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March 30, 2025

Essential Guide to a Minimalist Office Setup: Part 3 – Cable Management

I thought I would skip all the technology talk for now, and talk about the bane of our modern, office existence: Cable Management

Psst! If you have missed the first of the series, I fell down a literal rabbit hole a month ago, and am gathering all my insights into multiple part posts, with examples and actual product links, plus my take on them.

I will give you what I see repeatedly pop up over and over again and what has endured through their hundreds of videos. I sometimes see paid partnerships or sponsorships from brands for certain things, but by the next video it is gone.

So I am also looking out for longevity in choice. I will also note afterwards, what I personally use / do and why.

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I have always been pretty good at managing cables, with the ubiquitous cable box, but I have since learned there are many other things you can do to optimize your work from home office space. I am here to share all of these ideas.

But first, let’s enjoy the look of what a cable-free setup looks like.

You see? Not a SINGLE unsightly cable lurking on the desk, over the desk, under the desk… it looks so clean and neat, I can totally see why people obsess over this.

Mentally, I am feeling a lot better if I don’t have to look at wires, and it makes it much easier to clean, even to dust.

It looks amazing but don’t forget that behind the scenes of the monitors and desks, or underneath, there is a plethora of cables, all tidied and tucked away.

Here is how you do it:

CABLE MANAGEMENT

Here are all of the items you will need to achieve the above:

  1. Zip Ties
  2. Cable Ties
  3. Cable Clips
  4. Power Strips
  5. Under Desk Cable Trunks
  6. Cable Boxes
  7. USB charging hubs
  8. Cable head management
  9. Creative Decor

1. Zip ties

These are the standard plastic zip-ties that REALLY hold things together.

You would mostly use these for very large cables, or thick heavy ones, to wrangle them into a corner or have them stay where they are supposed to stay (like hidden down the back of the table leg), so you don’t see them peek out.

I would not use them for anything but super heavy, thick cables that WILL NOT MOVE, and need a lot of strength in the tie to hold them up and out of the way.

2. CABLE TIES

I like these the best to hold the cables together if possible. Obviously they don’t have the strength of a zip-tie, but they are far easier to undo and manage if you need to switch things around.

(A) SELF-GRIP Standard velcro strips

You know, the ones with a little hole so you can loop it around the cable and then tie it off?

This brand is great but you can also just buy even cheaper (?) black or grey velcro straps but as this is an aesthetics post, I would highly recommend these velcro pastel ties. They are ridiculously cute.

Bonus, you can even buy cable labels if you don’t need the velcro piece, so you can identify each horrible black cord.

(B) Labeled velcro strips

This Wrap-It brand is the best but I will say I am not a fan of the metal loop (see above). This is better for larger or thicker cables, and not so much for electronics charging cables which are thinner and smaller.

These are good for medium-sized cables, or to group cables together. I ESPECIALLY love that they come with a built in label (that white portion) because this makes life so much easier. I only wish they came in pastel, but alas…. there are no young women on their management team, I suspect.

(C) Silicone cable ties

If you are not into velcro and want something even more aesthetic, try silicone. These ones are pastel and look super cute. I like these as well, but mostly for tying up lighter or thinner cables (think wired headphones), or using them to carry around cables in your purse or to store them in your desk.

BONUS: HOW ABOUT Leather Cord Tacos?

These leather cord snaps are also quite cute, but be forewarned, they are only for SLIM cables, or stuff that doesn’t have a lot of length to it, as they snap over the entire bulk.

My take on the CABLE TIES

100% necessary. I want the pastel ones, and will buy the silicone ties for keeping my cords organized and pretty in their storage bins.

3. CABLE CLIPS

Sort of self-explanatory? Basically, even if you tie everything up with zip-ties, velcro and/or silicone cable ties, you still need to hang them somewhere!

Enter: cable clips.

(You don’t need them to be pretty, they are hiding stuff at the back of your monitor or table!)

You can attach them to the back of your desk, monitor, or run them down your desk legs (anywhere really, that is out of sight), and create a little trail of these clips so you can hook the cables you are tying up along the path you want it to take without having to tape the cables to your desk or back of your monitor.

TikTok: @itsmariel.a – She has a really great budget setup!

It gives it that organized, seamless and clean look.

You can get cable clips in various sizes (obviously very thick cables need the larger size), and 3M adhesive stickers to hold it all in place.

My take on the CABLE CLIP

I don’t currently use this as I don’t have a monitor, I actually need to figure out the situation once I get a monitor and how I will run the cables. But I will 100% be buying cable clips to do this, and help facilitate the look so it looks as nice from the back as it does from the front.

4. POWER STRIPS

With all of the things you are possibly running – from a monitor, to a laptop, a charging station, etc etc… you will need a power strip to wrangle all of it. You can obviously go for the standard office black or white power strip. No need to go fancy here, you can’t see it anyway, because you will hide it later.

However, I would HIGHLY recommend these cable labels to place onto the trunk (?) or head of each cable that is plugged into your power strip, so you know what powers what. They all look black and generic to me, so these cable labels are perfect.

I would even go as far as to suggest two power strips (obviously running to different wall outlets, not daisy-chaining them of course), and that way you are amply covered for any electrical need.

BONUS: STILL NEED A Power strip on your desk?

If you STILL need some sort of smaller extension cable or plug for your desk from time to time, this is a great, sleek, very low footprint option for a flat plug version with a hub that also has two power plugs that you can leave open for this purpose. It also comes in different colours which I love.

This one is a low profile power strip (the head of the plug is flat), and it is really meant for your desk with only 2 plugs available:

Unfortunately, no European version 🙁

Throw a 3M sticker underneath this extension plug, and it won’t shift on your desk, and will be in easy reach at all times.

My take on the power strip

Indispensible. I need two.

5. Under Desk Cable Trunks

These are also kind of self-explanatory in a way.

You need a place to hold the power strips underneath the table (otherwise they end up on the floor!). You have a few styles, and some look better than others, or more organized, but they all function the same way:

  • Mesh with holes on either side to let the cables run through from the power strip to the wall outlet
  • Open basket style (mesh) or the same vibe but an open grill basket style as pictured above … this is if you think the holes on either side will not be sufficient for the thickness of your cables or you want more airflow or ease of access
  • Shelf style (easier to access perhaps if you want to have it on the side of the desk looking sleeker and being able to easily access the power strip on/off switch)

Alternatively if you don’t or can’t do cable trunks, then you can simply use a cable box (next up) and place it on the floor to hold the power strip and hide the unsightly cables inside. You will see the cord coming from the wall where the powerstrip is plugged in, and the cables will be tucked inside. This is the cleanest look.

You could also get some heavy duty double-sided tape and just tape up the power strip underneath your table with the cords hanging down, which you can then simply put into a cable box on the floor or on the table. This I think would look less ‘clean’ but play around with it.

My take on the cable trunk

I don’t currently have a monitor set up where I am, so I don’t use this, but once my monitor comes in, I will 100% buy a cable trunk and have it hang off the side of my desk, tucked underneath and invisible for the most part.

6. Cable Boxes

There are SO MANY OPTIONS out there. You don’t even really need to buy a specific cable box. It just needs to be sturdy, with a cover on it, and two holes or openings on either side. That is about it.

My absolute favourite option (though it may not be big enough for a power bar, please measure!!), are these simply stunning book-style cable management boxes.

I think it is beyond gorgeous, and you can even buy extra ‘books’ to create a gap in between to make it fatter for your needs.

Otherwise, these are some nicer cable box options:

Anyway, there are lots of options.

If you are unable to (or don’t want to) put the cables on a table, you can always do it on the floor.

You can see that on the floor it doesn’t look that bad (looks better than what it was before, but if you ALSO take the time to:

  • Add cable covers up the wall for the wires so they are neatly hidden behind a strip (see later on in the post where I talk about it)
  • Change out the power strip plug (if possible) to a FLAT or low profile plug style, so it doesn’t stick out –
  • Inside the cable box, take the time to add some organization by putting velcro strips on the sides of the box, and sticking certain items to hang out against the sides rather than being crushed in there with the fray..

…you can achieve something rather neat and tidy looking. I mean, that is if you are extremely picky like I am.

My take on the cable box

I own the cream coloured fluted box (two of them actually), and what I do is I put the power strip in one, but run the cables for it to another cream coloured fluted box beside it, where I have my USB hub, and all my actual cables for charging. I do this because the box simply wasn’t big enough to house both the power strip, my laptop charger, and the hub AND all of its cables.

7. USB CHARGING HUBS

Even if you use a power strip, you may also need a USB hub to help you manage or have lots of different cables going into ONE port that plugs into ONE of the power strip plugs.

If your lamp for example, is not USB-powered, you will need another slot on the power strip, or if your computer still needs a full plug and cannot run on a USB-C connector, then you need another slot on that power strip, etc etc…

So USB hubs are extremely useful in that you can use one power strip slot and have 5 different cables charging.

Here are some very sleek aesthetic hubs to look at, and have an EXTERNAL power source to feed it:

!! PSA !! output power!!

You absolutely want to consider an INPUT plug that goes into the hub to give you the max OUTPUT power. I feel like this is the most critical thing ever.

You can’t just buy any random USB hub to use for charging and expect it to work without an input power source to feed it the energy. If you tried to do one single USB C into your laptop, and then a hub, the power would be so diluted that things like microphones or data transfers won’t work properly.

If you are looking simply for a USB hub with no external power, then there are a ton of options out there.

Think about it – if you have 1 plug, and 5 cables coming out of it, with different wattage needs, you are not going to be able to manage all the power without a hub that can do the job to be able to grab enough power from the plug to then redistribute it to all of the cables requiring different wattages.

A phone for instance, can charge on 18 watts – 65 watts, and while many modern phones have converters built in to accept less or more power, that doesn’t mean it may not have an effect on the battery life of your device.

Not only that, if you have 1 hub getting 120 watts in, if they split between 4 cables, you are getting 120 / 4 = 30 watts max per cable. Some devices only need 12 watts, so they will max out at 12 watts and the remaining 18 watts goes to charging something else that is plugged in.

To put it another way, if you have a 4-cable hub that has 120 watts, it is roughly:

  • 1 active cable = maximum 120 watts available to use for charging
  • 2 active cables = maximum 60 watts per device available to use for charging*
  • 3 active cables = maximum of 40 watts per device available to use for charging*
  • 4 active cables = maximum of 30 watts per device available to use for charging*

*Depending on again, the requirement of each cable/device that is plugged in.

So, whatever you choose, think about what you will be plugging into said hub, and make sure you check the specifications accordingly. Don’t just go on the looks of it alone, at this stage, you also don’t want to be stuck with a 15 watt charge on a hub that promised 100 watts.

My take on USB HUBS

I personally use the Mophie Speedport.

I use it to charge my laptop, and all my devices, including my e-reader. I just stick it in a cable box to hide its ugliness.

8. Cable head management

So by this, I mean if you have lots of cables coming out of said cable box, they might be a little more than unruly.

This is where you will need to figure out how to keep them organized. At any given moment, I have 4-8 cables going at the same time, and I am sure you do too if you counted them.

Mine are:

  • 2 x Laptop charging cord cables (as I have two laptops on at the same time)
  • 1 x Charging cable for Apple Port devices (my Airpods and my old iPhone which I use as a spare phone once in a while)
  • 1 x USB-C Charging cable for the iPhone and for other USB-C products (like recharging my book lights)
  • 1 x Mini-USB charging cable for the e-book reader (I have the Kindle Oasis and I love it)

…then I have cables or plugs that I need to recharge bathroom items, or my remote e-book page turners (I am literally this lazy..).

It all adds up. But here are your options on how to keep them ON YOUR DESK without having them slide off, and to let them be aesthetically pleasing yet functional.

(A) Magnetic CABLE pads

You attach the magnetic piece to the cable, and POP it goes on the pad and easily comes on and off.

(B) CABLE SNAP STRIPS

You attach the strip to your desk and then pop the cable through. No magnets, so you have to push it in or pull it out as needed.

(C) INDIVIDUAL cable holders

You can also skip the strip and do individual ports at any place you want on your desk, or even BEHIND your desk on the back edge of it, and have the cable peeking out and ready to use.

(D) WEIGHTED CABLES

I didn’t even know they were an option but you can buy cables that have a weight built into them so they stay on your desk and don’t slide off.

No tape, no glue, nada, nil!

These are the prettiest looking cables:

My take on the INDIVIDUAL CABLE HOLDERS

I will be buying two of the navy blue ones once I figure out my monitor and cable situation (I am transitioning to a two computer, standing + sitting setup).

I am less of a fan of using adhesive strips on items just because I am scared it will ruin the table. The only individual one I will consider in the future is the gold cube which could look rather cute in the right spot.

9. Creative Decor

We all know and love these right? But instead of settling for the first cable box you see, here are some ideas of how else you can put those cables out of sight and out of mind.

(A) Hiding cables in plain sight

  • Put a plant hanging over it – you can barely see it through the tendrils of the leaves. You can also put a potted plant in front of the cables, or angle it in such a way that you can’t see it.
  • Cover it with a cable ruched ribbon raceway – also called a cable sleeve, it comes in various colours
  • Cover the cords with a cord cover and you can easily paint over it to match the wall. Or keep it beige and sleek. Cord covers are great because they also keep the cord in a straight neat line, rather than looking all wobbly and flimsy.

(B) Storing cords

You can also look at how you can store your cables (after they have been properly velcro-ed and silicone-strapped), in a neat and organized manner in your drawers.

There are so many options out there, really, but here are some of the few fan favourites:

Here are some other beautiful boxes that wouldn’t look out of place on your desk:

  • Wood woven boxes – this one is the nicest with the wood frame, but you can find cheaper versions or ones with glass tops, however since you are storing cords, I wouldn’t necessarily want a glass top in this case, especially since they’re not stackable.
  • Quilted discreet + demurely elegant box – (LOL @ the word demure.. )
  • Stackable quilted box – I love the gold stud detail for the clasp. Bonus – it has a mirror so you can check your face before video calls
  • Stackable box with a clear glass top – I would put something really pretty on top to look at, and then keep ugly cords, or little electronic bits and pieces in the compartments underneath

(C) Other Ideas

  • Use artwork on the floor to hide the cables and you can even hang artwork OVER things that don’t look so cute (or put them in front of them) on your desk or on the wall.
  • Take a vintage book, hollow it out, stick your wifi router in there, and put something on top to distract from the antennae sticking out.
  • Cover all the wires in colour the gorgeous pink you see above, is a project from weekday carnival.

You can also use horizontal book boxes like this to store items:

MY TAKE ON CREATIVE DECOR

100% doing all a lot of this. Specifically, I will be putting a lot of plants around to hide the cables, and cords, because it distracts the most from the eye, from seeing what is actually there.

I already have the trays for the cords, so that is an easy thing to swap out and display on my desk instead of in my closet holding jewellery…

I also really like the hollowed out book idea to hide unsightly routers (or you can buy an actual book style cable box for this!), and using artwork on the floor. I have so many ideas, and things, I just need to try it all out and make sure it looks great.

CONSIDER…

Thinking about your space and how you will work BEFORE you begin managing everything

Maybe live with the mess for a week or two, and you may realize you like your laptop on the left on a riser instead of on the right.

Ease of access

It is one thing to have it all tucked away but if you have to constantly go underneath your desk to turn the power strip on or off, that is rather annoying, or if you have to continually snip the zip tie off, then consider a reusable option like velcro instead.

Standing desks will need a bit more slack

Let the cables be a bit looser or slack to let your desk go from sitting to standing without pulling on anything.

 

Go easy on the cables

Not wrangling the cables too hard because you may bend, break or otherwise distort the cable and the wires inside.

Buy longer cables as needed for the length

Do it so you can loop or hook them over the back of your monitor, then hold them in place with cable clips and strips. You can always tie them up if there is too much length, but better too much than too little, especially if you move to another office setup style, or need more length.

Labeling your cords

I am a fan of putting little labels or tags on every cable so that if you need to do something, you don’t need to experiment by tugging on the cord to see what it is and who it connects to.

Grouping cables in mini bunches and then a bigger bunch

What I mean: Group all the monitor cables into one velcro tie, and then all your laptop cables into another, and then doing a final, large velcro tie to hug both groups together. So when you need to access one group or the other, you aren’t managing more than you need in the moment.

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WANT MORE?

This is the series that has all of the posts: Cosy + Minimalist Aesthetic Desk Setups.

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