When you are making little one-off projects in your basement, you shouldn’t need expensive equipment to make your project look nice.
I took inspiration for this enclosure from Google’s AIY project. It comes in a nice, pre-cut cardboard enclosure that everything neatly fits into.
Alternatively, a lot of project kits come with acrylic enclosures that were laser cut. At worst, you need to spend a little time to figure out how the pieces fit together. These are purpose designed and prepared for the project they are included with.
When you are building your own creations, you are responsible for how to make it look nice. Your options depend on how much you want to spend, and what equipment you have available to you.
Generic boxes are available online or from your local electronics supplier. These usually work well, but don’t always provide much visual design.
If you own or have access to a 3D printer, or a cutter (laser or other), you might be able to make something custom to your project. These look great, but can get costly in material and time.
This is where the cardboard enclosure comes in. Everybody has access to the material. It’s easy to shape – even if I didn’t do a great job of it. You can paint it, you can draw on it. It’s very versatile. This should be the material of choice of any electronics hobbyist who wants a quick project enclosure.