There are a lot of challenges that come with living in the technological age… the demands on our time of being constantly reachable, the potential distraction from being present, and the unique challenges of monitoring kids and their time on screens. But one of the aspects of our tech use that continues to allude me is how to store all of our devices.
Ironically, I would consider us a pretty low-tech family. But with four kids and two adults, the devices have added up. We got the three older kids iPads this year. They use them for their online homework and for the Kindle app. I have a phone, and Mark has a phone, and both of us have tablets as well. And then there are just the random electronic devices that need storing and charging. My DSLR camera, miscellaneous external hard drives, and the cords. Dear Lord the cords.
We had a corner where we stored the stuff in our previous house, and when we moved into our current home, we designated a small closet in the hallway as the “tech closet”. We decided to be honest with ourselves about the fact that we needed a designated space for our growing technology. I also wanted a space for the kids iPads, because I don’t want them being stored in their bedrooms.
The text closet was effective in keeping the growing piles of devices out of our main living spaces, but the cords were kind of a nightmare. And it’s one of those things that seems to get progressively worse with each month. Here is how it looked before I organized it:
I recently got some of the cord organizational products from BlueLounge, which are now available at Target. We used them to do an overhaul of our tech closet, and it really helped. They have these great products that isolate each cord (called a CableClip), so that we could designate a specific cord for each device, and a specific place for said device. It has helped keep the cords from getting tangled, and also helps keep the kids from fighting over who’s cord is who’s.
All of the cords feed into another BlueLounge product (the Casa) that holds the power strip and keeps it out of sight. Together, they have our tech closet looking much better.
Where do you store and charge your families devices? How do you keep it from taking over corners of the house? And do you have a method for keeping the cords in place?
