Cable Management Hacks to Tidy Up Your Space

Most people have a tangled mass of cables sitting behind their desk, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are a lot of fairly easy ways to keep cables neat and tidy, even if you have a lot of them. Getting them neat is worth the effort, since it will make things easier when you have to adjust them. In the long run, putting in a little bit of effort to keep things tidy will save time and irritation.

Card Cable Holder

One of the easiest ways to keep cables organized is to use a card cable holder. All you need to build one is a hole puncher, a good pair of scissors, and an old credit card. If you don't have any credit cards to sacrifice, you can use an old gift card that ran out of money, or any similar object that you happen to have laying around. This is appropriate for organizing charging cables or anything else with a large, thick head at the end.

Punch a series of holes near the edge of the card, leaving a little bit of space around the hole. Use the scissors to make an incision running from the edge of the card to each hole. Use the new slit to get your cables into the holes. As long as the end of the cables is wider than the hole, they won't slide out. If you want to ensure easy access, you can use a clip to attach the card to the side of your desk.

Wall Pouches

If your cables are getting tangled while they are charging phones or other small devices, you can solve the problem with an old shampoo bottle and a cutting tool. Cut the bottle in half, and then cut down all but one of the sides of the bottom half. This will make a pouch-shape with one side that stretches above the others. Wash the new pouch thoroughly to make sure that it doesn't have any shampoo residue left. Once it dries, you can stick your phone in it and attach it to the wall near the charger. You can use a clip if there's a convenient surface nearby, but you can also cut a hole in the taller wall and hang it off of a convenient peg. In some cases, you can even hang it off of the end of the cable once it gets plugged it, but be sure to check and make sure it can handle the weight before you do.

Wall Art

This method takes more work and planning than the others, but it can turn a collection of cables into functional decorations for the home. Start with a bag of cable clips, and attach them to the wall to form whatever pattern you like. Once you run the cable through the clips, it will hold them up to create an outline. If your cables are the same color as the wall, this will create the appearance of decorative molding. If they're a different color, if you have more than one color, you can use them to create surprisingly detailed pictures on the wall.

Binder Clip Shelf

If you need to keep cables neat without drawing much attention to them, such as in an office, you can use a binder clip shelf. Simply take a few binder clips and attach them to the edge of a desk, table, or any other such surface. Run a cable up through the handle of each clip, and orient it such that it can't fall out again. If a cable is too thin to catch on the edge of the clip and stay up, you can wrap a bread clip or any other object around it to make it wider. If you do, consider labeling the wideners to make sure you don't forget which cable is which. This solution is ideal for times when you only have a few cables to organize and you don't have a lot of extra space, but you do have room for a few clips. That makes it one of the best options for keeping office space tidy, since most offices will include a desk that is perfect for this technique.