How can I organise all my electronic stuff in one place?

November 23, 2006 10:42 AM

I'm looking for a box/cupboard/whatever that can store all my household electronic bits and bobs (ipods, moblie phones, PDA, digital camera etc) in one place without them, the cables and the accessories getting tangled up. I've thought those junk drawer organisers with lots of different sized compartments might work, but they're not big enough and I'd prefer something stand alone. Something that could accommodate a multi-plug socket and hide all the cables would be even better. Any ideas?
posted by janecr to home & garden (11 comments total)

This probably isn't what you're looking for but:

http://dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=8179&Prfrm=1&cmp=AFC-GB9049936277

I've seen a wall unit display case that does more what you are looking for, but I can't recall who makes it or what it's called at the moment.
posted by doomtop at 10:48 AM on November 23, 2006

IKEA has everything. Just walk around the store for a while I'm sure you'll find something.

Something like these maybe?

Or maybe something more like a bookcase?

But again, the best thing to do is visit your local IKEA and look around for yourself.
posted by DrSkrud at 11:05 AM on November 23, 2006

One thing that has helped me: velcro cable ties. I buy them in five-packs from the local office supply superstore. They help keep my gadget drawers much neater than before, and since they stay attached to the cable when you're using it, you don't have to worry about losing them.
posted by brianogilvie at 11:54 AM on November 23, 2006

I have everything in a plastic box, and like objects are grouped together inside heavy "easy zipper" ziploc bags (e.g. camera, charger, and extra memory cards are in the same bag). Because everything is in a bag, cords don't tangle with each other. It's been a great solution for me.
posted by nevers at 11:58 AM on November 23, 2006

We have a baker's rack at the side of the kitchen that has a shelf that is our "charging stand". All the cables are run in a tube, also all velcro'd together. We buy 2-sided velcro rolls at Lowe's/Home Depot. The chargers for the 2 different phones, 2 different bluetooth headsets, mp3 players, Palm pda's, vidcam, etc, are sticking out from the back of the baker's rack exactly where we want them, and the power strip is hidden on the floor below/behind the lowest shelf of the rack.

The cables are semi-hidden, with about a foot of them exposed so we can have 8 devices charging side by side simultaneously.
posted by Bradley at 12:31 PM on November 23, 2006

Oh, also, this is a "permanent" installation, in that none of these cables travel with us. We have duplicate cables in our backpack/briefcase/purse to use outside of the house.
posted by Bradley at 12:32 PM on November 23, 2006

Anthro.com has an item that might be somewhat useful for this.
posted by arimathea at 12:54 PM on November 23, 2006

I saw a nicer one of these online just recently, but I can't remember where.

It's a wooden desktop valet (similar to the eternal Father's Day gift) that holds a power bar and organizes the individual charging of several electronic items.
posted by Sallyfur at 1:10 PM on November 23, 2006

For regularly used items with chargers, I bought a smallish rubbermaid box and cut 1-inch slits into the lid, and a larger slit in the bottom. I put a power strip in it and pulled the power cord for it out through the slit in the bottom, and plugged it into the wall. Then I plugged my chargers into the power strip. I pulled just a couple inches of the charger cords through the slits in the box lid, and put it on the box. This way, all my items are in one spot, charging, and no long cords to get tangled.

For longer things like headphones, I bought some of those command-strip hook thingies and mounted them to the side of a bookcase. I hang the headphones and things on the hooks.

For storing seldom used items, I use a clear plastic box, about 18in x 12in or so, with everything in its own labelled ziploc bag. Get both the quart and the gallon size ziplocs, because some cables that are especially thick or long do better in the larger bags. You can also keep the user manuals and software or demo CDs that ship with them in the bag with the appropriate items.

A related tip I've learned the hard way: label every charger as soon as you open the package. Six months later it's hard to tell which charger goes to what if you haven't used it in a while.
posted by Katravax at 5:37 PM on November 23, 2006

doomtop: perhaps you are thinking of Anthro's eNook? If not, it's still a pretty spiffy thing.
posted by not that girl at 7:16 PM on November 23, 2006

Maybe a Contactboxen
posted by lannanh at 12:12 AM on November 24, 2006