Clever Ways to Hide a Coaxial Cable

The technicians have just installed your new cable television and internet and, in the process, have left behind a 20-foot length of round black cable that makes your living room look more like an electrical storage closet than a comfortable living area. You need to conceal the cable but do not want to make holes in the walls and ceiling to hide it, so what other options do you have?

Consider your options

The need to conceal coaxial cables usually arises when the equipment that the cables connect to is on the other side of a room from the wall jack that provides the cable and internet signals. The entertainment center only fits on the west wall, but the wall jack is on the east wall. Thus, the challenge is to get the cable from point A to point B in a way that makes those thick, rigid black cables as unobtrusive as possible. Take a look around, and consider how you could route the cables across, around or above the room.

Across the room

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and going across the floor is the most direct option. To do so, you can either string the cable under the carpeting or under an area rug. For narrower, more direct spaces to cross with the coax such as across a doorway or along a hallway, consider taping the cable to the underside backing of a runner-type rug.

Around the room

This option of cable concealment entails running the cable along a wall. The easiest way to do that is to first visit your local home improvement store to purchase a length of channel mold that is designed to conceal wires and cables. The molding is relatively inexpensive and works to hide the coaxial in an upward vertical line or along a baseboard. The molding has adhesive backing, so you just need to cut it to length, insert the cable, remove the backing from the adhesive surface and mount it on your wall. You can then paint the molding to make it blend into the color of the wall, or use an off-color to create an interesting contrast. If you would like, hang some wall art over a portion of the molding to interrupt the directional line of the molding and make it more difficult to distinguish. A more basic means of "around the room" concealment is to hide it behind furniture like bookshelves or a sofa. Before doing so, wrap the cable in a decorative wire cover that matches the color scheme of your room, so that areas of the cable that may show do not look like coaxial cable -- just decorative little things that are there on purpose.

Above the room

This approach can prove tricky because it is the most visible; you should only use it in cases where the other two options are not feasible, such as in stringing cable around the corner of a room. One option for going higher with concealment is to first strategically hang planters with the proper spacing to allow arcs of cable between them. Then, wrap the portions of the cable that might show in a decorative fabric sheath (or in a chain or other material that matches your décor) and string it in arcs between the planters. Add some tasteful silk plants (large enough to help with the concealment), and you have created some diversionary décor that draws attention away from the cables.

The options for concealing coaxial cable between different areas of a room may seem limited, but in reality they are only limited by your imagination and creativity. These are just a few ideas to get you started; ultimately, the best means of concealment is determined by your imagination and the specific elements of your living space.