Organizing for Others: Cords: Part 2

Let the cord organization continue! Was anyone else inspired to tackle some cord chaos in your abode? I was! With our computer cords all nice and organized, I was inspired to take on a much bigger project: the remaining cords in our apartment! While this may not sound like a huge task, you have to remember, Brit + love of gadgets = cords for days. Which also equals crazy, frustrated, Stefanie. But, after 3.5 years of living with Brit, he finally trusted me to address his cord "organization system".

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The Problem
Where to start... So we have several dozen cords that go to several dozen things {but who knows which cord goes to which thing}. And, where do we keep said cords? In a large tote bag tucked on a closet shelf, of course! 

Ok, check out this big momma...

This picture is not doing justice to how large the bag is, let me just tell you, it weights 15 lbs. If I'm exaggerating it's maybe by a pound or two. The bag is enormous and is filled with cords and other "electronic stuff", using my words, or "external hard drives and other very important cords", in Brit's words. Here's a little shot of the interior. 

As you can see this was a huge project to tackle, but not a difficult one. The only struggle was identifying what the heck all the cords went to! Anyone else have this problem? It happens all too often to me. Hence the excessive labeling system that commences. 

I labeled each and every cord, saying simply what it is used for. This took a little bit of time, but has been totally worth it! Now it is so much easier to find cords and know exactly what it's used for when I find one. But I wasn't going to stop there, now I needed a better way to store them. 

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Creating the Container
One of my main goals with the project was to make the cords easily accessible. I wanted to be able to know exactly where to go when searching for a cord. Using two Ikea bins {which may seem familiar from my Letters post}, I was able to create an organized system that has worked perfectly, so far. 

I created dividers using parts of a cardboard box. By cutting the cardboard halfway down the center, you can link them together creating a perfect divided space. 

I covered the dividers in some old wrapping paper {just to make 'em purdy}, and added more labels! This first box is considered our "everyday" box. This is filled with those cords that we use on a daily to weekly basis, and the ones we go hunting for most often.

The next box is for larger cords and those that are used less often. As you can see below, I was not very good at identifying each cord. But find what works for you. Apparently, this label works well for me and Brit. If he asks me to grab the "I told you 100 times what it was called", I know exactly what I'm looking for! 

I divided these cords a little differently because they are a bit larger and couldn't fit nicely in the cubed spaces like the other box. I didn't secure these dividers in the box, they're just kind of resting between the cords. This has actually made it easier to store and grab the cords, since the space isn't as restrictive.

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Results
From heavy, messy tote, to simplified, organized cord storage system. 

Now, you may be asking, what about all those external hard drives? Well, since we rarely have to get those and they take up beaucoup space, I placed them in a Bankers Box along with some of our old computers {don't ask me why we keep those, one battle at a time folks}. We store these on the top shelf of a closet. 

After sorting through all of the cords and figuring out what the heck everything went to, believe it or not we found TONS of cords that we didn't even need anymore. For example, I think we had about 8 blackberry chargers. We haven't even owned a blackberry in over 5 years! I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time throwing out a cord, something about it seems wrong. In fact, starting in 2015 in NYC there will be a law addressing cord disposal. So places like Goodwill, Best Buy and Staples collect damaged or unused cords {just what we need, another reason to go to Best Buy}. Check out this link to see more info in NYC, link here.  Definitely check out your city's website and see if there is anything like this in your area. 

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Review

I absolutely love the outcome of this project! The organized system has made it some much easier to find and store our cords. And on top if that, it works for me and Brit. 

Cost: Guess.... F-r-e-e! Reusing boxes and cutting up old cardboard made this project not only effective but also very, very cheap. 

Time: Well, if I don't include the time it took to identify what was what, it took about an hour. An hour to create the dividers, label and separate. Identifying the cords took an additional 45 minutes because I had to keep interrupting Brit and ask "what's this black one that has the weird shaped thingy on the end", my lack if ability to describe could have also come into play here. All in all, the amount of time saved definitely outweighs the time spent. 

Have you ever taken a good look at how many items in your home require a cord? Mind blowing. Do you have an organizing system for all of your crazy cords? 

Thanks for visiting! 

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