How To Hide Router and Modem Cords With A Mid-Century Side Table

I’m going to show you how to hide modem and router cords because there is nothing more hideous than a huge pile of wires in a beautifully decorated room.

You spend all of your time and energy getting the room just right, but your cable plugs into a specific location. Nothing ruins a living room or home office more than an internet router box and a bunch of cords.

You’re probably here because you are looking for a simple way to hide your wires from your modem and wi-fi router. Because I mean…just look at this mess.

This post is part of my fun monthly challenge for thrift store upcycles. I got the base for my fun mid-century table at the thrift store. You’ll be shocked how I upcycled it to solve a major problem in a non traditional way – how to hide wifi router and modem wires!

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This how to hide router cords tutorial contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

Here’s my solution for how to hide modem and router wires

I needed a solution because I couldn’t have a mess in my beautiful new marble & gold themed office. 

If you are stuck trying to figure out how to hide hideous electrical wires, I have a super simple and adorable DIY solution for how to hide router cords.

How to Hide Modem and Router Cords with Upcycled Furniture

You’ll never guess what I upcycled from the thrift store to make this mid-century side table. Here it is…

You’re still probably confused, right?! What the heck is that!? 

Well, I had no idea either. I just knew it was a perfect size and even better it had that front panel with small holes for good ventilation, which is a necessity if you’re going to be creating your own table as a solution to the how to hide modem and router dilemma.

Turns out it is a really old-school air cleaner and was a great option. I’m guessing that’s kind of like a modern-day air purifier with a small fan. Regardless of what it was, it was a great place with open air to hide the modem and router.

I knew this would be a great way to hide our wireless router and cable modem without affecting signal strength because the wi-fi signal had ways to get out of the box with the front and back open. 

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Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1. Lightly sand.

Since I knew I was going to paint this with spray paint, I gave it a quick and very light sand with a fine 220 grit sandpaper. The router cover was easy to sand and this is the best way to give the paint something to “grab” onto.

Step 2. Tape off and spray paint the front.

Next, I used painter’s tape to tape off the edges of the front around the panel. I followed up by giving the front panel a few coats of gold spray paint. Remove the tape when finished.

Step 3. Tape off the front and spray the rest of the box.

Since my office was marble, white, gold, and mint green – I wanted to keep the box with a simple white and gold theme.

I chose white spray paint for the main color. We did about 4 coats after covering the front panel with plastic and tape.

Step 4. Add legs.

This is where it really started coming together. I had been itching to do a DIY with hairpin legs because I just LOVE them.

I knew they would fit in perfectly in my modern office. We added the four hairpin legs to the bottom corners of the table.

Step 5. Add a wire grate as a shelf.

Once I got to this point, I started trying to fit everything back into the little box. And I was really struggling to make it all fit.

Then I remembered that little wire grate that I removed when I was deconstructing everything. Ah ah! We need a shelf! Even better, a shelf that allows the air to circulate in the box so it doesn’t build up too much heat. 

We attached the shelf by resting it on some nails on all four corners of the box.

Step 6. Secure power strip.

We added the power strip up into the top corner of the box and kept the power cable completely separate. Generally, it’s a good idea to try to leave as much space as possible around the wifi modem to help the wifi signal stay as strong as possible.

Putting the power strip in the right place here helped a lot.

Step 7. Add your gear.

Luckily I have my designated “IT Manager” to do this part for me, hehe. I started getting lost with all the cords. He stepped in and got it all plugged in the right way. We rolled up and made sure each internet cable got to its ethernet port without crossing other wires to organize later. 

Step 8. Organize the cords with zip ties.

The best part of this solution for how to hide modem and router cords is the pretty organized cables that you end up with.

Maybe you’re not Type-A like me, but that organized circle of cords makes my heart flutter.

I love my little mid-century side table, my perfect solution for how to hide wires. My marble and gold office is able to stay clean and pretty without the hideous mess of the electrical cords and blinking lights. I really like the way the wireless network is hidden in plain sight.

Do you have a bunch of electrical wires in your house that needs hiding? Whatever type of contraption you come up with (heck, maybe you can find an old school air cleaner too!?) just remember to make sure your solution on how to hide cords has plenty of air circulation for the hot air. I’d love to see what you dream up!

FAQs about hiding your modem and router

How do I hide my router and modem?

There are several different ways to hide your modem and router. You can find some sort of box that can be upcycled, like we did with this thrifted air cleaner with hair pin legs. Here are some other alternative ideas for hiding your router/modem:

• Put it in a basket, crate or metal box (be sure there’s no top/lid)
• Conceal it by putting a frame or artwork in front of it
• Get a faux stack of books, like this
• Put it inside of your media cabinet or entertainment center
• Use cane on the front of your cabinet doors and put it inside (kind of like we did on this cane nightstand)

Can you cover a modem or router?

The most important thing when you are trying to figure out how to hide your modem and router in your house is to make sure there is plenty of airflow in and around where you choose. You want to make sure that the heat can escape, the wires and cables have a place to come out, and ensure that the wifi signal is not blocked.

Can you put a modem or router in a cabinet?

You may need to play around with this in your house with your specific connection, but in general, is not recommended to put a modem or router inside of a cabinet. You may be able to get around this if the door to your cabinet has holes (like the cane webbing I mentioned above) and it has good airflow to keep it cool. Anything that blocks the signal could slow down your connection, which is definitely not something you want, right?

Where is the best place to put a router and modem in your house?

You want to make sure that your router and modem are in a central location of your home. The wi-fi signal will go out from the router in all directions, so the rooms closer to the router will generally have a better connection.

How do you hide router and modem wires in your house??

Let me know in the comments !!

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