What the hell can I do to sort this ?? [Pics]

[JayeAshe]

Please help. This rat's nest of cables and wires on our otherwise minimalist liveabord narrowboat is pissing me off no end.
The cables etc provide Tv, wifi, phone chargers , computer etc and there is no way the shelf can have holes drilled through. DH has been asked but is reluctant to change it as, to him, it's functional.
To me it's a shocking dust trap.

Any ideas please to make it more presentable? My only plan is to yarn bomb the heck out of it

Pics of bathroom and galley for comparison also.

Grateful for any help.

Google cable tidy..you can get it on amazon. Looks a bit like a snake all the wires go inside

Thanks: you have given me a most useful starting point but the job will take more than a few cable tamers as the wires cross over one another and go in all directions.

Has anyone experience of sorting this kind of a tangle? if so I'd love to hear from you ...

Try making each cable shorter with cable ties? Or get a shoebox and punch a few holes in it and have the disaster tangle of cables and power packs in the box with cables coming out in the direction they need to go in. Like THIS but with more holes.

I'm sure someone will be along to sell you the perfect product soon

I’d buy some kind of wooden box and place all the hubs inside, then drill holes for the cables to come out of whatever direction they need to get to their ‘destination’ .

Quite disaster tangle LOL. Like the shoebox idea, thanks for linking to a tutorial.

Judas thank you for posting that idea.

Meant to add, then decorate/stain it to fit with decor.

I would start by removing any cables and chargers that don't HAVE to be in the rats nest, ie the phone chargers.
There is also at least one cable not plugged in

Unplug one at a time and untangle it from its siblings, clip up any excess with cable tie, plug back in.
Then the box thing

You do get cable tidy boxes similar to the shoe box idea described above. I got a couple from Clas Ohlson like these www.clasohlson.com/uk/D-line-Cable-Tidy-Unit/36-4830?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzY7njOqs2gIVQZztCh1I9gWBEAQYASABEgJdnPD_BwE

Google cable tidy box/cable tidy unit/cable management and there are several different options.

Also I find Velcro cable ties really useful to tame cables inside the box.

as the wires cross over one another and go in all directions.

Can you not unplug them all and untangle them, then use a cable tidy?

The box idea is good though.

A lidded box or basket? I have my internet/phone/table lamp in the hall and all the cables are stored in a nice basket under it

Xpost with everyone!

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0076XD7HC/ref=twister_B0758HRZFY?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Cable tidy boxes

I’m clearly over invested in this thread. 😊

These are my favourite cable tidies; superb quality They give a nice smooth finish without any bits sticking out. Also very useful for hanging bird feeders from trees.

www.amazon.co.uk/Fisual-Chunky-Reuseable-Hook-Cable-Black/dp/B001RPWPQE/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=cable+tidy+black&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1523264707&sr=8-16

I suspect your dh is frightened of making holes in laminated chipboard/mdf because of flakiness/exposing the cheaper material under the veneer. If he (or a tradesman) used a hole saw rather than a drill, you,d get a cleaner hole( you can even buy hole liner things that cover the exposed board under the veneer for a tidier finish).

Breakfast Soup Big Deux Zibbi

Grateful for all your posts, now having a good think about the options. @ Soup some cables run east-west (or starboard to port in our case) and some north-south kinda thing to get from the power (or auxiliary device) to the final destination like TV . Just wishing a) that I understood how all these gizmos work and their interdependencies and b) that the whole lot was wireless !

Hole grommets www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Grommet-Outlet-Brushed-Chrome/dp/B075L464B7/ref=sr_1_19/257-3622430-3309463?keywords=grommet+cable+hole&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1523265844&sr=8-19

Does anyone make nice velcro cable ties that you can label?

I had a similar problem with the cables at the back of the tv you could see them all under the tv unit so I bought a load of cheap flowers to hide them

member great insight and thanks for the link ! But the shelf is actually proper solid wood and won't be drilled because we are looking to preserve the resale value of the boat (king and queen of Command hooks here) ...

Loving the shiny grommets

This style of cable tidy let the various cables poke out at any point along its length - would that work?

Before boxing anything in, make sure that none of the boxes, cables, connections etc. are generating any heat - some could overheat unless they have adequate ventilation

Thanks all.

UPDATE we were on our way to the shops and DH said he wanted to go to an office supplies place. I mumbled something about cable management and the dust trap. He said he would consider a box or something and has since reduced the cabling disaster area by about one third