If I had to guess, I would say that I have somewhere between 50 and 60 regular old PC power cords hidden somewhere in our new house — and yet earlier this weekend, I couldn’t find a single one when I needed one. This really irks me to no end. I once read that not being able to find a tool in your garage is the same as not owning it. Same goes for computer parts and cables, I figure.

Over the past week I’ve been dreaming of a set of shelves full of bins that I could store cables, cards, and connectors in. If all my things were in one place, I’d finally be able to find them! I hit the Internet earlier this week and this is what I found:

That’s exactly what I had in mind, and I found it at Lowe’s! Seconds later, my jaw almost hit the ground. It’s $212 bucks (Link). I’m sure these are industrial strength bins, which is more than what I want or need … so instead, based on the same concept, I built my own.

These metal shelves came from our old garage (I think they were in there when we originally bought the house, in fact). I then hit Dollar General and spent $9 on 9 clear plastic “shoe box” bins, and $3 for the 4 plastic bins up top. I also dropped $2 for a roll of white duct tape. I already had a black Sharpie, so I’m not counting that.

Right now I only have 13 bins total, but the shelves will hold 25 in all.

Along with having a place to put all my spare bits, the Organization Station serves a second purpose. With all my extra cords and cables consolidated in one place, I can actually see how many I have, which will then allow me to get rid of some. I found two PC power cables while unpacking one box, three in a second box, and five in a third box. I’ve allotted one plastic bin for PC power cords, so when it’s full, any others I find either get donated to Goodwill or go in the trash. Same for RCA cables, speaker wires, and whatever else I find lying around.