Our homes are full of technology to help make life easier, and with so many of us regularly working from home, it’s no surprise if cables and unsightly boxes are mounting up. So, we’ve pulled together some handy ways to tame the tech and get your home looking organised and streamlined, allowing decorating schemes to flourish without the distraction of games consoles, thermostats and endless remote controls.
From simple DIY projects to handy products to add to your space, we’ll have your home looking its best with the essential tech hidden from view, but still within easy reach. Read on to discover our tips...
10 stylish ways to disguise your tech
1. Surround it with style: Whether you want to hide a wall-mounted TV, thermostat or electrical box, a gallery wall is a great disguising device. ‘Designing a gallery wall around the technology will distract the eye,’ says Annica Wallin, executive creative director at Desenio. ‘Choose pieces that align with the overall mood, to transform functional necessities,’ she adds. You can even cover up unsightly features by fitting sliding panels or hollow canvases on hinges, to allow easy access when needed.
2. Get a cable box: ‘One thing that a lot of us can relate to is household clutter, even the tidiest of us can still find wires causing a room to look messy,’ explains Wendy Miranda, customer brand ambassador at Lakeland. ‘A cable box is a brilliant way to hide those wires from sight, but still have the items we want around us close by.’ A simple, yet stylish cable tidy box is an ideal solution for keeping areas near plug sockets looking clear and organised, rather than a chaotic display of tangled wires. This box can house a number of adapters and provides a handy place for you to place the device while it charges.
3. Prettify it: From air fryers and mixers, to toasters, microwaves and toastie makers – small kitchen appliances are great additions for making life easier (as well as some tasty treats), but they can also be bulky and unattractive to look at. If you’ve used up all of your cupboard space so that these gadgets need to remain out on the worktop consider treating them to a fabric cover to soften the appearance. With a whole host of colours and patterns available it’s easy to find a design that will fit into your kitchen’s decor scheme and help keep the appliance in tip top condition too.
4. Make your own curtain rail: Open shelving can be a fabulous addition in a living space or WFH area, but when they’re filled with printers and screens you don’t always want them on show. Adding a lightweight curtain panel is an easy, ideal way to soften a shelving unit and keep these unattractive essentials right where you need them.
You will need:
- Tape measure
- Slim line curtain track
- Curtain hooks
- Curtain panel
How-to:
- Measure the width of the shelving unit you want to conceal and times this by two. You could buy a ready-made curtain panel or fabric, or have it made to measure by a supplier like Hillarys.
- Next, fit your slim line track to the front, top edge of the shelving unit. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for how best to do this, fixing it securely to the unit.
- Add the curtain hooks to your curtain panel’s header tape, then hook the curtain onto the rail and in place.
5. Use baskets for bits and bobs: If you’re always searching for the remote, and finding every other one than the one you actually need, it might be time to create a designated space where you can store them away. Lidded baskets and boxes are ideal for concealing smaller tech, including remote controls, tablets and games controllers. Find ones that are small and stylish enough to fit on open shelving so that the items are easily accessible, but don’t clutter surfaces, or get lost down the side of sofas!
6. Set up an all-in-one console cabinet: Games consoles and controllers can really add to the clutter and chaos in a living space. The difficulty is storing these so they don’t take up unnecessary space or have a negative effect on a room’s scheme. Look for furniture solutions that work with your decor and incorporate a metal mesh or rattan front so that consoles can be stored, but the connection isn’t disrupted. This way the gamers in your household can still play without having to get the tech out each time, and all the devices can be neatly stored away after use.
7. Hang up a desk organiser: Clear routers and cables off the floor with a handy organiser that hangs from the back of a desk to keep these essentials neat and tidy, and out of view. ‘Working from home really brought the whole idea of organising routers, cables and extension leads – and storing them out of sight – into its own,’ says Simon Glanville, managing director at A Place for Everything. ‘There are lots of different options to get kit out of sight, from cable ties and storage boxes to wraps and neat under desk solutions.’
8. Camouflage garden gear: ‘Trellis can offer both functional and aesthetic benefits,’ says Jenny Davis at Forest Garden. ‘When strategically placed, it can conceal unsightly elements in your garden, such as utility boxes, air conditioning units, or even bare walls. By training climbing plants, like vines or flowering creepers, to grow on the trellis, you can create a natural, green screen that not only masks the undesirable features but also enhances the overall beauty of your outdoor space.’
If you’re not a confident gardener, then consider using an artificial leaf trellis which comes adorned with greenery to help give an instant cover to unattractive elements, such as meter boxes, allowing your outside space to flow uninterrupted.
9. Box it in (DIY edition!): Electrical boxes, thermostats and a collection of wires can all be hidden with a bespoke cupboard to complement your décor. Susie MacLeod from @girlandadrill created this stunning cupboard to hide unsightly pipes and wires in an awkward space that’s totally transformed her hallway, here’s how…
You will need:
- Tape measure
- Wood
- Circular saw
- Drill
- Wood glue
- Rattan/cane webbing
- Staple gun
- Hinges
- Paint and paintbrush
- Door knobs
- Pine shelf
- Sandpaper
- Wood stain
How-to:
- Measure the area you want to disguise and decide on the design you’re going for. The cupboard pictured above hides the unsightly pipes and wires behind the bottom right door, while the remaining spaces provide handy storage.
- Begin by making the cupboard frame, measure and then use the circular saw to cut the wood to your spec. Use the drill to fix the frame together and to the wall.
- From your measurements cut the wood for the door frames and use the wood glue to fix these together. For cane-fronted doors, soak the webbing for about 30 minutes to increase flexibility and then fix to the frame using a staple gun. For solid doors, cut MDF to fit and glue in place.
- Paint the cupboard and doors with your chosen paint colour, following the manufacturer’s guidelines for drying times and coats required for the best coverage, and use a primer if necessary.
- Use the hinges to fix the doors in place on the frame and add the door knobs.
- Finally, sand down a pine shelf and stain in your colour, then fix to the top of the cupboard with wood glue.
10. Box it in (the easy way!): Invest in a handy box like the one above - it's a great solution for keeping wires, routers and TV set-top boxes out of view. Mounted to the wall, it has been designed to allow adequate ventilation for the tech inside so that you don’t have to worry about overheating. Plus, the slatted design still allows full function for remote controls so you can easily keep TV-related tech out of sight and in use. We love how you can personalise it by adding accessories to the shelf at the top to help it blend with your decor seamlessly.
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