A Spark of Genius: Safe, Adequate Wiring
When contractor Tim Grady builds a home, he adds plenty of discreet electrical sockets and phone and speaker connections--features often overlooked in home design--to accommodate today’s high-tech tools and toys.
“It’s a thought for people who have the time to think it,” said Grady, owner of Grady-O-Grady Construction and Development in Laguna Hills. “A lot of people tend to belittle it or say, ‘I’ll get to it later,’ then later they kind of wish they’d thought about it.”
Yet building an electronics-friendly palace isn’t an option for many--especially those who own older homes with low-tech wiring, so interior designers have come up with simple tricks to conceal those cumbersome cords and cables.
First, a don’t. Do not run wires under your carpet or use a throw rug to hide an electrical cord. “If you have a high-voltage electrical cord going under your carpet, it can cause a fire,” said designer Laura Ridley of Thomasville Home Furnishings. “It’s dangerous. Someone could get electrocuted.”
Low-voltage cords are OK under a rug, but the inevitable ridge the cord makes is unsightly.
“If someone has a lamp or something in the middle of a room, what we try to do is have an electrician grout out part of the concrete and put an outlet in the middle of the floor,” Ridley said. “That would be the best and safest method.”
“Make a minimal investment,” urged Robert Esterley, an interior designer at Esterley-Scheetz and Associates in Corona del Mar. The cost runs between $100 and $200, depending on how long it takes the electrician to run the new line. The payoff is freedom to design a room with furniture that doesn’t have to be anchored to the walls.
For those on a budget, Ridley and Esterley offer these tips:
* Use hook and loop fasteners such as Velcro to bundle cords and eliminate chaotic tangles. Gathered wires can be strategically hidden behind a computer or a piece of furniture such as an entertainment center. Ikea sells a package of Velcro strips that bind cords to a desk leg for less than $2.
* Plan the room’s layout so furniture and plants can act as a natural cover for speaker wires or lamp cords situated away from the walls.
* If your computer desk is inexpensive, drill holes so monitor, speaker and keyboard cords can be pushed through. The same applies to cupboards and bookcase shelves.
* Small holes also can be cut--carefully--in wood floors laid over a crawl space. Run the wiring through a conduit to meet safety and local building code requirements.
* Inexpensive plastic wire sleeves--available at many lamp and home stores--incorporate wires into a single compact, colorful tube. “It makes cords more inconspicuous,” Esterley said, adding a designer disclaimer: “Some of them are rather large, so they almost end up looking like a big vacuum hose. But they do work. They do collect the cords.”
* Use faux molding along a baseboard to conceal wires. Cords can also be pushed down into the edge of the carpet. But, Ridley cautioned, “Be careful not to get into the tacking strips for carpet. If the cord hits a carpet tack, it could cause a short.”
