Monday, September 20, 2010

Power Play

Have you ever noticed how, wherever your wall outlets happen to be located, they are always in the wrong place? Like, on the end of the room where you would never put your TV. Or just a little too far down the wall to allow for you to vacuum the whole room.
Most notably, in almost every apartment I have lived in, the bedroom outlet seems to be located exactly behind where you would put a nightstand.  Which isn't so bad for plugging in a bedside lamp, but is a real pain in the posterior for plugging in anything else. Especially if you use your phone as an alarm clock (I also use mine as a calendar, watch, notebook, and flashlight), and want to have it close at hand in the morning - moving your nightstand to plug in each night just isn't an option.   Which is why I devised a clever (if I do say so myself) solution to this problem. I bought a simple extension cord with two outlets, and ran it from the outlet behind the nightstand. Using zip ties, I attached it to our bed frame, hiding the cord behind the nightstand (if you don't have something to hide the cord behind, you can use a staple gun to discreetly attach it to the wall along the floor). Now I have two plugs easily at hand, exactly where I want them for charging my phone and my Kindle.  I'll put in a plug for this current idea you can really get a charge out of.

Wow, that was corny.

9 comments:

Cathleya said...

SO genius! I love it!

melinda said...

So simple - I'm having a "Why didn't I think of that?!" moment. Thanks for sharing!

Anna said...

Our plug is located behind the matress, so it's also a big pain in the butt. I love this idea! I'm actually having a love her/god I'm an idiot thats so easy moment. LOL

Unknown said...

I did that to mine two months ago. But I had to resort to using the one behind the dresser. We've got one behind either nightstand. But they're taken up by two lamps, an alarm clock and the second land-line handset.
Now, if you can come up with something to ease my pain at my vanity. There is only one outlet.
Gah! I've got a 1 to 3 adapter, but I'm worried I'm going to zap something. :\

Anonymous said...

I would not want to plug anything near my face while I sleep....but good idea...

Lily said...

Thanks, people. Sometimes an idea is so simple, I wonder whether I'm an idiot for thinking it's worth posting about. Glad to know we're all idiots together. :)

Anonymous- Good point about having electrical outlets by your face. Truth is, my plug actually resides about 11" lower than is shown in the photo- I slid it up to make it more visible, but it normally isn't that close to my pillow. I hope you'll forgive the creative license!

Unknown said...

Perfect! I love the idea.

CherryRosie said...

Amazing idea!! Will forever keep this in mind, just fiddled with my bedroom outlets yesterday!

Melissa Esterline said...

Hi,
I stumbled on your blog and I must say... I'm enjoying reading through some of your posts! I too think being the housewife is a dying breed as well as something that is looked down upon. However I disagree wholeheartedly... I've never found more enjoyment in life as when I'm home with my babies and hubby. Looking forward to adding you to my list ;)
Melissa Esterline