If the back or side of your desk is cluttered with cables that you can't run along the underside of your desk because they're too short or you need access to them, a simple clay flower pot and some foam pads may be all that's necessary to clean it all up and get those cables under control.


Japanese blog Enviro-Studio.net offers an original and surprisingly clean way to corral your cables—just snag a large clay flower pot with a hole in the bottom that's big enough to get at least one end of your cables through, and cut out a few circles of foam or felt to lift it off the ground a little. Attach the foam to the bottom, and then just run the cables from the top of your desk into the flower pot, chargers and all. Update: One reader who knows Japanese wrote in to let us know that the hole in the bottom in this case is to temper the heat from the chargers - not to run the cables through. Thanks very much Yayoi!

Then you can run any remaining cables through the hole in the bottom and to the wall or surge protector, nice and neat. This way, if you need more slack on your desk, you can pull it up from the pot, instead of having to have the slack on your desk surface or all over the floor. It's a simple, cheap way to arrange your cables, and it hides neatly under your desk. Willing to give this a shot, or would you rather just buy longer cable? Share your cable management tips in the comments below.


Cable Clutter in Pots (Japanese: Google Translate Link) | Enviro-Studio.net