I’m on the end stages of setting up a media room and I can’t get the cables looking good does anyone have any genius ideas for this?
Here’s my idea: manage the cables.
You don’t need ideas, you just need to start.
Agreed… Jesus Christ man, get some Velcro and tidy that shit up
Just that simple step would do wonders
Good lord it’s like the physical embodiment of one of your comments
I don’t see anything cerebral yet slightly whimsical about this picture.
You could start by actually trying first.
I would say at this point any type of management would be good lol
I can’t get the cables looking good
It’s because you plan and do cables in the early stages, not in the end stage, if you ever want it to look good.
The only thing I can think of now:
Powerful golden spray paint on all cables. Make it shine, make it look like it was all intended like this.
Looks fine to me.
It looks better in dim light.
See! Just keep the lights off.
Cable raceways. Just stick em to the back of your racks, or on the bottom of the shelves and run the cables through em. You might need some you can stick to the wall, if you want, to run cables to the TV. You should also mount the power strips on the shelves, probably the lowest shelf. You can use one if those boxes that conceal the power strips, or use one of those under desk mounted shelves the’that you can put the let power strips on. Along with cables and stuff.
You put a lot of thought into this, thank you!
I did something similar for my desk and bookshelf combo that I’ve got in my office.
Some of the cables need to be longer to not have that effect where they’re being pulled against their own weight.
Then, lean into it: https://www.instructables.com/Maximum-Wire-Management/
Move the pc next to the shelf.
Move the sub under the tv.
Get surface mount cable runs and go down from the tv to the floor, over to the shelf, and up along the side of the shelf.
You can buy these cable runs too (for example). Hide cables by running them along the base of your walls. Just match the color with your walls so it doesn’t stand out so much.
Wire ties. Literally just zip ties. Keeps them easy to get to but looks cool as fuck if you bundle them like a wiring harness.
Plus they make reusable zip ties now.
Zip ties are terrible for wire management, use velcro; it’s reusable, soft and doesn’t damage wires or skin, and can be cut to various lengths when purchased in a roll.
Nothing more rage inducing than someone who went ham with zipties in a rack.
Velcro, always.
You could look into getting some cable channels as a pretty cheap and easy solution. They’re just plastic half-tubes that you can bundle the cables into and stick to the wall, so you could just have one pipe that runs up the wall to the back of the TV. You can paint them to match the wall and hide it a bit, too.
Effort?
For real though, get a roll of Velcro and start there https://amzn.to/3R91Sqd
Like this is very bad, not even trying. Start somewhere, then ask for alternatives.
Assuming you can cut into the wall… This is likely the cleanest option without doing electrical work.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-Flat-Panel-TV-Cable-Organizer-Kit-5623-WH/305090874
If that extension cable jump isn’t up to the electric code they do make something similar where you can tie it into the hardwire as well. It doesn’t look like you have an outlet in the same stud section though. Which would make that harder.
Any remaining cables horizontally I’d just stuff in something like this above the trim at the bottom. You’d probably want to either source a black one or just paint it to match your walls.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-Flat-Screen-TV-Cord-Cover-A31-KW/304502793
Those links don’t work for people outside the US.
It’s US electrical in the post. The first link is only valid for US electrical but I’m sure similar things exist for other countries. The last link is just a cable channel. Nothing special, just looks nicer. They make thinner or wider variants.
Links are just easier than posting 15 images. Here’s the main images for both products.
That’s really cool but I have to run all power to sensitive devices through a UPS first to clean it up.
That first link the top panel has a normal outlet in it but the bottom panel is a male plug. You have to use an extension cord to jump it over to an outlet which could be on your UPS.
Oh cool I thought it was one that you hardwire right into the electrical.
Do you have attic access over that wall? A really long HDMI/RCA could go from behind the TV into the wall, up to attic, skip a few studs, then down to a brush faceplate behind the consoles