Declutter your desktop: an organizer for those cables and gadgets for less than $10
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Notice to international readers: This is the English version of the article “Um organizador de cabos completo por menos de R$ 20, com uma grelha e 2 sargentos“, by Augusto Campos, published by Efetividade.net.
The war against cable clutter
You can install a complete and effective cable and peripheral organizer for under US$10, with little hassle and without using adhesives or damaging the desk.
Cables and wires crawl between computers and appliances around the world. They’re ugly, act as natural dust accumulators, and help build up the clutter in your office (or home). In some cases - keyboards, mice, network connections - finding wireless alternatives is already trivial. For most others, however, there’s no way to avoid the need to using wires and connectors.
Last week I bought a new desk for my home office, and decided not to let the cables and small peripherals take the high ground in this battle. After a quick visit to the tools and utilities store, spending ~US$ 10 (brazilian R$ 19,40), and with an hour of light assembly work, I got a setup that pleased me enough to go along with it.
The cables and small peripherals are gone
My desktop solution puts away (but near enough) the external hard drive, the USB hub, the AC adapters, the external monitor VGA cable, a power strip, most audio and USB cables, and the power cables. It offers enough free space to be upgraded to hold the wireless access point, in case I decide to move it to this side of the house.
All of this without drilling or damaging the desk, no adhesives and with no tools except the ones that are part of the setup.
My setup
The system was mounted using a small barbecue grill suspended from the table top, behind the desk - between the desk and the wall, with some extra space added for ventilation. To allow for easy mounting and unmounting, without drilling or using screws, I used 2 G clamps, like the one pictured below.
A small G clamp
The G clamps are positioned in a way (pictured bellow) that allows for the grill to be tilted when I need to access its opposite side, and I can easily uninstall or reposition the system by opening and closing the clamps.
The clamps are positioned like this
Note that I could find places for the clamps to stay hidden behind some other desktop features. If your clamps are going to stay visible, choose their colors wisely! ;-)
I bought a very cheap barbecue grill, but one on which I could get a decent grip for the cables and peripherals using common nylon cable ties. If you plan to add or remove your cables and gadgets frequently, consider using (strong!) velcro cable ties for them.
Nylon cable ties
With this setup, I could easily tie all wires and gadgets in an organized way. Mind the heat dissipation if you consider using both sides of the grill. I used the opposite side for the external hard drive, and reserved some front side space for the wireless access point, if the need to move it arises.
Hard drive on the opposite side
Shopping list
My cable and gadget organizer was very cheap indeed. This is the parts list:
- 2 G clamps, cheap type, made in China: R$ 3.40 each, R$ 6.80 total (US$ 3.50).
- 1 barbecue grill, cheap type: R$ 9.50 (US$ 4.88)
- nylon cable ties, 100-pack: R$ 3.10 (US$ 1.59)
Total: R$ 19.40 (US$ 9.97). I don’t know if you can find these items on your local hardware shop for the same prices, but it shouldn’t be expensive, anyway. You can mount this setup in less than 60 minutes, and without any damage to the furniture.
That’s my cable and gadget organizer, and it works for me. How about yours? Share the pictures and the story!
“Cordless” Desktop for under $10 « Alex’s Blog comentou:
em August 14 2007 @
[...] read more | digg story [...]
Dept. of Organization: Declutter Your Desk Space > thepinkc comentou:
em August 15 2007 @
[...] solution, Declutter your desktop: an organizer for those cables and gadgets for less than $10, is inexpensive and easy. It is also portable, so you can move it to another desk if [...]
Passerby comentou:
em August 15 2007 @
They’re called “C clamps” where I live (California), but I guess it’s a regional thing.
Chris Hills comentou:
em August 15 2007 @
Great idea! One thing that might be worth considering is to get a couple of pieces of plastic or wood to put between the clamp and your desk so that it does not leave any marks, or damage the surface.
Jeff Byrnes comentou:
em August 15 2007 @
Definitely cool; just picked up some similar items to try this myself, we’ll see how it goes.
imsima comentou:
em August 16 2007 @
Kabelsalat ade…
Eine preiswerte Alternative gegen Hardware-Kabelsalat!Mehr Bilder und eine komplette Beschreibung gibt es bei [ efetividade ] …
War on cables comentou:
em August 16 2007 @
[...] Cheap solution for keeping the cable clutter down @ the computer desk… Link. [...]
Endnu en billig mÃ¥de at fÃ¥ styr pÃ¥ ledningerne… | Geek2live comentou:
em August 16 2007 @
[...] Sådan gør du det. [...]
Chris Metcalf comentou:
em August 16 2007 @
Looks a lot like my former “Nerve Center”:
http://flickr.com/photos/chrismetcalf/4757729/in/set-183762/
D7 comentou:
em August 16 2007 @
Very smart solution for the desktop.
Thanks for the interesting post :)
west comentou:
em August 17 2007 @
could also be used a a bbq grill. :-)
it would definitely leave a new grill mark.
could start a trend with the “0″ grill mark.
mimi comentou:
em August 21 2007 @
i dunno where you bought that bbq grill, but i looked all over home depot and i can’t find a grill like that! i’m inclined to think that it’s not a bbq grill! I’ve never seen one that looked like that.
Terramel comentou:
em August 24 2007 @
mimi: Strange… Where do you live?? Most barbecue grills here in Brazil looks just alike the one in this post ;D
Sayne comentou:
em August 25 2007 @
Most american grills are a series of parallel bars - |||||, looks like the circular setup of your grills would give a much different pattern on your grilled meat :)
Selbstbau Blog comentou:
em September 7 2007 @
Krieg dem Kabelsalat…
Efetividade.net stellt nun eine low-tech und low-cost Selbstbau-Lösung vor, die ich ganz vielversprechend finde. Er nutzt Gitter eines Barbecue-Grils und befestigt die Kabelage mit Hilfe von Kabelbindern. Näheres auf Efetividade.net….
Yozz comentou:
em September 15 2007 @
could you write me at the email what kind of desk is this, size (width, height etc)… where i can buy it?
its from ikea? ?:)
thank you… :)
Yozz comentou:
em September 15 2007 @
ps. yozz3@wp.pl ;)
Corcoran Brothers » Blog Archive » Xmas in September comentou:
em September 15 2007 @
[...] are also going to try doing a job like this one, as cable management really sucks in the office. Instead of BBQ grill we’ll use black painted [...]
Schecky4 comentou:
em September 24 2007 @
Very clever idea! I especially like that monitor. What make and model is it? Also… is that Ubuntu I see?? Very nice.
augusto comentou:
em September 24 2007 @
Schecky4: Yes, that’s Ubuntu Feisty! The monitor is a regular Samsung Syncmaster 940B, but I tilted it.
“Cordless” Desktop for under $10 « Mods comentou:
em October 16 2007 @
[...] read more | digg story [...]
Tech Junkie » Blog Archive » Eye-fi: another step in the wireless direction comentou:
em November 5 2007 @
[...] soon as wireless power gets off the ground, organizing that mess of cable clutter behind your computer will be a thing of the [...]
7 Surefire Ways to Tame Cord Clutter. | Family Hack comentou:
em November 19 2007 @
[...] 4. Another DIY project. [...]
Organização de cabos e badulaques digitais: solução do Efetividade.net é destaque no Top 10 do Lifehacker « Efetividade.net comentou:
em March 18 2008 @
[...] que o Lifehacker incluiu nos seus “Top 10 Ways to Get Cables Under Control” foi a versão em inglês do meu artigo, que já havia aparecido por lá anteriormente no artigo “Go cordless with [...]