Flat-panel TVs. Tablets. Phones. Laptops. Desktops. Monitors. DVD players. These are just some of the modern devices that constantly suck down power from the grid that are found throughout our homes. The old school appliances of lamps, alarm clocks and radios are still incredibly popular as well. Though we've been promised futuristic technologies like flying cars, talking robots and wireless charging for over fifty years now, the truth is most of our devices are still as attached to the electrical outlets as a newborn babe is to its mother, like some electromagnetic umbilical cord. And unfortunately these morasses of cables not only present a danger of tripping or tangling but, really more important than that, they are as unsightly as day-old uneaten spaghetti.

Here are five ways to hide that home entertainment storage cord clutter from offending your delicate sensibilities

1. Built-in Shelving
Shelving in bookcases and entertainment centers that are not fully recessed allow cords to be run and safely kept behind and therefore out of sight. To not be fully recessed simply means to have an appreciable gap between the edge of the shelving board itself and the outer rim of the piece of furniture. How much of a gap is appreciable, I hear you asking. Enough to allow for the running of cords and cables through but not so much as to sacrifice room for the devices themselves is the standard of measurement I like to use.

2. Use Your Rugs
Rugs provide warmth and comfort for our feet in non-carpeted homes and splashes of visual attraction to homes of all varieties. But there's no reason they can't multitask. Rugs provide great cover for those situations where cords and cables must be run along the ground. Indeed, the heavy weaving and high quality fibers of decent rugs not only provide visual cover but even cushion the feel of cables run under them.

3. Zips and Clips
Zip ties are not only useful for tagging chickens or as emergency handcuffs. They can come in very handy when organizing cables and cords, keeping them bundled together. Additionally, using clips, which are specially designed to be placed in corners and nooks, helps keep cords and cables off the floors and countertops.

4. Obtrusive Furniture isn't When You Coordinate
Using a shoe box, a set of plastic drawers or even lunch pales can be used to hide cords and cables, so long as you pattern match and color coordinate with the rest of the room. When these items go with the flow you've established elsewhere, they don't look out of place and no one's any the wiser on their functional purpose.

5. Hide the Power Source
Lastly, rather than hiding the long cords and cables to all different devices throughout a room, you can place a power strip in an out of the way area or obfuscated area and simply cover that. This necessitates keeping the devices near that place when charging them, but so long as you don't actively use them while charging, this may be the cleanest solution of all.