Hiding Telecom Components

Do you get tired of looking at your computer components and other telecom equipment? These necessary items are not the prettiest to look at, and can make your desk or work space look unsightly.

We recently got two new pieces of equipment that I was not too happy to display on my desk. The equipment took up too much room. The cords were ugly and always in the way.

I looked for a way to safely disguise the equipment and cords, and decided to make something myself. So, I came up with a crafty solution. Decorative boxes to hide the telecom equipment. These boxes look great and are a cheap and easy way to clean up your desk or work space.

Materials:

Decorative boxes — preferably made out of a material you can cut through
Ruler
Pencil, pen, etc.
Exacto knife and/or box cutter
Tape — something strong like Duct tape or packaging tape

Here’s what you do…

Pick out some decorative boxes to hide your telecom components. I was trying to hide 2 routers. I used the photo boxes that you can get at Michael’s or on Amazon.com. They are sturdy, but made of a paper material so that I could cut them. I picked out a cool pattern that goes with my wall color and decor. You can use a solid color box, but a patterned box is more forgiving when you are cutting, in case you make any small errors .
You can either leave your boxes “as-is,” as the size they already come in. Or you can cut your boxes to be smaller. I did both. I had a larger router that needed a bigger box. I had a smaller router too, so I cut the box to make it smaller in length. Having different size boxes adds visual interest to the project, but is not necessary. You can definitely just leave the boxes as the size they come in. You could also cut your boxes down in height. If your components are not too tall, and you want a slimmer looking box, you can cut around the horizontal perimeter to make your box slimmer. One of my routers had an antenna that was tall, so I had to leave my boxes the height they come in.
To cut your box, just measure around the perimeter of the box, to the desired size.
Use an Exacto knife, or a box cutter, and cut the box down all the way around the perimeter.
You need to cut out a space in the back of your boxes, so that you can feed the cords through that space. Also, your telecom equipment needs to ventilate. Telecom equipment can get quite hot, so you do not want to completely close it up in the box. To maintain the integrity and look of the lid, cut out other parts of the box for ventilation. I chose to cut out one side of each of my boxes. If I find that the equipment is still too hot, I will cut out the other side in the future. With those cuts, plus the cut in the back for your cords, you should have enough ventilation. Your cuts will be trial and error depending on how your telecom equipment is doing in the box. On my smaller box, I cut out a small side piece as an experiment to add back on to the side that I had cut out. To reattach it, I just used a strong tape on the inside where it is not visible. This is not necessary, as you can just leave the entire side cut out. I just wanted to see how it would look. **Do not stress about making super-perfect cuts on your boxes, as they will not be visible.
If you leave your box “as-is,” you can just simply place your lid on the top. If you cut your box down, as I have done, you also need to cut your lid down too. Just measure how big you need your lid on the top of your box, and cut around the lid’s perimeter to cut the lid down.
Now, your cut box sides, and lid sides, will not be visible from the front of your desk or work space. If they end up being visible in your space from other angles, that is okay. The boxes still look better housing the telecom equipment like that, rather than just sitting out in the open. Just remember, you must cut out enough on the sides so that the equipment can ventilate. Do not risk ruining your equipment by shutting it up in a box.
Place your equipment inside the boxes. Feed the cords through the back that you have cut out. Place the lid back on. And you are done!