I got the idea from Lifehacker. It’s a good idea. For $8.50 and about 15 minutes, I moved from clutter to unclutter.
Here’s where we have been charging our cellphones and other stuff.
Original clutter
I bought a plastic box at Target for $1.00 and a surge-protected power strip for $7.50. I wanted the type with the sockets horizontal to accomodate charging bricks better.
A box and a power strip
I used simple tools from my garage: a drill and a large bit for the power cord and a smaller bit for the charging cables along with a sharp knife to trip the holes after drilling.
Drill, drill bits, and a sharp knife
Drill the large hole for the power strip cable. The Lifehacker article uses a slightly different approach for drilling the power strip hole. I have these wood auger bits that worked well for the hole. The velcro tie-wraps are not necessary. I travel with these some of these chargers so I already had the velcro wraps attached. But they do help keep the box orderly!
Inserting the power strip and charging bricks
Drill holes in the lid for the charger connectors. All of mine would fit comfortably through a 1/2 inch hole. The Lifehacker article has a creative way of drilling for longer connectors that will not easily fit through a round hole.
Charging station at work
And there it is. A tidy charging station.
