The problem is as old as electrical appliances themselves: all these useful little helpers come with a cord to draw power from – and only rarely is there a socket close by. As a result, veritable tangles of cables snake through all kinds of rooms, often made even longer by extension leads with multi-socket power strips. The result is often colloquially referred to as a ‘cable mess’.

• What should I keep in mind for cable management in the office?
• What cable management tricks are there for the office?
• Clothes peg, gutter & toilet roll
• Cable ties, cable sleeves and cable boxes
• Cable ducts, cable wall and cable trays

For one thing, it looks untidy, although at home many cables for fixed appliances such as the television, Playstation or floor lamp can still be hidden behind cupboards, under skirting boards or beneath carpets. For items used less frequently, such as vacuum cleaners or irons, the industry has already come up with clever cable storage solutions. When it comes to the office, however, the issue of cable clutter is a perennial one. It only takes one device needing to be replaced or moved, and suddenly they are drawing lots to see which intern gets to throw themselves into the woolly, dust-coated tangle of cables under the desks and, like battling a cobra, wrest the right lead from the mass of intertwined loops.

Experience shows that the often-made resolution to sort out the whole mess at the next opportunity is rarely followed by action – the much-quoted saying “out of sight, out of mind” is as accurate as ever. Then again: if it is possible to get the problem out of sight, that is already half the battle. Because as long as cables are not in your field of vision, you are also less likely to trip over them. That is the biggest risk in what is otherwise merely an annoying issue: the tripping hazard. A cable hanging awkwardly from the desk or lying around in the footwell can quite literally knock an employee off their chair when they stand up. And a carelessly laid extension lead can send an absent-minded colleague sprawling while they are studying a piece of paper as they walk.

Either way, lucky is anyone who has a tidy workstation. With a few simple tips and tricks, you can establish a certain basic level of order – and it does not even have to cost much. Of course, many companies also offer well thought-out cable routing solutions; and anyone setting up an office should definitely take a look at the range available at their local DIY store.

Office cable management can provide the answer here. The fully wired desk at home, in the office or in a shared workspace can be brought under control with a few simple tricks.

What should I consider when managing cables in the office?

A few considerations are important for tidy cable management at your workstation. All devices in a modern office setup have cables, and a PC can easily have up to eight of them. That is why, especially when it comes to desk cable management, it is important to develop a strategy.

• Avoid trip hazards: route cables behind or under the desk

• Cable length: keep cables as short as possible

• Bundle cables so that individual devices can still be removed easily (use reusable cable ties)

• "Hide" cables: this instantly makes your office look tidier

What cable management tricks are there for the office?

CLOTHES PEG, GUTTER & TOILET ROLL TUBE

As there are usually plenty of other types of cables around a workstation besides power cables, this is the first place worth examining. It is not uncommon for it to go beyond the power cables hanging down behind the desk from the monitor, PC and, where applicable, printer and scanner. On the desk itself, external hard drives, cameras, tablets, smartphones and other power-hungry gadgets can also create an infernal tangle of USB, FireWire or Thunderbolt cables.

The first step towards order, as always, is to declutter. Feel free to give the whole mess a thorough once-over – and even if all you end up removing is a printer cable you have not used in ages, every cable less helps. Secondly: anything that is not absolutely needed on the desk should be put away in a drawer. To stop Gordian cable knots from forming there, it is advisable to find a cable-friendly way to coil them up – similar to coiling a climbing rope. But be careful: never twist the cable as you do so; instead, follow the natural movement of the fabric or composite material, otherwise the conductive fibres inside may be damaged or even break completely.

A clever and inexpensive solution for desk cable management can be found through recycling: the cardboard tube left at the end of every toilet roll has enormous organisational potential. Stand several toilet roll tubes upright in the drawer and they will keep unused cables separate from one another while giving you a quick overview of what you have. On the desktop, another household item can help keep things tidy: the clothes peg.

CABLE TIES AND CABLE SLEEVES

If a desk is positioned freely in the room rather than against a wall, dangling power cables can become a problem. The simplest way to organise cables at your workstation is certainly to bundle them together with cable ties, creating a single thick cable run from the desk to the power strip. It may also be possible to place and secure such a multi-socket power strip, ideally with an on/off switch, on the desk behind the computer monitor or printer. That way, only one power cable needs to run to the socket from the outset. By the way, an alternative to cable ties is a cable sleeve. Looking not unlike a vacuum cleaner hose, but with a slit running along the side, it can hold more or fewer cables depending on its diameter. A slightly more expensive solution is a professional cable spiral available from specialist retailers, which also adds extra stability to the whole arrangement.

CABLE BOXES

Far more elegant are the modern cable boxes created by renowned designers, who have clearly long seen unsightly tangles of cables as an eyesore in their design studios. How else could it be explained that there is now such a wide selection of cable boxes, cable chests, cable cases and even cable bins available? Prices range from 5 to 500 euros, depending on how much emphasis you want to place on design. The principle is always the same: all power cables are fed into the box through a slot or hole on one side and plugged into one or more power strips inside. On the other side, a main power cable then comes out to supply the entire office setup with electricity. By the way, a cable box can also be quickly made yourself with a little DIY skill, using a shoebox or a wooden box, for example. However, there is one thing to bear in mind with these solutions: depending on the condition of the electrical installation in the building, a fuse may trip if too much load is connected to one socket. Depending on how many power-hungry devices you have in the office, it may make sense to split them across two separately fused sockets.

CABLE TRUNKING

Even if there is only a single power cable or a bundled cable run leading from the desk to the floor: all too often, the very spot where you need a socket is the one where there is none in the wall. So there is no option but to run another cable. Anyone with a surround sound system or a hi-fi setup with two satellite speakers and a subwoofer at home will probably know the problem too: in rooms like these, extremely long cable runs trail along the skirting boards. The solution is called a “cable trunking”. First, there is the classic white version, which guides several cables along the wall in a kind of channel, hidden beneath a plastic cover. Whether white plastic cladding on the wall really looks better than individual cables is something everyone can decide for themselves. A far more attractive option is a cable duct that serves a second purpose too – namely as a skirting board. Models like these are available in a wide range in most DIY stores and, with a bit of luck, they will fit the existing skirting board mounting. Behind them, the cables then run neatly from A to B – in some homes, especially period properties, there are also substantial wall skirtings above the parquet floor that are usually hollow; these too can be used as cable ducts. On the desk as well, depending on the model, fitting a conventional cable duct could help keep things tidy: there are even special versions with rubber lips that let cables be fed in and out wherever needed. And just like that, your office cable management is complete.

CABLE WALL

Creative minds often see the problem of tangled cables as an opportunity to enhance their own four walls. For them, the idea of an entire cable wall is well worth considering. If you can manage to route all cables along one side of a room, you can hide them behind a mounted cable wall. Wood, MDF, aluminium or plexiglass are particularly suitable for this; the second wall is screwed a few centimetres in front of the real wall – and all the cables disappear. There are no limits to your creativity here: from a simple white textured finish to LED light strips on the back as an indirect light source in the room, this offset wall can be anything from a discreet helper to a decorative eye-catcher.

CABLE TRAYS

Finally, one more tip for people who live in homes with power sockets mounted high up on the wall. They often have no choice but to charge their mobile phone, tablet or MP3 player while it hangs from the power cable. In the long run, this puts a huge strain on the hardware, as the connection points between cable and plug are permanently overstretched and bent. A practical solution is charging cradles available from specialist retailers that use the power adapter itself as a hook. The device then rests on the hook as if in a plastic or wooden hammock – a setup you can also recreate yourself with a small basket, a cardboard construction or a paper ice cream cup.

Above all, safety naturally comes first: devices that become very hot while charging do not belong in a cardboard box or a closed plastic container. And cables routed openly across the room should, if possible, stand out in colour from the floor; many manufacturers offer colourful power strips, for example in signal red. As a general rule for homes or offices where animals (especially rodents) have access: no exposed power cables lying around.