Cable octopus. We have struggled with cables for a long time and finally hit upon something that works well. These Cable Manager's by Cleverline (a Dutch company) are flexible coils that you can wrap and unwrap easily around all the crap that is coming out of the back of your computer, etc. We used to find them at Brookstone, but they no longer sell them, so now we found them here at Cableorganizer.com for $8.50 (pack of two).
These are particularly good for big bunches of wire, whereas if you have just a few these Velcro One Wraps look excellent. It's sort of a neat site..... These Cable Wrapz look good as well. MGR
You can also find these at The Container Store, which recently opened in New York on Sixth Avenue between 18th and 19th. Their price (item #10012607) is $9.99, but it would still be cheaper than paying for shipping for ordering via a website.
I adore The Container Store - it was founded here in Dallas, my hometown. And if anyone reading this has Elfa shelving/storage and is thinking of expanding your collection, do it now. All Elfa is on sale for 30% off throught Sunday, 2/6 at TCS.
I have a little spool of velcro strips that I use to corral the mess behind and around my multi-computer workstation. I don't know where I bought them, but the velcro type is great because you can always cut them in half if you need two. I used to have Monteras from IKEA, but it was a mess to sort out one cable from the bunch, and the velcro things are much better, even if they don't hide the cables.
Zip ties!
I have a few sizes and I color code most items (Audo cables on color video cables another etc) then I bundle those with twist wraps.
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The Cable Managers are a very popular product for organizing apartments. However, every chance I get, I try to introduce folks to the side entry wrap around products we offer. cableorganizer com/woven-wrap/ These are great for quickly organizing the wires behind your computer or home theater.
Although we charge for shipping, it is usually less expensive than gas and parking or a taxi ride. Besides, it's nice having a uniformed employee of the US Government deliver these to your front door.
We have one telephone jack and a phone with a very long cord. I'd love to find a cable holder that keeps the cord under control, but allows me to move the phone from room to room.
One that allows the cord to reel out and back in again.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!