IKEA Power Charging Box With Individual Switches

So the other day I saw this instructable on how to make an easy power station using an IKEA box:
The-IKEA-charging-box---no-more-cable-mess!

I definitely needed something similar, so I went and bought one of those boxes at IKEA, but it stood in my office for a couple of weeks. Last weekend I finally decided to have a go at it. One major difference I wanted for my charging station: the ability to turn off each power supply individually instead of having all on while charging a single device. That meant going to the electronic store and buy 4 switches (there were nicer models, but they didn't have 4 identical ones, so I just got these).

Total cost for the project: 11,24 Euros

Ikea box: 1,99 Euros
Ikea box lid: 1,25 Euros
4 switches: 4 x 1,00 Euros
4 plugs: 4 x 1,00 Euros

I believe I could have gotten the switches and plugs slightly cheaper if I had looked around.
The rest of the parts I had them at home. Should be fairly cheap ones anyway.

It's not absolutely finished. I still want to get a protective plastic part for the inside, just to prevent any accidental contact with the exposed connectors. Another possibility is to just use heat-shrink tubing, although it might be difficult to completely cover the connectors next to the wall.
For now I just know that I shall only remove the lid "locks" after disconnecting the power plug.
In the end, still a fairly easy and cheap project.

Step 1: The Parts

- The original IKEA box and lid
- 4 power plugs
- 4 electrical switches
- electrical wiring
- connectors and "joiners" (if someone can give me the correct names I'll edit this. My mother tongue is not English... You can see some pictures of these in the next steps)

Step 2: Installing the Switches

After deciding on the right height position and dividing evenly the horizontal space, I marked the locations for the switches.

Using a cutter, I made the holes. Even if not perfectly cut, once inserted, the switch covers the sides and looks quite nice.

Here's how it looked:

Step 3: The Electrical Wiring

Unfortunately the picture is quite dark, but hopefully you can still see how I connected the different parts.

Pretty much it's just the 4 plugs connected in parallel, each having it's own switch.

Step 4: Connecting the Power Supplies

Here's how it looks with the power supplies inside.

As you can see, the switch connectors are exposed. I still want to get a protective cover for all those parts, if not, just use heat-shrinking tubing. For now I just have to remember to disconnect the main power supply before opening the box.

Step 5: Drilling the Lid

In order for the box to close properly I had to make some holes for the cables to come up on the top of the box.
I could have just drilled a circle in the middle of the lid, but thought it would occupy to much space.
Therefore I decided to cut some holes on the edge. Now this was probably the most difficult part of the project. Not only it is in rather difficult place to cut properly (at least with the tools I had available), but it would also be showing.

After a first attempt just with the cutter, I ended up using my dremel to make it a bit better looking.
I'll have to take another picture from the opposite side in order to get a better view.

Step 6: The Final Result

Works just as planned!

As I've mentioned before, I still want to get a protective cover or use heat-shrinking tubing for the inside electrical parts, and I'm still checking if it will require any ventilation holes. So far it never got warm at all, but haven't had all the power supplies on for several hours for a proper test.