It’s Day 20 of The 30 Day Home Refresh. Today’s project is an organization and decluttering project – do you have a tangled hoard of cables, cords, and wires stashed somewhere in your house? Of course you do, we all do! Today, we are going to sort through that tangled mess and get rid of the ones you'll never need again (hint: it’s most of them).
Gather them all and purge the ones you don’t need
Gather the cords and cables from all of their different hiding spots around the house. It's much easier to organize and purge if you can see the whole collection at once. You'll also be amazing to see how many duplicates you own. The purging process is simple, if you don’t know what the cord goes to then it's time to get rid of it. If you like to have a few extras just in case, cap that at two per cord type and make sure they’re cords that are used often, such as micro USB cables (what you most likely use for your smartphone). You don’t need the charger from your first generation iPod that you lost years ago, the VGA cables that hooked up your old monitors, or the cords from the printer you long ago donated. You also don't need any more coaxial cables than you already have installed.
Designate a place for all your tech accessories
Pick somewhere in your home where your pared-down collection of wires will live, a bin or box in a closet or a drawer in the TV stand are great places. Before each cord goes into its new home, wrap it up to prevent a tangled mess. Velcro wraps, cable wraps, or cable clips are all great products to keep the cords tidy. You can also use what you have on hand, such as paper towel rolls and rubber bands, to keep everything wrapped neatly. If it isn't obvious what the cord goes to, put a label on the cord or cable. Next separate cords by type — earbuds, phone chargers, USB cables, laptop chargers, etc. Separate them in your storage bin/box/drawer by type so that it's easy to find, Ziploc bags within the bins are a great way to stay organized. Families with children might want to give each member of the household their own small bin with the cords that charge their tech inside.
Images from I Heart Organizing
Hide wires that live out in the open
After you’ve put away all of your spare cords or infrequently used cords, you’ll be left with a few that get used constantly and need to stay out in plain sight. To keep those from getting unruly, take a look back at Day 3 of The 30 Day Home Refresh for some idea on how to hide cords and cables.
Stay organized going forward
In the future, when you get new tech for the house, label each cord discreetly. This makes life easier if you need to unplug to move things around and if those cords someday end up in the spare cord bin, you’ll exactly what they go to. As old tech leaves your house, try to remember to donate/recycle the cords and cables too.