Hardwood and Terracotta, or clay-colored, tile floors remain a popular interior design feature—and with good reason since they exude warmth, beauty, and character among other desirable attributes. But, the appearance and safety of hardwood and Earth toned tile flooring is severely compromised when straggly wires, cords and cables are running across the surface. Luckily, there are a few simple solutions to ensure the integrity of the flooring design aesthetic is maintained while also minimizing hazards–and liabilities related thereto.
“Beyond the obvious aesthetic benefit of getting cables and wires under control, doing so also eliminates menacing dangers, including trips, falls and electric shock,” notes wire wrangling expert Paul Holstein of www.CableOrganizer.com. “It’s easy to give your space a polished, clutter-free appearance while also reducing accidents, and without breaking the bank since there are many cost-effective, quick-fix flooring cable managers available.”
Below Holstein offers 3 décor-friendly tricks of the trade for hiding cables in plain sight on hardwood, tile or even laminate floors:
1. ChordSavers Floor Cord Covers: These tough cord covers may be made of PVC, but all that meets the eye is floor-matching wood grain. Unlike the flexible plastic cord protectors that you’re trying to avoid, ChordSavers are rigid, grip the floor without adhesives, and are, well… attractive. Using a ChordSaver is easy – just separate the flat base from its arched “wood” cover, lay a few cables across it, and then snap the cover back on. ChordSavers are available in pre-fab Light Oak, Dark Oak and Cherry finishes, but if your type of wood flooring has an uncommon finish that demands a more exact match, there’s always the “unfinished” stainable version. With the look of natural wood, this particular ChordSaver readily accepts any wood stain, so just brush on a coat or two, and then admire the way the cord cover disappears into your floor.
2. The Electriduct Cable Shield: Similar to the ChordSaver, the Cable Shield is also a two-piece, rigid PVC cord cover, except that in addition to a maple-like wood grain finish, it’s also available in an attractive terracotta color, which is a close match to the types of floor tiles found in many Spanish and Mediterranean-style homes. The underside of the Cable Shield is coated with an adhesive backing, which locks the cord cover into place on any smooth floor. Able to withstand up to 661 pounds of pressure from foot traffic or heavy furniture, the Cable Shield is also available in 5 widths to accommodate different amounts of cables.
3. Self-Adhesive Woodgrain Con-Tact Paper: No, it’s not recommended to wrap your cords in Con-Tact paper so that they blend in with your floor! But have you ever thought of camouflaging your cord covers? Terracotta-colored and Wood-grain Con-Tact paper is an easy, effective, and extremely budget-friendly way to transform plastic cord covers from drably distracting to aesthetically harmonious. And applying it is so easy that it’s barely even a project. Just cut the Con-Tact paper to size, peel off its backing, and then smooth it over the surface of any solid-color cord cover. It looks great, stays put, and wipes clean with nothing more than a damp cloth.