Remote controls that multiply like bunnies, cables and wires that snake and coil for miles, leviathan TV screens and colossal computer monitors, acres of CD-ROMs, mounds of floppy disks. Any way you describe it, it adds up to one thing: high-tech clutter.
The data age giveth, but it apparently never taketh away. And so in this era of home offices and living room surround-sound theaters, the places where we used to escape workplace technology are turning into electronic hinterlands crammed to the rafters with gear of every sort.
Propelled by whiz-bang technological advances, a fairly solid economy, the emergence of the personal computer, the CD-ROM and the portable telephone, manufacturers of consumer electronics have been on a two-decade sales romp.
Between 1975 and 1995, average household spending in the United States for TVs, stereo equipment, computers and other electronic hardware rose from just $84 a year to $784, according to the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association.
That adds up to a lot of clutter.
“There are 1.6 billion consumer electronics (products) now in use in this country,” says Todd Thibodeaux, CEMA’s vice president and senior economist. “That’s about 16 devices per household.”
It came as no surprise to Thibodeaux that when CEMA conducted a recent survey of electronics buyers, nearly half of those who responded described themselves as “space constrained.”
Swimming in software
And that doesn’t even include electronics users who are virtually swimming in the $200 billion in software, CD-ROMs, DVDs (digital video disks) and videotapes now in use by their various gadgets.
Richard Goldberg’s 17-inch computer monitor sits right next to a 20-inch computer monitor that overlooks a keyboard, a track ball, a scanner, a slide maker, a laser printer, an ink jet printer and a fluorescent desktop light, most of which is parked on top of “some computer desk I got from Staples,” says the physician, who lives in suburban Philadelphia.
And that’s just the stuff in his home office. Out in his living room, there are five amplifiers, a laser disk player, a DVD player, a 32-inch television set, a DSS receiver for satellite TV, and eight speakers, including two floor-standing models, a sub-woofer, two wall-mounted side speakers, two wall-mounted rear speakers and a center-channel speaker.
“We’re still negotiating a larger TV screen,” says Goldberg. “You can get 100-inch screens. I hope to do that one day. No lines and real hot popcorn.”
Gloria Ritter, president and founder of PaperMatters & More, a professional organizing service based in Washington, D.C., says anyone who has a home office filled with computer equipment should start reorganization by making sure desks are the appropriate size.
Vital items
She suggests removing all the items from the desktop, then putting them back according to frequency of use. If all the vital items don’t fit neatly on the desk, it may be too small. Placing items by frequency of use is also a good way to decide what is necessary and what can be set aside or discarded, said Ritter.
As for all those wires, Ritter suggests that anyone who owns a computer and isn’t using a surge suppressor–a device with several electrical outlets that governs the flow of power to electronic equipment–should run out and get one right now.
Then, says Ritter, once all the devices are plugged in, their wires should be bunched together with a series of twist ties. Make sure the ties are all plastic, because the paper ones contain metal wire that could eat into electrical cords.
Taming the home office is relatively easy, compared with bringing a clutter-ridden home theater and stereo system to heel, says Ritter.
“Short of having things with closed doors behind them, or putting up very nice portable screens, there’s not much you can do,” she says. “If you have the screens, though, you can put furniture in front of them.”
Ritter, who was called in to consult with Ethan Allen on its latest collection of furnishings for organizing the home, says she emerged from the process a big fan of armoires, those multipurpose free-standing closets that have become popular in recent years as storage and display cabinets for home electronics.
“If your mother-in-law calls, you’re always able to close the doors on an armoire and turn the space back into a living room,” she says.
Depending on where and what you buy, armoires can run from $500 to more than $3,000. Larger is better, especially if you plan to expand your home theater system or stereo.
