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I have one power outlet on the wall (~1.5 m from the ground), two devices, of which I only ever need one at a time, and a table near that place. (means the floor in front of the outlet is inaccessible)

I don't want to place a multiple outlet power strip on the table (occupies space) or on the floor (makes vacuuming under the desk harder). When one of the cables is not plugged in, it will fall on the ground behind a table from where it's hard to recover. Placing it on the table is annoyingly occupying space and it will now and then slip down anyway.

Is there a way to keep the cables neatly reachable near the plug, without drilling holes (install hooks) or occupying space on the table?

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  • Just curious why you don't use an outlet splitter? Unless they're not permitted in your country, that would be the ideal solution. They usually cost a dollar or two at a dollar store here in Canada. Basically, it allows you to turn one electrical outlet into three.
    – user17389
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 20:18
  • 1) laziness of getting one (+ridiculously overpriced in stores) 2) (you see i answered myself posting a photo) i'm mixing standards and it would become fragile combining adapters and cable-less splitters 3) extension with multiple plugs: no good place to put it 4) fool proof way of limiting the power i draw from the outlet (not sure what decade the cabeling is from, could ask though.)
    – pseyfert
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 22:51

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I recommend purchasing a velcro cable tie roll. The hooks are on one side and the loops on the other so you can cut short lengths e.g. 15cm as reusable cable ties.

Rolls are typically 12mm wide and 10m long and can be found on eBay for under $20 including postage.

Use the cable ties to tie the cables together and when one cable is plugged in, the other(s) will not fall to the floor.

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    i liked about the coiling that it doesn't require any additional material, though the induction issue is a disadvantage.
    – pseyfert
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 7:57
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A quick hack is to tie the cables to each other. Whichever is plugged in will hold the other. No need to retie them when swapping plug (the knot stays).

tied cables

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    Coiling an electrical cable around another electrical cable is not necessarily a good idea as one cable could induce a current in the other cable.
    – Neil Robertson
    Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 10:37

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