Photo by Hayley Kessner.
For as sleek as wall-mounted TVs may look hanging on your wall, the wires and cords that come along with them can be a major eyesore. While the internet is filled with cable raceways and other covers that cleverly conceal your cords, technically, they’re still in plain view. Here’s a bit of good news though: When styling my media console after a recent move, I discovered the easiest-ever way to hide the unsightly cords hanging from my television screen—no cords covers or “installation” necessary!
The answer is coffee table books. Coffee table books! If you pile enough coffee table books on top of each other, you get a chic display that also conceals most of your TV cords. Simply create a stack for each cord and voilà—your media console looks stylish, and your cables are much less visible without the solution looking too obvious.
Photo by Caroline Biggs.
Here’s how I did it: My media console has an especially low profile, so I used a pair of old school record players on top of its surface as bases for each pile. Then I created two stacks of books—one on each record player—starting with the largest books at the bottoms, working my way to the smallest on top. Sure, you can see a tiny bit of the cords on each side from certain angles, but this was way cheaper, quicker, and easier than installing a raceway.
I divided each of my piles of coffee table books by theme, with one stack for fashion and music books and the other for art and beauty. But interior designer Meagan Camp says there are all sorts of ways to style yours. “Two to three books (or more) usually work best when creating a stack of books,” she explains. “For color, consider the book’s jacket and how it works with the other books and the other colors in a room. I’ll either group books by similar colors or monochromatically.”
If you don’t have a tall enough book pile to totally cover your cords, don’t worry. You can place cool art or home décor objects on top to score more height while creating a one-of-a-kind console vignette. “A beautiful bowl, a small box, or even a plant looks gorgeous on top of a stack of books,” Camp says. Simply situate the accessory in a way that obscures the cords, and you’re good to go.
The best part about this handy cord covering hack is that there’s a good chance you’re already sitting on the materials at home, so it’s both easy and free. If you don’t have a huge coffee table book collection to work with, just use larger coffee table books at the bottom of your pile and taper off into standard hardcover books to create a similar look in seconds. Not only does this hide your unattractive TV cables, it frees up extra bookshelf space for new additions. So rest assured I’ll be stacking my books the same way inside all my future homes.