Notice how in magazine photos you never see desks with all the wires, cables, keyboards, mice, and extra hard drives? It’s always a pristine floor with a minimal desk and a monitor. So you purchase that beautiful desk for its clean lines and quality materials only wind up with a plastic cable jungle which is both an eyesore and frankly, hazardous.

So, how do you keep your wires under wraps? For professionals it's called “cable or wire management” and it can be taken to an art form.

With this in mind, I've put together some tidbits and cool sites that will help you preserve your working sanctuary:

1. Make a plan. If you have a lot of equipment, lay it out on the desk the way you want it beforehand and figure out many cables you have and where you want them to go.
2. The absolute cheapest way to tame your cables is with zip ties and sticky zip tie pads. Stick the pads to your wall or desk, pull the zip tie through the notches on the pads, then around the cables and voila! You can find a plethora of ties and accessories at local hardware stores.
   
3. A low cost solution is to screw a wire basket to the bottom of your desk and put all your excess wire and power adapters in it. I learned about this on Unclutterer.com.
   
4. If you want more room, get a wall mounted bracket for your monitor. Mounting your monitor will make any desk look super trendy, and when you're not working you can show off your photos by setting your screensaver to photo slide show.
   
5. For you daring types, drill a large 2” - 3" hole in the back of your desk and pull your wires down through the hole, then along the back edge, and down the legs. Keep the wires in place by with zip ties and tie holders.
6. If you've spent some money on your desk or it's an antique, you won't want to stick things to it or drill holes. Do your design a favor and invest in a wireless keyboard and mouse.

For the truly chic who don’t want the fuss of dealing with wires at all, check out these designs. They tackle clutter with style:

Pinel and Pinal I Trunk
This is a case pre-built with your office or audio studio right in. (from candy cast)

Blue Lounge takes all your accessories into account with the Space Station, a wire desk organizer.
(from coolhunting)
I also really like their CableBox


If that isn't enough, check out the Football world cup desk (from T3)


Want to learn more about wire managment? Start by checking out these sites:

http://shawnblanc.net/2007/elements-of-style/

http://www.uncrate.com/stuff/steph/

http://www.decluttered.com/

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2007/10/26/indoor-picket-fences-for-hiding-cables/

Got your own suggestions for taming that cluttered desk? Share them in the comments below.

Posted by Guru Alison | tagged: clutter, desk, monitor, wiring, Alison, clean, design, wireless