The $4 Hair Accessory That Helps Keep My Kitchen in Order

My smart speaker has been my trusty kitchen sidekick for almost a year, and I don’t know what I’d do without it. (It’s the only way I can stay up to date on my favorite podcasts!) But the one thing I don’t love is its unwieldy cord. Add in all of the other cords in my kitchen — including the one to the Instant Pot, the toaster, the coffee machine, and on and on — and you’ve got an unsightly mess. Or rather, I’ve got an unsightly mess.

Unwieldy cords can make a kitchen look more cluttered than it is. Plus, I find they often get in the way when I’m prepping and cleaning in the kitchen … and that can actually be dangerous. After some creative thinking and experimenting, I’m happy to tell you that I have a solution.

Although you can easily buy cord keepers to solve this problem, they’re often sold in large quantities — way more than I need. Instead, I found a solution for corralling cords in the kitchen. My solution is inexpensive, easy-to-use, and actually looks decent, too: miniature hair clips!

I love using hair clips to pinch and neatly store appliance cords because they’re ridiculously easy to pop on and off. They’re much quicker to use than bulky rubber bands or cable ties. Plus, with a clip in place, it’s very easy to adjust the cord length by letting out a little slack. This is especially useful when I need to slide out a small appliance, like a coffee maker, but don’t want to undo the whole wrapped cord. I’ve started using clips for all sorts of cables (how did we all end up with so many chargers?) and this storage method means I can quickly identify the cord I need.

These hair clips come in all sorts of sizes, too, so you can scale up with a slightly bigger clip, if you’re dealing with a thicker cord.

What’s your method for organizing kitchen cords? Share your ideas in the comments below.