WiFi Routers Can Make A Space Look Cluttered—this Thrift Store Find Is The Perfect Disguise

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Your internet router is a lot of things: Hopefully functional, necessary if you want to play video games or work from home, and very often, an eyesore. It's the latter issue that can be addressed with a trip to the thrift store — provided, of course, if you come home with a slotted magazine holder. Specifically, you're looking for a variation of the kind that you see in the library, which houses the magazines in what looks like a rectangular box with part of the sides cut out. This cut-out feature allows you to slide the magazines into the slot. The repurposed magazine holder hides the router where the magazines normally go, with some additional help from items like books, plants, and décor.

If the secondhand store offers you a choice of magazine holders, beware of the material it's made of. Materials like metal, glass (including mirrored glass), and stone block an internet signal. You're pretty safe with magazine holders that are made of all wood. If you're into a more modern vibe, you may also find a stylish plastic one; a plastic magazine rack in a poppy color, like red or hot pink, would be fun. You're going to use the holder as a cover for the router, so look for something stylish. If your thrift store find only features one slot for magazines, get two or three magazine holders so that you can create a more solid cabinet for the router. While you're at the thrift store, look for items such as vintage books with leather bindings. Old-fashioned bookends work, too. You want items that will look good as embellishments to the display.

This clever storage hack asks you to turn the magazine holder upside down and place it over the router. Move the cords out of the way while you set this up. Because turning the piece upside down will shift the weight dynamics of the magazine holder, lean it up against the wall for support after you hide the router underneath it. If you bought two or three racks because you couldn't find one single big one, you may also want to bind the magazine holders together somehow. For example, a mesh-sided magazine holder could be tied together with zip ties. If you do something like this, be sure to hide the ties so that they remain out of sight. In this set-up, the router should hide in the middle rack to keep it out of sight. 

@naomigrayhome

Just trying to have a cute, whimsical home that looks like we probably don't even have Wi-Fi... and honestly? Mission accomplished. 😂 Found this little magazine holder at the thrift store and turned it into a modem cover in under a minute. Granny-core innovation at its finest. DDopamineCottageTThriftFlipAAddingWhimsyDDIYHomeProjectsCottageStyle

♬ original sound – Naomi Gray

Once you've stabilized the magazine holders by placing them against the wall, give them some additional support by pushing books up against the sides of them. The books serve another purpose here, too. If the magazine holder's side is cut out, the router will show through that hole. Putting a book there keeps the router hidden. You can keep the books in place with the help of a cool set of PAPEROX Heavy-Duty Book Ends, which look like modern art sculptures. If your new router cover is big enough and solid enough, decorate the top of it. Plants or sculptural knick knacks would look nice here. Finally, if the router cords are still showing after your build, hide them behind a stack of books that you lay flat on their sides.