Cords are my pet peeve. There are so many times the cord is a lot longer than you need, and they just aren’t pretty. Practical – yes – but very much in my way and a challenge I needed to take care of. My mom has the same situation going on here.
Our television has been above the mantel for about a year now. I do miss decorating the mantel and really have no idea what to do with it. But overall, I love having the television up and out of the way. Putting it above the mantel gives us so much more seating space in our living room. Since this is a older house, we have a huge mirror over the mantel that we didn’t want to take down. It reflects the light and brightens what could be a dark corner. However, the mirror keeps us from hiding the cords in the wall.
This is what we dealt with – a pile of cords. Christmas was the best time because the garland did hide them. In January I bought this little stand for a couple of dollars and thought it would work. I lived with it and decided it looked lopsided. It was time for a change.
First, I moved the little make-shift component holder to the guest room where a night stand was needed. Next up, we bought a chair to balance the one on the other side of the fireplace. This isn’t a huge room, so I wanted about the same size as the chair on the right that I bought at Pier One. I ordered the ivory chair from Overstock. I decided to go neutral since the other chair is colorful, and plus, I like changing pillows and throws to get a different look.
Now, I do not know why it took me so long to bring in this plant from the dining room to the mantel and use it to hide the cords. It works great. I was focusing on how to decorate the mantel, and I have decided less is more in this case. A simple plant will do the trick plus it hides the cords!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mr. Spring also installed this white panel to cover the cords as they go down the side of the fireplace. It really blends in since the fireplace is white.
The next issue was the components, power source, and extra length of the cords. I found this box at Home Goods on clearance and thought I would give it a try. I was able to put the power source and extra cords under the box. On top I still have the dvd player and our “bunny ears” These things can’t really be hidden because we need them to access the tv and internet options on the tv.
Here’s the new look. We have the extra seat and not as much crazy with the cords. I am a fan of this end result.
This is another view of the living room.
Do you have a issue with cords? How do you solve your cord problem?
Mary says
My cords are my pet peeve also!, I can’t figure out what to do with mineX/. I have a bundle of them coming off of my fireplace.
Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking says
I know what you mean. I really don’t like the cords to show either. Your room looks awesome and I love how you have hidden the cords!
Carolyn Rasnick says
And now you have an added bonus……..the requisite 7 seats that interior designers say are necessary for any living space to have! You gals are always so clever!! 🙂