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Being creative sounds fun, but for many, actually coming up with a design idea and implementing it can be annoyingly complex. Liz Kamarul’s new book, Free Style: Unlock Creative Home Solutions, is the answer. The colorful designer unveils her three methods for getting creative—”What Don’t I Like?” and “What Can I Do With This?” and “What If?”—in separate chapters, each brimming with examples, photographs, and strategies for getting a project done. Read on as she shares one brilliant idea from the book for transforming a pesky cord.
One day I found myself sitting on our sofa, staring at the cord of a plug-in wall sconce. I loved the light fixture and where it was located, but the cord was bothering me. I couldn’t have the fixture hardwired to hide the cord in the wall because of the adjacent pocket doors, but I also wasn’t able to stop being annoyed by the way the cord looked. It just hung there from the sconce, a black line against the wall’s cream paint color. And because of the sconce’s placement above an armchair, there was no way to hide the cord with a stack of books or some other decor element. The cord looked ugly and messy. And more than that, I felt like it distracted from the other beautiful elements in that corner of the room.
I knew I wanted to do something to change the way the cord looked.
So, as I studied the cord, I let my mind wander, thinking about ways I could make it look different. Could I try to camouflage it by painting it the same color as the wall? I considered it, but I knew I would still be able to tell there was a cord there. As I reflected on design elements that I was drawn to at the time, squiggle patterns came to mind. I had noticed squiggle patterns in paintings, fabric, and furniture in inspiring rooms I saw on social media and in design books. And it’s okay to incorporate a trend in your home if it’s something you truly like.
Then I had a lightbulb moment: I realized I could marry a shape I was really drawn to (the squiggle) with an object I didn’t like (the sconce cord) to create something that looked both innovative and intentional.
How to “Squiggle” a Sconce Cord
I’m a fan of using what I have on hand, so when I came up with the idea I went to the tool closet to see what we had. The thing that felt doable was several small nails that I used on either side of the cord to secure the shape to the wall, which ended up working well. It took almost no time at all, maybe 10 minutes including looking for supplies.
You could experiment with other ways to attach the cord, maybe using double sided tape or even staples (carefully) if the cord is thin enough. For the most impact, choose a sconce with a cord that contrasts with the color of the wall where you want to place it.
Plug-In Sconces for Squiggling
“Free Style” Copyright © 2026 by Liz Kamarul. All photographs by the author. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.