I wanted to get my Mom a computer for Mother's Day, but I didn't have
any extra cash to go out and buy her a new one. So I took inventory of
all my left-over parts, and with a few added pieces from my brother's
stash, I was able to come up with a whole computer system. Then when I
thought about building a case for it, I thought it appropriate to use
all the left-over parts from my various home improvement projects to
make a home-themed case.
The idea was to make her case look like a part of the house. So a
sliding cover was devised and built over the existing metal case. It
consists of the top, front, and both sides as one piece. It was then
coated and textured with drywall compound, and the top and bottom edges
were dressed with moulding and trim pieces.
To power up the computer, I used a momentary toggle switch disguised as
a wall light switch. The CD-Rom drive is stealthed behind the front
moulding piece. The front also features an air intake opening which houses the floppy drive, and also doubles as a convenient "mouse" storage.

The top is made up to look like hardwood flooring. I used redwood planks, cut them at 45° angles and glued them together. A standard household floor register was used to cover two Zalman 80mm low profile
fans providing exhaust for the case.

The rear of the case was built out 4" to hide all the cabling. A back panel was made to support a standard outlet, a network wall plug, and a round cable grommet. The outlet is hard-wired to the PSU on the inside,
and power is plugged in, effectively reversing the normal direction of electricity through the outlet. I made a special cable with a three-pronged plug on both ends.

For the window, I etched "Home Sweet Home" in a cross-stitched pattern onto a piece of plexiglass and frosted it to obscure the internals (remember, this case is for my Mom, who isn't interested in seeing a
bunch of circuit boards and wires!). To continue the homey theme, I framed the design and, using some wire and a nail, made it look like it was hanging there.

Inside you'll find modest components. As I mentioned earlier, I had gathered up all my old parts to make up a whole system. And since this computer would only be used for email and an occasional game of solitaire, it needn't be water-cooled with bleeding-edge graphics! So with that in mind, here's the specs:

Sony CD Burner CRX230ED (N82E16827106822)
SOYO KT600 Dragon+ (N82E16813139145)
Mushkin 256Mb PC2700 (N82E16820146214)
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (N82E16819103334)
Western Digital 40GbHD (N82E16822140118)
Sound Blaster Live (N82E16829102177)
GeForce2MX video card
Logitech keyboard/mouse (N82E16823126157)
Logitech QuickCam (N82E16830108127)

This was one of those ideas where when you think of it, you say, "yeah that would be cool." but then you never commit to it. When I told my Mom about my idea, she liked it so much i decided to go ahead and do it.
And I'm glad I did! This case turned out better than I had originally imagined, and will look great up on display on her roll-top desk. No one will ever guess it's her computer!

ABOUT THE BUILDER

I’m a hot-rodder and do-it-yourselfer, but I am also an avid computer gamer. Naturally, I love driving games, but I am also a fan of first-person shooters. So when I am not out in the garage under the hood, I am on the computer playing games like Call of Duty. Way back when stock cases didn’t come pre-modded, I decided to dress up my gaming rig. I ordered a do-it-yourself window kit and one blue light, and realized I was doing the same thing to my computer as I had been doing to my cars, just on a smaller scale.

In modding cases, I am able to utilize my hot-rodding skills in the fabrication. And in this case, I called upon my household repair experience to pull it off.

I love being creative, thinking of new ideas, and the challenge of making my concepts a reality. Places like Newegg.com help me achieve that goal by being competitive in their prices, having excellent customer service, and having the best selection anywhere!