Even though you live in a WiFi world you need to connect to the grid at some point. Home Office Cable Management is the Point.
This weekend I helped a client assemble an IKEA workstation as her home office desk and learned a lot in the process. Hint: when you assemble something read through all the directions first, understand them cold, then assemble. You will make at least one mistake. No mistake is uncorrectable. One person can assemble most home office furniture, but it helps to have another set of hands, muscles, smarts and sense of humor to make the task easier and more fun.
“Pam” picked a Galant workstation as her home office desk because, in addition to a workspace for her home office, she wanted a generous surface where she can sew and paint. Multi-purpose, not multi-tasking.
This deceptively simple home office cable management system, Galant by IKEA, excellently organizes your connections and gets them off the floor. The simplest solutions are best.
What about this home office cable management gutter you ask? I love simple, elegant solutions to challenging problems. The Galant Cord Management accessory is one. It attaches simply (four screws), holds a lot and is very sturdy. (Thank you Karen at IKEA Stoughton.)
I have seen a very clever home office cable management DIY on the internet that takes a cut section of vinyl rain gutter and a series of complicated (to me) hardware bits to mount it under a desk for a cable and cord gutter. This is much simpler to attach to a desk or table (for the DIY-challenged) and much cheaper: $5 for 31 inches long and $10 for 53 inches. It has holes on the bottom that I thought were just for air circulation. But no, these are big enough to allow a standard electrical plug to pass through, thus allowing for more and varied configurations of power strips, cords and cables.
“Pam” had brilliant ideas on how to place her connections into the home office cable management accessory, which I want to share with you (I always learn from my clients):
- Place the power strip on its side so the electrical outlets face out, not up. This makes it much easier to plug and unplug things.
- Use lok-ties to secure the power strip and router to the cable manager. We simply threaded the lok-ties through the holes in the bottom of the gutter. Now they are securely anchored – bumping or moving the desk will not make them to crash to the floor.
When we were done my client had a sleek, sturdy home office desk and craft table. Her electronic and internet connections where now tucked, tacked and coiled out of the way, while easy to access. Not only does it look neat and uncluttered, but it feels organized and professional.
Here are some other home office cable management ideas:
Who Says Your Desk Must be a Desk?
Hint#2: Assembling anything by IKEA means pre-drilled holes. The Galant cable management accessory does not have any holes to fit it. This allows for free choice where to locate it, which means an electric drill comes in handy. The underside of the desk is fiber-board, which is very hard to drill into otherwise.
We will be assembling the mobile files next month. Will let you know how it goes.
Learn more about intelligent home office set-up. Get your own copy of The Smarter Home Office: 8 Simple Steps to Increase Your Income, Inspiration and Comfort
image by IKEA
