If you thought hiding electrical cords behind furniture and appliances was hard, having to hide them in the middle of the room is even more challenging. When your fixtures are away from the walls or at the center, loose cords aren’t just an eyesore — they’re tripping hazards. When your outlets are on the wall, you have to figure out how not to have wires running across in plain sight.
Here’s how to hide electrical cords in the middle of the room:
- Install floor outlets
- Take advantage of the furniture
- Install plastic cabling
- Use the area rugs
- Conceal the power strip
- Tuck away the tech boxes
- Bundle the cords together
- Use hooks or baskets to hide away wires
- Add a decorative box for hiding the wires
- Create a charging station
We’ve put together some genius ways to hide your cords and other electrical clutter so you can have a safe and neat-looking home. If the only hindrance to having a floating living room or office setup is loose cables, read on to learn what you can do about it.
1. Install Floor Outlets
This may be an expensive option, but it’s by far the best.
With a floor electrical outlet, your wires don’t need to run up to the wall, and you can just plug in your computer and lamps there.
Of course, you don’t want to do this in a rental property or if you plan to move the furniture around. If it makes sense to do this, go ahead and call an electrician to install a floor outlet or two near your furniture.
But what if you don’t have the luxury to have a floor outlet? Read on for some more fantastic options.
2. Take Advantage of the Furniture
Your furniture can play a role in hiding cords. All you need is some self-sticking clips or tape to snake the wires along the furniture legs and underneath instead of letting them run on the floor.
To maximize the furniture hiding abilities, snake the cables on the inner side of the furniture where nobody can see them.
3. Install Plastic Cabling
There’s a long and short route when it comes to cords coming from the wall outlet.
The short route is across the floor, which we’ve established is a tripping hazard and incredibly unsightly. The second and better option is to pass the wires along the wall to the nearest possible point.
Unfortunately, that means you’ll still see wires running along your home’s trim or the walls, and it’s not pretty. This is where plastic cabling or raceway comes in. You’ll find them in different sizes and shapes, which means you can hide more than one cable inside.
Besides hiding the wires on your trim, it’s also a great option to hide the cables coming from a wall-mounted TV. The best part is, you can paint the raceway to match the color of your walls or trim so nobody can see it. The cables will come from the wall outlet to the closest possible place where you can use another concealing method.
It’s always better to have the appliance near the outlet because that’ll reduce the length of cables you have to use. For example, if you can move the computer to one side of the desk nearest to the outlet, it’ll be easier to conceal that wire. You can also move the lamps near the outlet if it’s possible.
4. Use Area Rugs
But how do you hide a short wire or a power strip cord coming from the wall outlet to the middle of the room? The best option is your rug. You can tuck the cord under your area rug neatly and clip it down so it won’t keep moving.
You should also make sure the cord doesn’t pass through an area with high traffic, as a small bump in the rug can still trip someone. Sometimes, this means cutting a tiny slit on the rug where the cord will pass through and hide underneath until it reaches the wall outlet.
If you have wooden flooring and a space between the main floor and the subfloor, you can run the wire between them. You’ll need to drill two tiny holes-one near the furniture and the other near the wall outlet. The idea is to make the cord from the outlet to your furniture completely invisible and hide the power strip under your furniture.
5. Conceal the Power Strip
With so many electrical items and a limited supply of outlets, your best bet is a power strip or two. It can hold four to eight cables, which also means it can be an eyesore, especially if wires start to tangle up. You can solve this by lifting the strip off the floor and hiding it somewhere out of sight.
Since we’re talking about the middle of a room, you can screw the power strip under the table or on the furniture’s side. Most power strips come with holes on the back, so it won’t be hard to screw them somewhere. If your entertainment system or office desk has long legs, install the power strip along one leg that won’t be openly visible.
Make sure you place the power strip in an area where you can easily plug or unplug items when necessary. You can also go ahead and label each wire since you can’t see them clearly. Labeling will ensure you switch on the right outlet and reduce confusion.
6. Tuck Away the Tech Boxes
A typical house has a few tech boxes from the cable box, Apple TV, router, and a DVD player in some homes. If you consider all the wires coming from these boxes to each other and outlets, you have yourself quite a mess.
The best solution is to hide all the boxes in a different piece of furniture. This could be a sideboard that holds your décor, a bookshelf nearby, or even a dedicated cabinet for such things.
Gently drill a hole on the back of the cabinet where wires can get through. However, if your TV stand has lockable cabinets, you can use it to lock away the boxes.
7. Bundle the Cords Together
Again, think about all the wires attached to your multiple tech boxes, not to mention the computer and other office electronics. Bundling these wires together is the ultimate hack to keep wires in one place and prevent tangling.
Using a cord wrap to hold the wires together and organize them keeps everything streamlined and less cluttered.
You don’t have to leave the bundled wires naked, though. Wrap them in jute rope or any other neutral decorative material that’ll easily blend in with the background. Instead of seeing a bunch of wires together, people will only see a nice decorative feature.
8. Use Hooks or Baskets to Hide Away Wires
Remember when we said screwing a power strip under/on the furniture side is a great way to hide cords? You can take this a notch up by attaching a basket or hooks underneath the furniture. This is very common in offices, and it’s typically used to hold charger cables so they won’t dangle.
You can place your phone on that rack when you need to charge it and then leave the wire there once it’s full. If you have a million wires underneath a cupboard or TV stand, such a basket can help hold them so you won’t see them anymore. More importantly, they’re off the floor, where they can’t get into contact with water or bugs.
9. Add a Decorative Box for Hiding the Wires
This trick works just as well whether your furniture is centered or leaning on the walls.
Add a small piece of furniture, like a sleek bedside table next to your desk or seats. If you have the space, add one on each side of the couch. Also, drill a hole behind this beautiful piece of décor and then put all the house wires inside there.
If you don’t have a budget or room for extra furniture, use a basket with a lid. You can place the basket right on the floor, and the holes on the side of your basket will allow cables to go through.
Alternatively, the D-Line Cord Organizer Box keeps your power strip, chargers and cables concealed and organized inside. You wouldn’t even know there are cords nearby.
- D-Line Cable Management Box conceals/protects power...
- D-Line's Cord Organizer Box blends with modern décor,...
- D-Line Wire Organizer Box common applications; under...
- D-Line’s Cable Organizer Box has curved ends and...
10. Create a Charging Station
Between all the phones, tablets, and power banks a family has, it’s easy to see how all those cords can become a source of clutter in the living room. You can solve this problem by creating a designated charging station somewhere else in the house. You can also have it in the main living area as long as it’s not placed in plain sight.
A charging station typically comes with several slots to handle all devices and shortened power cables. This allows you to charge several items at once without having a tangled mess.
If you prefer to do a DIY charging station, you can easily make one with a shoebox. Simply make holes on the side of the shoebox and conceal the power strip inside. The phones will still be outside, but you won’t see any wires.
FAQs About Hiding Electrical Cords
Do Electrical Cords Become Hot if You Hide Them Under the Carpet?
Electrical cords don’t become hot if you hide them under the carpet. Two reasons why they would become hot is when they’re either overloaded or damaged.
When concealing cords under an area rug, you should put them in an area with the least movement. Passing over the cord over and over can wear it out and cause it to start overheating. This can eventually lead to a fire if pieces of the wire start breaking off, but a circuit breaker should stop that from happening.
If you’re using an extension wire from the wall outlet to the power strip, it can get hot due to overloading. Electrical cords have a limited capacity, and you shouldn’t overload them. That said, you shouldn’t hide a power strip under a carpet because it needs air.
Can You Plug Several Extension Cords Together?
The job of an extension cord is to carry electrical current over an extended distance.
You can plug several extension cords together if you only have one outlet in the room but have many things that require power. However, this idea is dangerous and can easily overload the outlet and lead to overheating.
The best solution is to buy a long power strip with six to eight ports so that you can plug in as many devices as possible, without having to worry about overloading the outlet and possibly causing overheating and, even worse, a fire.
See also: Can You Plug a Mini Fridge Into an Extension Cord?
Is a Floor Outlet Safe?
An outlet can only be unsafe if it’s overloaded or comes in contact with water.
A floor outlet is safe if you clean your home with a vacuum cleaner and dry mop. In most cases, the floor outlet is hidden under furniture where it can’t contact water.
If you mop your house with water, though, a floor outlet may not be the best idea. It’s also important to ensure kids don’t find out about it and try to fix pens and metallic items there.
Key Takeaways
If you want an office setup or dream of a floating bedroom or living room, you shouldn’t let electrical wires stop you. Any of the ten tips discussed above can help you conceal those wires and still have a beautiful and safe home.
However, it’s not always possible to totally hide all the wires in your home, especially when you have a middle-of-the-room setup. In such a case, embrace the cords and make them part of your décor by wrapping some decorative fabric over the entire length of the cord.
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