They would seem a bit incompatible in theory, yeah. In practice ... well, there's a coffee table that's currently acting as our "stereo rack" in the sense that it's where the stereo is currently sitting, and the printer is also sitting on it. And some friends of mine with notably less clutter (but a similarly small apartment) also have their printer on a desk that's only about six feet from the stereo rack, and I'd think the cables would certainly stretch that far.

Good luck with your abstract-writing and kid-feeding and meetings and house-cleaning!