Our desk does not have a back and I have been looking for a DIY solution for a long time. hide the cables of the computer, printer, router, etc. Sometimes exposed cables are not only an aesthetic problem but can also become a danger if they are within the reach of children or animals.
Currently we have the cables collected in a grid channel that is under the table. This way I don’t have them on the floor but they are still accessible enough for one of my cats to nibble on them when we’re not home (sometimes I don’t know if I have a cat, a mouse or a rabbit). In the following image you can see how they are now:
Adding a rear panel to the desk did not completely solve the problem since the plug is next to the chest of drawers and the cables would continue to be visible in the part that does not cover the desk. For quite some time I have been considering different solutions to hide computer cables similar to those that I had used in other rooms of the house (such as in the bedroom or in the kitchen), none of them totally convinced me for this particular case, so when I saw a DIY panel to hide the cables in the Sarah M. Dorsey’s blog seemed like a good idea that could serve as inspiration.
This DIY decorative panel is fixed to the wall and not to the table, in this way you do not have to limit yourself to the size of the desk, but you can adapt the measurements of the panel as best suits you. Also, if you renew the desk, the panel continues to fulfill its function because it is on the wall, something that would not happen if a back panel were added to the desk.
To make this panel we have used an MDF or MDF board not very thick (one centimeter is enough). First of all it has been painted white (if you paint with homemade chalk paint you will not need a primer). In addition to decorating, moldings have also been used that have also been painted white and a stencil template with which a geometric print has been drawn in gray.
If you don’t feel like painting, you can decorate the DM with self-adhesive vinyl or wallpaper, for example.
Next, with carpenter’s glue, fix some L-shaped wooden slats to the back of the panel (the one that has not been decorated). These strips will serve to separate the panel from the wall, leave enough space for the cables and also to place the power strips on top.
In order for the decorative panel to be fixed to the wall, some adhesive strips have been used to hang pictures. I have used these strips at home to hang a picture and the truth is that they work well, although you have to choose the appropriate one according to the weight of what you want to attach to the wall and make sure that it is well fixed to the picture.
You can see the end result in the following image. The cables are now between the decorative panel and the wall, they are hidden from view and inaccessible to the little ones in the house and pets, although not so much that it is difficult to access them if we want to plug or unplug a device from the power strip.
I personally quite liked this idea to hide computer cables since it can be adapted to any decoration and style. In addition, it is not necessary to make a large investment to do it since MDF or DM boards are very cheap and to decorate them we can use scraps of fabric, vinyl, wallpaper, washi tape, homemade blackboard paint… It is also not necessary to have many tools to decorate them. carry out this DIY since the plank can be cut to size in DIY centers, and the joints of the strips and decorative moldings are made with carpenter’s glue, so no drilling or screwdriver is necessary.
Do you also have this problem of cables in sight? How have you solved it? What do you think of this idea? I hope to put it into practice soon, so I’ll give you the result.
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Images: Sarah M. Dorsey Designs
