Your house looks beautiful. It’s clean and organized, but ugly wires can make your space seem messy. This is a daily struggle for many people. Having cables hanging around everywhere and obstructing your designed room is one of the most unsightly aspects of a modern household. But not to worry. There are many ways to hide your cables in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and functionally appropriate.
1. Using Raceways
This is one of the simplest ways to conceal your wires. A raceway is a shallow channel that mounts directly to the wall; basically you will add a plastic or metal casing to your wires along the wall. You can usually find a basic Cable concealer Kit.
You’ll have to first measure the length of wall between the base of the screen and the floor on order to cut the correct length of cord. In the case of the Cable Concealer Kit, you’ll cut the base and top of the cord cover using a hacksaw. Then, mount the raceway base to the wall with screws according to the manufacturer’s instructions, lay the TV cords inside the channel, and snap the cover in place over the top. Cord covers are typically sold in neutral colors like white or metallic gray that can stand out if your wall is a different color. But when painted the same color as your wall, they seamlessly blend into the space.
2. Using Cable Hooks
Buying cable hooks and hooking your cables onto your wall skirting or your furniture will keep the room looking neat and your wall from being drilled. This of course works better if your cables are in colors that match the furniture and the walls. The TV stand works as an amazing piece of furniture to hook your cables into and it is almost always along the wall therefore it won’t be seen. The cable hooks neatly tuck your cables into your furniture. Remove the site of tangles and haphazard cables everywhere.
3. Using Baseboard Accessories
Eliminate the tripping hazard of TV cables all over by running it through existing baseboard accessories. For example, through CE Tech Round Baseboard Cord Channels, available at The Home Depot. The self-adhesive, impact-resistant cord channels are little more than hollowed-out sections of plastic quarter molding. To mount the channels to your baseboards, peel off the adhesive backing of a channel, press the back of the channel against a baseboard, and then run the TV cables through the opening in the channel to simultaneously hide and protect the cables from damage. Since these accessories can be painted and/or stained, you can match them to your design aesthetic or your color scheme.
4. Stashing the Cables
This is an ingenious way to hide your cables that involves the least amount of DIY work or reconstruction. You can hide your cables by stashing them in a wall unit or cabinet accessory. Anything from a fake book to a decorative box can work for this. These accessories are also found on Amazon or you could choose to thrift them. I like the book because it blends well with whatever other books you have in your TV cabinet or stand. All you need to do is arrange the cables very nicely within the hollow book, box or decorative artifact and ensure you don’t dramatically move your setup.
5. DIY Woodframe
This involves some wood, fabric, creativity and willingness to be seen as quirky. You can have your cables hanging straight down as you mount your TV but then create a wood frame specifically to contain them. Afterward, you can use decorative fabric to cover the wood frame and add a different dimension to your decorative aesthetic.
6. Creating Wall Art
If you are artsy and enjoy seeing art pieces made from strange materials, this one is for you. Instead of trying to hide the cabling, why not use it? Create some art pieces using the cables and attach them to the wall with adhesive or double sided tape. From city skylines to human silhouettes, you can have fun with this in one and get the whole family involved too!
7. Hiding the Cables Under the Trim
If you have a fireplace, this can be a good fix. We are getting into the DIY construction zone now, so be careful with the tools. This one is tricky and you should only do if you are vaguely familiar with construction or at least attaching and detaching trim around a fireplace. Start by removing your fireplace tri or the trim. Afterward, you will hook, nail or glue your cables to the frame of the trim before reattaching the trim. It is very aesthetically pleasing but can cause a challenged when you want to change cable, move your TV etc.
8. Organizing Your Cables
This involves attention to detail and trust in yourself. You will need to measure and cut each cable to the needed length to reduce the amount of cords you need to hide. You will then need a cable box to hide them in after you have plugged into each end. Paint the box to match your color. You could also use your solid paneling together with cable ties and clips and attach the tied cables to the solid back panel. Alternatively, if you have a TV stand, you could mount a grid to the back of the stand and run your cables through the grid after you have cut them to size.
9. Hiding Them Behind the Wall
The best solution for keeping the cords of a wall-mounted TV out of sight involves hiding them behind the wall itself using recessed cable plates like a Datacomm Cable Organizer Kit which is also available on Amazon. If you have a wall made of plywood, this is a very easy solution once you buy the organizer as it really is a three step process. Remove the TV from the wall and then use a stud finder to find two stud-free sections of the wall: one behind where the screen would sit, and another further down the wall near an outlet. These are where you’ll make your cuts using a utility knife, fit two cable plates, and feed the TV cords in and out of the wall. This will provide an easy fix to an otherwise unpleasant sight and give the illusion of a cable-less TV system.
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