How To Organize Cords using a Shoe Organizer

One thing that I love about organizing projects is how dynamic they can be. What works for us one month, may not work the next go round. So I am always changing, updating, and altering the way things are organized in our home. 

You may remember me talking about cord organization on here about ten months ago. I mentioned at that time Brit’s affection for all things technology. Well, since last December, we have added even more devices and plug-in-able things to our collection, which has completely overloaded our cord boxes.

We needed an upgrade in our cord-organizing department, stat. 

Remember that outdoor garden in a shoe organizer? I had cut the organizer in half because it was too long for our balcony. I hung on to that other half, it’s very difficult for me to throw away things that can still serve a purpose, or can serve a potential purpose. Well, garden-shoe-organizer, meet your other half.

I dumped the overflowing boxes of cords on the ground and got started reorganizing things. 

With the added space of the shoe organizer, I was able to separate the cords into 12 different categories, making the sections more manageable. 

Shoe organizers are surprisingly large when you’re stuffing them with cords. There is so much space in each pocket. Plenty of room for the additional cords that I’m sure will one day make it into our apartment.

Now that I had the cords in order, I needed to find the perfect place to store the new organizer. Originally, I had them stuck up on the wall in our hall closet. And when I say stuck up on the wall, I mean it. I used some double sided adhesive tape and pressed it all along the back side of the organizer, knowing full well it would never hold. I just needed to rule out the easiest method. Long story short, shoe organizer took a dive. The adhesive just wasn't enough to hold up the organizer. Time for plan B. 

Rosie the Riveter better watch out because I riveted. And it was riveting, {ok, I'm finished. Sorry}. We own a riveter, don't ask me why, but we do. Technically, it's a Hole Punch Craft Tool, but we call it a rivet in this house. And calling it a Hole Punch takes away from the riveting punch lines I can use {someone stop me!}. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's ever been used, or at least the first time by me. But you see, we have these extra shower curtain hooks, and this riveter, and this shoe organizer that has turned into a cord organizer that needs to be hung, and like any crazy organizing hoarder person would, I put it all together, added a hanger, and hung the organizer.

I wish it would have been just that easy, but alas, it was not. Don't get me wrong, adding the rivets was super easy. And the shower curtain hooks worked great once I hooked them onto a hanger. However, the shoe-turned-cord-organizer is heavy and I knew my go to command hooks couldn't survive the challenge. I've heard good things about these Hook Um! hooks, so I decided to give them a whirl. The package said it can hold up to 10 pounds, and with the organizer weighing in at a light 9 pounds I thought it was perfect. Thought being the operative word here.

It lasted all of 45 seconds before it went tumbling down. But I'm no quitter. Onto plan C. I decided to go heavy duty with this organizer. I installed a hook. Like, a real hook. 

I'm sure the next owners of this apartment will wonder what on earth is the purpose of this low hung hook in the closet, but for us and our completely normal cord-organizer, it's perfect! 

Don't mind my awesome socks. They were a gift from one of Brit's cousins and are quite possibly my favorite socks.

Using a larger hook on the wall allowed me to use two of our stronger plastic hangers to support the organizer. I used my glue gun to add a no-slip line so that the hooks would stay in place even if they're bumped or banged {which are frequent causalities in just about any closet}. 

I labeled the top pockets, indicating what was in each row from top to bottom. This way one doesn't have to bend over or wrench their neck trying to figure out which cord goes where.

Three days later, it's still standing, and functioning quite nicely! 

Cost: Hook Um Hook = $6.99 Waste of money for this project. New Heavy Duty Hook = $2.99. All other supplies I had on hand, but you could pick them up at Bed Bath & Beyond here, and here. 

Time: Organizing cords, 5 minutes. Hanging organizer {final attempt}, 10 minutes. How do you prevent cord chaos in your home? Do you use your shoe organizers for shoes?Thanks for visiting!