Want a simple place to keep your electronics for charging? Create a DIY charging station – I’ll show you how!
Creating a family charging station to organize all of our family’s electronics (iPad, iPhones, iPods – the works!) had been on my to-do list for ages. I came up with a solution that’s a game-changer at our house and am sharing it in today’s post!
One of our house rules with the kids is that all electronic devices must be downstairs when they go to bed. But somehow we always seem to be misplacing the cords and adapters and end up having to hunt around the house every night to find them. Problem no more! I created a simple DIY charging station where the cords now stay 24/7 and our electronics will have a home for overnight charging. If you peek behind the charging station, you’ll see my favorite part of the project – an outlet that we converted to a 4-port USB charger (post includes affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}):
You can now say bye-bye to those ugly chargers!
My husband and I rarely mess with anything electrical but this project was as easy as it comes. We used {this 4-port USB charger}. The faceplate is not included so add one of {these Decora wall plates} to your shopping list if your existing cover is the more traditional two hole type.
For installation, we followed the instructions included with the USB outlet. First we turned off the power to the outlet at the circuit breaker and tested it to be certain that the power was off. We then removed the faceplate from the old outlet, pulled the outlet out of the box, and removed the wires from it. The USB charger comes with three colored wires connected to it – we connected these wires to the same colored wires coming out of outlet box, twisting the strands tightly together. We then screwed on the plastic connectors, secured them with electrical tape, and mounted the USB charger device in the wall box. Done in under five minutes!
A few things about the installation:
1.The Leviton USB charger is fairly deep and fits into standard electrical wall boxes but some older boxes may be too shallow to accommodate it. Make sure your wall box measures at least 3″ x 2″ x 2.5”
2. I am NOT an electrician – our install was very simple but your wiring may be different. Read the instructions included with the USB charger and consult an electrician if you are not sure about any part of them.
There’s also an option to have your regular outlet plus two USB ports that we have in our house too – you can find that {here} (again, don’t forget to buy a wallplate too!).
Creating the actual charging station was just as easy – I started with an inexpensive open wood organizer / letter sorter that I scored at HomeGoods. I wanted one where I could fit four iPhones/iPods across the front row and an iPad in the middle. (Update: one reader used Target’s Threshold Desktop Storage Unit which is similar and said it worked great for this! It comes in 3 color options)
Once I got it home, I figured out where I wanted the holes for my cords, which would be coming up from the bottom. I drilled small pilot holes first to make sure they were in the right place and then drilled bigger holes that would fit the smallest sized end of each charger cord. My charging station is right in front of my USB outlet so I use 1 foot cords such as {these} – they also sell them in longer lengths which you would need if your charging station isn’t super close to your USB outlet.
Then I added circular pads to the bottom – they create just enough space for the cords for go underneath the charging station and plug in at the outlet charger behind it.
And I typed up a little “Recharge” label to add to the front:
We bought a few extra cords so the ones that are in the charging station STAY in the charging station full time! No more searching for cords. No more excuses for the girls to not have their devices charging downstairs where they belong.
So glad to have one of our little daily dilemmas solved! It really is the simplest of DIYs but if you don’t have the time or interest in doing your own DIY project, we have {this bamboo charging station} in our office and it’s also a great option:
You can see my other favorite desk organization ideas {here}.
Another thing to think about is adding an outlet to the inside of a drawer for hidden charging of your electronics – we did that in our newly remodeled kitchen:
We ordered ours as part of our new kitchen cabinets but you can also buy {this in-drawer docking outlet} to add to an existing drawer in your kitchen.
Find more ideas kitchen organization and hidden storage ideas from our kitchen {here}! And one last idea – if you’re looking to charge your phone easily at your bedside, consider a lamp with a built-in USB outlet in the base – both beautiful and functional! We have a pair of these USB lamps (found {here}) in our guest room and guests really appreciate how easily it is to charge their phones bedside:
Thanks for stopping by everyone! If you’re looking for more ways to get your home organized, be sure to check out my other home organization posts {here}!
