Finding the best way to decorate your home can sometimes feel confusing. Do you want to float your furniture but don't have any outlets on the floor? What do you do for lamps or other corded pieces? Is there a way to hide them without making them too noticeable?
Luckily, we've done some digging and have your answers below!
If you want to float your living room furniture but don't have floor outlets, you can still hide your cords without creating too much distraction.
Generally, you want to run the cords from lamps, electronics, or other fixtures under a carpet, cover, or along baseboards. Doing this will hide the cables while keeping them safe on the ground.
Furthermore, if you have an existing carpet and want to hide your cords well, you could cut a slit into the underlying carpet pad and run the wires/cables through there.
As we start this article, we will cover all things floating furniture and discuss how to do this without floor outlets. Whether you're redesigning your house, want to float certain pieces in a room, or have additional questions, we're here to help. With that said, let's dive right into this topic!
How Should I Float My Living Room Furniture If I Don't Have Floor Outlets?
If you want to float furniture in one of your rooms but don't have floor outlets, there are ways around that. Typically, you want to conceal the cables from light fixtures or electronics by running them along the baseboards of your space or under carpets/rugs.
The idea of floating furniture means to have everything away from the wall, essentially "floating" towards the middle of a room. So, cords can ruin that illusion and make your design feel unfinished.
With that said, having electrical cords under a rug or carpet can become a fire hazard if you do this incorrectly, so "how" you conceal them matters.
For example, placing a rug over a fire-retardent cord will be safe, while running a cable under a carpet with an exposed wire or damaged cover can be deadly.
The key here is making the cords from your items less noticeable while also staying safe.
Can You Run Cords Under Carpet?
Yes, as long as you run the cords in your space under a carpet, you don't expect high traffic; this should be safe.
Generally, running light/electronic cords or extension cords under carpeting can become a fire hazard if something bad happens to them.
That said, many experts recommend against using heat-generating extension cords under a rug/carpet. That's because as they're on, the carpet they're under can become warm, even catching fire if the cable is damaged.
However, running one under an area rug won't be the end of the world if you have a fire-retardant cord cover and there isn't any damage to the cord.
On that same note, if you have multiple corded lights, decor, or electronics in your space, that's when you should avoid running them under a rug.
Instead, try and connect them all to an extension cord with additional outlets, and then run that one cord under an area rug to the nearest wall outlet.
Our post: Can You Run An Extension Cord Under A Rug dives deeper into this.
Clear Power 35-Foot Indoor/Outdoor Extension Cord
This extension cord works inside and outdoors, is water and weather-resistant, flame-retardant, runs 35 feet, is white, is 125 volts, works in temperatures from -40°F up to +140°F, and comes in a few sizes.
Check out this cord on Amazon here.
What Does Floating Furniture Do?
One of the main reasons people float their furniture is to create a more intimate sub-room within a space. For example, if you want to make a mini room inside of a larger one, that's when you would float the furniture.
This works like creating a dedicated area for your seating and decor, usually framed with an area rug. According to Apartment Therapy, you might also keep your furniture away from the wall in a floating design to improve traffic flow.
Especially in unusually shaped homes, keeping all your pieces along the walls can become tricky.
In addition, floating your furnishings can also make a room feel properly framed, especially if there aren't four walls enclosing it.
Let's say your living room connects to the dining room. Floating the furniture in your living room to create a separate seating and entertainment area away from the walls can make the two spaces feel unique and independent.
Although common, having your sofa on the wall can sometimes take the coziness from your room.
How Do You Arrange Floating Furniture?
When it comes to arranging your floating furniture, start by determining the size of your mini-room. Since you'll be arranging furniture away from the walls, we recommend starting with your larger pieces.
For example, face chairs and the sofa toward each other encourage conversation. Create a square or rectangular shape with your more oversized furniture and decor, placing everything else inside it.
An easy way to imagine this would be to think of your floating furniture as an imaginary border, which you should keep everything inside of.
According to design pros, you can also anchor the furniture grouping with a rug and a large coffee table. As we said, running your cords under the carpet can be easy to get them out of the way, so an area rug can be nice.
Of course, you can also use your rug as an accent, choosing a smaller size for inside the floating space. However, having one large enough to enclose your floating furniture can also look very tasteful.
Artistic Weavers Odelia Vintage Bohemian Area Rug
This large area rug has a bohemian design, measures 7'10" x 10'3", is made of woven Polypropylene material, is low pile, is durable and stain-resistant, easy to clean and vacuum, and comes in various colors and sizes.
Follow this link to view it on Amazon.
What's The Best Way To Hide Cords In The Living Room?
If you have cords running through your room, there are many ways to hide them.
Especially in spaces, you choose to float furniture, concealing your cables can be essential to the overall aesthetic of your design.
Therefore, we recommend trying the following ideas:
- Hook cords to the back of your furniture
- Corral cables under the sofa
- Hide TV wires using covers or floor furniture
- Run TV wires inside the wall
- Tuck multiple cords into tubing
- Snake cords through baseboard accessories
- Use an extension cord and run it under furniture/carpet
Of course, every floating room will be different, so try to find hacks to hide cords while keeping your home safe from electrical fires.
As we said, running standard cords under rugs or through carpet padding may not be safe long-term, so you want to find fire retardant products and coverings.
In addition, it might be even better to use a cord cover that matches your flooring, simply letting one extension cord run from the back of your sofa to the nearest wall outlet.
For the TV, we recommend running the cables through the wall or using a console table/stand to conceal any electronic cords, as that can be more visually appealing.
Floor Cord Cover X-Protector
This cord cover protects wiring from damage, adheres to flooring, is perfect for extension cords, is heavy-duty silicone material, measures 5' L x 2 1/2" W, comes in various colors, and comes with a satisfaction guarantee.
Check out this cord cover on Amazon.
Is It Better To Have Floor Outlets?
If you plan on floating furniture or want to decrease the number of cords in your room, installing floor outlets can be a great idea.
People generally choose floor outlets for living rooms to easily place lamps, electronics, and other fixtures throughout their space.
As we said before, floating furniture essentially creates a "mini-room" inside of another one. So, having floor outlets can keep the rest of your floors cord-free.
That also is safer for preventing fires, which can happen if the cord from your devices gets damaged.
On top of that, aesthetically, having floor outlets for nearby electrical cords can make your floating room feel better designed. Unlike an obnoxious extension cord running through your entire room, installing a floor unit may save you trouble.
How Much Does It Cost To Install A Floor Outlet?
Price can vary for those wanting to install a floor outlet in their space. Usually, homeowners can expect to pay around $125 to $175 to replace or install a standard outlet, so nothing too fancy.
Furthermore, according to Forbes, if you install a higher-end outlet with multiple plug-ins allowed, you could spend upwards of $500 for installation/labor.
The reasoning for this is that creating a new electrical outlet on your floor takes an experienced professional and a bit of work.
Unlike the wall, your flooring may need to be removed to do this, leading to higher total costs. Again, installing 1-2 floor outlets for your entire room will make it look better planned, so think of this as a long-term investment.
To Finish It Up
Whether you want to remodel or rearrange furniture, it's always good to know how to hide your cords and electrical wiring safely.
From what we found, you can float living room furniture easily while keeping your cords hidden by: running them under an area rug, along baseboards, or even covering them with a similar colored cover to your floors.
In addition, you may want to connect all the nearby cords to one central extension cord, running it to the nearest outlet. That can help lessen the number of cords people see and make it look more appealing.
Made it this far? Check out some of our other related home posts!