Closet Organization

July 4, 2026

Organizing the physical Abbey Root lab workspace, cabling, networking gear, and structured wiring cabinet.

Tags: Abbey Root • Lab • Hardware • Cable Management

2026-07-04 - Closet Organization

Summary

Today was focused on improving the physical Abbey Root workspace. The goal was to organize equipment, improve cable management, and prepare the lab for future expansion.

Although the work is still in progress, the lab is already becoming easier to maintain and much more enjoyable to work in.

Accomplishments

Installed Shelving

• Assembled and installed new shelving in the office closet.
• Moved networking and lab equipment onto the shelves.
• Began separating networking equipment from power cables.
• Created additional workspace for future hardware.

Equipment Organization

Current equipment includes:

• AT&T Fiber Gateway
• TRENDnet 8-port 2.5 Gb switch
• Proxmox host
• AI Worker laptop
• Work laptop
• Personal laptop
• Power strip
• UPS (planned)
• Various power adapters and cabling

Equipment placement is still evolving as the lab grows.

Cable Management

Began organizing cables with the goals of:

• Reducing clutter
• Improving airflow
• Making devices easier to identify
• Simplifying future maintenance

Still planned:

• Install cable raceways
• Secure power bricks
• Label important cables
• Bundle excess cable lengths

Structured Wiring Cabinet

Spent time investigating the apartment’s structured wiring cabinet.

Discovered:

• AT&T fiber ONT
• Existing Netgear switch
• Multiple Ethernet runs to wall jacks throughout the apartment

Future work will include identifying and labeling each cable so every wall jack is documented.

Observations

The closet has enough room for future growth.

The shelving makes it much easier to:

• Add equipment
• Access cables
• Perform maintenance
• Keep the lab organized

This should make future upgrades significantly easier.

Lessons Learned

• Organize hardware before worrying about perfect cable management.
• Leave extra room for future equipment.
• Labeling cables early will save time later.
• Build the physical infrastructure first, then optimize it over time.

Next Steps

• Finish cable management.
• Label wall jack connections.
• Document the network layout.
• Mount power adapters more securely.
• Add UPS.
• Continue improving the workspace as additional hardware is added.

Thoughts

One of the goals of Abbey Root is to create an environment that is enjoyable to work in.

A clean, organized workspace makes experimentation easier, troubleshooting faster, and encourages spending more time learning instead of searching for cables or moving equipment around.

The closet is becoming a small home datacenter instead of simply a place where computer equipment happens to live.