TV and Internet: Designing Your Apartment around an Outlet

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TV and Internet: Designing Your Apartment around an Outlet

Staff Writer · Dec 1, 2010

Lots of homeowners and renters alike know that when it’s time to set up a room for television and Internet cable connections, organizing your furniture and planning a room for these hookups is easier said than done. If you’re stressing about the impending visit by the cable tech who is coming to hook up your TV or broadband, a few good tips can help you design the room so that it works with your existing cable outlets. Planning for cable doesn’t have to be a harrowing experience: with a little strategic shuffling of furniture and other items, you can have a well planned setup no matter where your cable hookups happen to be located.

Running Cable

One of the most obvious fixes for this situation is to simply run cable to where you want the hookup to be. This is an easy way to match the design of your room to the specific points where you need to put TV or Internet connections. However, exposed cable can be a real nuisance in a room or space. It may be more trouble than it’s worth to run cable, unless you can find out how to make this installation inobtrusive and not an obstacle to those who are moving around d the room. Cable clips can help, and in some cases, running the cable under the carpet, or even under the floor, can make this a better solution for your home design dilemma.

Work with Doors and Windows

One of the major considerations for your furniture is how to avoid blocking doors and windows. Make this a priority in rearranging furniture, even if you have to set pieces of furniture at an angle. Blocking doors and windows is not a very good long-term strategy for fitting cable hookups into your room design, and you’ll want to consider how to use sunlight to your advantage in these setups.

Consoles and Entertainment Centers

One way you can help accommodate poorly placed cable outlets is to change the size of your TV stand or entertainment center. A larger installation can house more cable assemblies, connectors, etc. while a smaller one can allow you to put your TV and cable apparatus in more diverse points around the room.

Providing Enough Electrical Outlets

The fact is that your electrical outlets will need to be where your cable hookup is. To get around this problem, purchase a decent power bar and attach it to the nearest single electrical outlet. This gives you more plug-ins for the DVD player, video game consoles and anything else related to your cable hookup spot. You may want to check your circuitry to make sure that your multiple appliances won’t overload the local circuit for that part of the room.

All of the above can help residents of the cable hookups into their existing living rooms and other interior spaces.

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