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Life On Virginia Street

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DIY . Home Decor . Travel . Style . Life

Office Organization and How To Hide Computer Cords

Cleaning and Organization Tips, DIY Projects

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Sharing with you all the details about our home office organization and how to hide computer cords for a polished, clean look!

A light wooden desk, navy blue wall in the background and an abstract picture on the wall. Sharing all the detail on how to hide computer cords and get your home office organized!

Thank you again for all of the love on our office reveal this week! We absolutely love how the organized space turned out, and I’m so happy you all loved it as well. I enjoyed reading all of your comments, tips, tricks, advice and questions. Today I’m going to try and address some of the questions that came up on that post as well as share some advice I received from you guys. I also want to talk about more than just the pretty pictures. Since this is a truly functional office that we both spend a lot of time in, a lot of what we implemented and chose is because there is an actual need. Not only that, our office was fully functional in the photos I shared – meaning everything was in the space, and plugged in. Not just styled for the photos. I’ll also be showing you how I was able to hide all the cords!

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

A wooden desk with a white office chair and a blue pillow. There are white flowers on the desk.

One of the biggest changes (in addition to the floors!) was adding these bookshelves on either side of our desks. Not only do I love the look, but they also add some much needed storage (and decor) space that we were lacking previously.

A wooden desk and chair in room and beside it a open metal shelf with office items on it.

OFFICE SOURCES: Wood Campaign Desks | Rolling Chairs | Bookcases | White Wood Bead Chandelier | Throw Pillow Covers | Similar Lamps | Striped Curtain Panels | Recycled Glass Vases

The Office Before

You may remember, last fall I pulled the ‘nightstand’ out of our guest bedroom and used this modified IKEA Rast for more drawer space (see the project details here). It actually worked quite well for a time, but I eventually realized I still needed a bit more space. I was using the top drawer for my camera and lenses so I had easy access. The middle drawer was split in two for blog documents/receipts and then rental documents/receipts. The bottom drawer was just miscellaneous items I needed to have nearby since the desk drawer didn’t hold much.

White office chair, a small three drawer hutch beside the desk with a plant on it.

This is an older picture, but on Kurtis’ side, we had another IKEA Rast, modified a bit differently (see the details here) to accommodate our printer and scanner. Again, it worked, but it wasn’t quite enough space. We ended up adding a seagrass bin to the top to maximize space and serve as our mail sorter. But, it all just started to feel a bit cluttered.

Ikea white stand with drawers in it and our printer plus clear glass vase on top with a branches in it.

You know I love to have a few accessories in my spaces, but it just wasn’t working with the old layout. We found ourselves needing the desk space and open surfaces for items we needed at hand, and I started to get frustrated with the way it looked. But, with all that said, after having assessed our needs and understanding how our ‘office for two’ needed to work, I think we’ve delivered exactly what we were looking for.

Adding Functionality to Our Office

The bookshelves essentially became taller versions of what we already had in place. We’re using the lower levels as “drawers” with these baskets (we have the 12×12’s). Basically all the functional, necessary office items are out of sight but within easy reach. Plus, I still have some space to add some decor and make the room not feel so one-dimensional.

The office desk with a computer on it, a white office chair with a blue pillow and a striped blanket on it to.

OFFICE SOURCES: Wood Campaign Desks | Rolling Chairs | Bookcases | White Wood Bead Chandelier | Throw Pillow Covers | Similar Lamps | Striped Curtain Panels | Recycled Glass Vases | Water Hyacinth Baskets | Abstract Art | Paint Colors: Benjamin Moore Hale Navy & Simply White

I’m absolutely loving the linen and gold office supplies that I bought from Target recently. They were pretty affordable but look much more high-end. The tassels on the paper file boxes are amazing and such a cute detail! The magazine holders are perfect for storing the magazines, catalogs and books that I flip through more than once. So much more effective than the basket I just stacked them all in previously.

Linen and gold office containers with books in them.

Kurtis needed a bit less storage on his side. We kept the mail sorter and printer/scanner on his side. The basket holds envelopes, our stapler, hole puncher, tape, etc. The white drawers hold our printer paper in one drawer and colored paper, cardstock and photo paper in the other drawer. His side was a lot more fun to style since it didn’t require much storage 😉

Side view of the desk and chair in office with the open shelf beside it.

OFFICE SOURCES: Wood Campaign Desks | Rolling Chairs | Bookcases | White Wood Bead Chandelier | Throw Pillow Covers | Similar Lamps | Striped Curtain Panels | Recycled Glass Vases | White Paper Drawers | Water Hyacinth Basket

We love the bookcases because they almost act like extensions of our desk. It almost mimics my L-shape desk I had previously. Everything is easily accessible while we sit at our respective desks, and the bookcases just feel so much more finished than our prior look. Not only that, they add a lot of functionality and space for me to decorate!

How To Hide Computer Cords

As I mentioned previously, our reveal photos showed a 100% functional office. Meaning, all of our lamps, scanner/printer and computers were plugged in and ready for use. I know a lot of times for photo shoots, these things are disconnected to show the pretty space. But, the reality is, I was too busy using my computer between photos to unplug everything (you can probably even tell the screen is on in several photos). I don’t have any major secrets for hiding the cords, but I’ll show you the method to my madness with a few photos.

I’m super old school, and still require a full-blown PC. I hate laptops. Kurtis on the other hand likes to be more mobile, so he prefers a laptop. Therefore, my side ends up having quite a few more cords. One thing I’ve moved to in the last year is a wireless keyboard and mouse. That alone gets rid of two cords I had previously and makes a huge difference! That basically just leaves the monitor cords.

You can see here from the back that the cords are slightly visible.

Up close picture of the computer cords on the desk.

I did also order this cord cover (similar here) to try out but it hasn’t arrived yet. It’s just a matter of preference I suppose on the look. You could also use zip ties to keep the cords together as tight as possible to take up as little space as possible. But, try to find items you can tuck the cords in between. In this instance, I used my pen/phone holder and the lamp to sandwich the cords between. From a few feet away, they’re hardly noticeable at all.

A large white washed wooden chandelier in the office with the wooden desk and artwork on wall.

The way I’ve arranged my side of the desk, you really can’t see the cords at all. Again, with the cords sandwiched between my pen/phone holder, lamp and business card holder, I see nearly nothing!

Up close view of the computer on the desk and the blue pillow on the office chair.

This is prior to me having all the cords “officially” arranged, but it helps you to see how I have everything tucked away. Basically, I ran all the cords down the sides of our desks. From there I tuck them in where I can or use zip ties or 3M hooks to hold them in place. Now that I’ve moved this recycle bin (which is actually this laundry hamper) to this side, I don’t need to mess around with the cords as much once they’re off the desk. But, that was a recent purchase and this method worked just as well before adding it. I then have the surge protector plugged in behind the bookcase but moved it in front of the bin so it was accessible. When the curtain are up (which I removed for this photo), everything in front of the bin is hidden. But, I also take care to not block the fans or cover the outlets with the curtains.

Computer cords on the floor beside the desk.
This is a close up of the surge protector. Keeping the cords down the side of the desk is a great way to hide them from view!

The ugly cords and PC tower are all neatly hidden along the desk legs and behind the curtain. All in all, you just have to get a little creative with your coverage, and assuming your outlets are too far away, it should be doable!

Future Updates Planned

After hearing from several of you (and the folks at Mannington), we plan to add mats under our chairs. They may not always look 100% great, but several of you have experience scratches from rolling chairs (particularly if dust/dirt gets under the wheels). Mannington also mentioned that because the hardwoods are a natural product, with prolonged used, the chairs could eventually cause divots or indentations in the floors because of the focused pressure from the wheels. We don’t want to take any chances with these gorgeous floors, so we definitely plan to find some mats. The more discreet the better 😉

I also need to re-organize the office closet. A few weeks back, Kurtis added an additional two shelves for me which actually makes the closet functional. It was previously design as more of a coat closet with one shelf and a hanging bar. With the two additional shelves, and no chair in the way, I may move some of my photography equipment into the closet.

After all of your great feedback, I ultimately decided to go with the striped curtain panels. I still love the trellis versions so much but I think they just felt a bit off in this space (particularly on the bookshelf sides of the room). I’m still scheming as to where I can re-home them where they will work better!

Other than that, at this point, the office is officially done! It’s probably the most complete room in our house now at this point.

Thank you again for all the love on our office space! If you have any other questions, please let me know in comments. Thanks and have a great weekend!

Two wooden desks in office and a white beaded chandelier above them centered. The board and batten walls are painted Benjamin Moore Hale Navy.

OFFICE SOURCES: Wood Campaign Desks | Rolling Chairs | Bookcases | White Wood Bead Chandelier | Throw Pillow Covers | Similar Lamps | Striped Curtain Panels | Recycled Glass Vases | Water Hyacinth Baskets | Abstract Art | Paint Colors: Benjamin Moore Hale Navy & Simply White

Thank you again for all the love on our office space! If you have any other questions, please let me know in comments. Thanks and have a great weekend!

If you would like to follow along on more of my home decor, DIY, lifestyle, travel and other posts, I’d love to have you join me on any of the below channels:

Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | LTK

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August 18, 2017 · 24 Comments

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Comments

  1. Pam says

    August 18, 2017 at 8:46 am

    Love your office space and how you made it functional and pretty. I am old school too….I like to use a desk top computer as well. I thought I was the only one. Love the bookshelves, thinking about getting those for my space.

    Reply
  2. Libby says

    August 18, 2017 at 8:54 am

    Thanks for this post. I love the look and especially how to hide the cords. My office is a twilight zone right now and as soon as I meet my current deadlines,
    it off to organizing and a better office appearance. Thanks again !

    Reply
  3. Mere says

    August 18, 2017 at 9:02 am

    Thanks for the follow up post – now that I see what you did with the cords, and that you also are old school and have a desktop to “hide”, I feel so much better. Have you thought about looking into the tempered glass mats for under the chairs. I’ve heard them advertised on Sirius XM – the idea of them is intriguing especially since it wouldn’t interrupt the beauty of the room visually.Thanks again for the follow up post – beautiful office. Now off to work on mine!

    Reply
  4. Renee says

    August 18, 2017 at 9:18 am

    Yes, get the mats. I have old hardwood floors and the office chair as ruining them before I bought a mat. It’s not great looking, but it’s saving the floors.

    Reply
  5. Laurie says

    August 18, 2017 at 10:30 am

    Brilliant! When I first glanced at your office I thought “where are the cords and computer itself??” Love your solutions! I too, like to work on an actual desktop not laptop. I’ll be implementing some of your suggestions in my own home office. Love the striped curtains too and agree with the other comments regarding the floor mat.

    Reply
  6. Heather says

    August 18, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    I love your office! That navy wall is gorgeous! I actually use my laptop like a PC and I have a second monitor so I have cords everywhere. I’m going to try to apply some of your tips to hide some of the cord chaos.

    Reply
  7. Niken says

    August 20, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    Chords always drive me crazy!
    I want everything in this office space – especially the desk

    Reply
  8. Diana Lopes says

    August 30, 2017 at 1:41 pm

    Your home office is beautiful! And you have a great way to hide the cords, I gotta say!

    Reply
  9. Susan says

    September 15, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    Am sure you commented on where you got the desk but I missed it…help!! Think I need it..timing is great I can give my son my old desk…
    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 16, 2017 at 6:50 pm

      We love ours! They are from World Market. Here is my direct affiliate link if you’re interested! http://rstyle.me/n/bw42x575re

      Reply
  10. Indee says

    June 23, 2018 at 9:59 pm

    Hi Sarah. Your office space of beautiful. I’m looking to update mine. I painted an accent wall as well and it was supposed to look just like this. Alas it turned out shiny navy blue. Can you share what this paint color is by chance? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      June 26, 2018 at 2:37 pm

      Thank you! I used Benjamin Moore Hale Navy in an eggshell finish. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  11. Suzan says

    October 27, 2018 at 10:58 am

    Hard wood floors just got installed and I am now ready to have the trim installed and wall painted hale navy. Can you please tell me what the other paint color it is you used on the remaining 3 walls? Cant wait to have an office like yours in my own house.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      October 29, 2018 at 7:46 am

      The other three walls are Benjamin Moore Simply White 🙂

      Reply
  12. Katie says

    January 24, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    Where did you get the wicker basket with the lid that’s under the desk? I love it!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      February 1, 2020 at 12:24 pm

      Thank you! It’s from The Container Store.

      Reply
  13. Donna says

    March 7, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    Where did you get the bookshelves?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      March 19, 2020 at 11:25 am

      Here is the link for them 🙂 – https://shopstyle.it/l/beTe7. Ours is the “antique white” finish.

      Reply
      • Anonymous says

        January 12, 2021 at 8:02 am

        are you able to reshare the link or name of the bookshelves?!

        Reply
        • Sarah says

          January 25, 2021 at 3:29 pm

          Sorry for the delay! They keep changing the link on me. Here is the current link to them: https://rstyle.me/+zqzQEbD0fVZbACVio6Dn6Q

          Reply
  14. Amanda says

    February 3, 2021 at 2:02 pm

    I have to say, when I looked at the picture with the basket under the desk, I thought you put the surge protector in there. I bought myself a basket and am trying that today. This way I could have a basket that all of the cords flow in to and then have a single whole that the order of the surge protector will come out of.

    Reply
  15. Heather says

    February 8, 2021 at 9:12 pm

    I love your blue wainscot wall. Can you share what size wood trim you used to create the squares?

    Reply
  16. Anonymous says

    August 28, 2022 at 4:40 am

    your office looks great… i am still working on mine… hopefully i can recreate your cable and chord magic in mine!

    Reply

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