of unsightly cables **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128 "2008-03-20T20:09:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/1 "2008-03-20T20:09:16Z")
I have, next to my television and entertainment equipment, a mess of unsightly crap in a giant bunch; coax cable coming out of the wall and going into a modem, the modem spewing ethernet cable to a wireless router. These two devices are plugged into a power strip that’s loaded down with a bunch of other cables coming out from behind the little stand that the TV is on. How, from a decorating and organizing point of view, do I attractively and functionally conceal this crap? I was thinking of just putting a book shelf there and hiding all the junk behind it, but it’s enough equipment that I kind of need to put it IN something. What do humans do in this situation? ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/2 "2008-03-20T21:06:05Z")
You can’t beat [this $2 solution](http://simplemoneyrules.blogspot.com/2008/02/diy-and-save-money-computer-cables.html)… ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/3 "2008-03-20T22:05:51Z")
Yeah, not to be a dick about it but that solution looks like garbage. There’s still a big, visible pile of shit in the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/4 "2008-03-20T22:48:52Z")
I found this info on Lifehacker: [Top 10 ways to get cables under control](http://lifehacker.com/364054/top-10-ways-to-get-cables-under-control). I don’t like the look of some of the ideas, but others are alright. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/5 "2008-03-20T23:20:17Z")
Use fake vines to make it look like a jungle. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/6 "2008-03-21T02:55:57Z")
[QUOTE=TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW] Yeah, not to be a dick about it but that solution looks like garbage. There’s still a big, visible pile of shit in the corner. [/QUOTE] But now its a big HIDEABLE pile of shit that you can decorate around. Put an end table over the box and drape it with a cloth, and a plant on the table - voila, gone. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/7 "2008-03-21T03:13:59Z")
When I set up my living room I put my “entertainment center” (microwave cart, I think) in the corner, but it’s not a corner piece. So there’s a huge triangular space behind it in which to store all of my cables and power strips. I recently got a bigger armoire-type entertainment from my folks, along with their analog TV. Now there’s an even bigger piece of furniture in the corner hiding all my wires, and a cabinet in which to store my DVDs and other doo-dads. Could you possibly move your TV stand to the corner? And if it’s not a solid design, could you maybe drape something over the back of it so you can’t see through to the cables? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decorating-organizing-i-need-something-to-hide-a-bunch-of-unsightly-cables/442128/8 "2008-03-21T03:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=Waenara] I found this info on Lifehacker: [Top 10 ways to get cables under control](http://lifehacker.com/364054/top-10-ways-to-get-cables-under-control). I don’t like the look of some of the ideas, but others are alright. [/QUOTE] I like the Ikea basket solution on that link. Very clean-looking and easy to tear apart if you need to. I bought [plastic tubing](http://cableorganizer.com/wire-loom/ptfe-wireloom.htm) that split from end to end on one side, but it’s still pretty ugly if slightly neater. If I was up to it, I’d switch to the under-desk basket and cable ties.