Taming the Chord Chaos

I think everyone has this problem. I imagine everyone is at least challenged with this issue. Maybe people that do not use electricity, then they wouldn't. I am talking about power cords to all of our various devices. Cell phones, iPods &  iPads-3rd thru 100th generation, tablets, cameras, gaming devices, bluetooth earpieces, etc. Then there are the earbuds that come with all of these devices! I am sure this list could go on.

Does this photo help you feel better?

This was our old method of taming the power cords. This is my top drawer to my dresser! How embarrassing. I don't know how my drawer became the nesting spot of all these cords, but my kids sure knew to put them all here. If you look close (which this is a terrible photo, so sorry!) you can see there was an effort made to keep things untangled: take the cord, fold it in half, then again, and tie it in a knot on itself.

I had done the Google and Pinterest search many times before and never found anything that was really functional. It was all super cutesy-like wrapping paper towel tubes in scrapbooking paper. I need durable... 

Then it hit me! I use tackle boxes to organize my jewelry, and I had just purchased a few more to go with tackling my master closet. So I would give it a try.

I love this tackle box. I purchased it at my local Walmart in the Fishing Department. It is made by Plano. It comes with these adjustable dividers so you determine how wide you want each compartment.

This is the top drawer contents. As sad as it is I then had to go round up additional cords from around the house. I sorted through the stuff and got rid of anything we didn't use anymore or cords that were cracked and we had extras of.

The Clutter Diet had a great tip: she suggested labeling your cords. She used her labeler to type in the name of the cord and print it, then press the feed button to reel out more of the label. Mine doesn't have that feature. So I put about 20 spaces after the name I gave the cord (more if the name was longer).

Then wrap around the cord and stick the label on itself.

I did this with all my cords. Mainly for the kids and husband to know what goes to what. If you have a plug adapter that has a specific volt output for an item, you might want to label that so you don't blow it's little circuit by using the wrong one. :)

I just grouped the items together for what worked for our family. And voila! You have yourself a local hub for your electronic cords.