Coffee Stand Router Cover
The problem with most routers is they're ugly but necessary to be in the open to be most effective. Even with an Apple AirPort Extreme, who has arguably the best design sense of all the tech companies, Jen wasn't exactly thrilled to have it sitting in her coffee station. I began searching for inspiration.
Along with the other eleventy billion other Facebook users, I found myself down the rabbit hole of articles on Buzzfeed - which actually led me to a post about hiding your router in a holed-out book. As usual, I got impatient and didn't want to wait to find the perfect book that would match our style. Having some materials left over from another build, I thought I could build a faux serving tray. This would hide the router AND help keep our different containers organized.
After measuring the space I had, I made a simple frame with 1x4's. Style-wise, I thought it would be cool to have the base as 2" wide planks, but they were too thick and wouldn't have provided enough room for the router and have a semi-believable serving tray. I decided to go with some thinner plywood I already had. Besides being thinner, it also got around the idea of having to clean the cracks where the planks would join.
I attached L brackets to the frame but not to the base, because 1) it's not really necessary and 2) the plywood is pretty thin and didn't have screws short enough. I also notched out a place in the back for the wires to come through.
Frame complete, I went on to painting. I really liked this one that says "BEVERAGES". Since ours is just coffee, I decided on "COFFEE". I went with a green that works into our living room and contrasts nicely with the orange, gray, and wood in our kitchen. To get the stencil, I printed out the font I wanted and used a box knife to cut it out. In hindsight, I should've put tape UNDER the paper and then cut it out. Oh well, live and learn.
To distress it, I just took my orbital sander and randomly worked it over. The black paint smudged (probably because I didn't let it dry completely), but since I was going for the distressed look, I wasn't too worried about it.
As far as wifi reception, I haven't noticed any degradation yet, but I think the real test will be when we stream a movie to our Apple TV. Until then, we have a nice piece to cover our ugly out-of-place router.
