DIY Standing Desk for $20
Like many others I recently converted to a standing desk. I went the DIY route and spent $20 for what turned out to be a highly functional standing desk. It might not be the most aesthetically pleasing desk (as pointed out by my co-founders many times) but it works great.
There are many variations of standing desks and this is a platform to place on top of your existing desk. The main structure is a Stor 3 Shelf Pine Shelving Unit which I bought at Kmart for $19.99.
If you want to make a nice 3 shelf storage unit for the garage, the above picture would be the final result. But for this standing desk, I made a couple tweaks. I assembled the bottom shelf and 4 support legs as shown in the picture above. This provides a base for stability and a shelf that works great as storage for my external memory, notebooks and anything else I keep on my desk.
Next, I attached the middle shelf at the 3rd position from the top. This is my monitor stand and placed the monitor at the perfect height for me (I am about 6 feet tall).
The top board is the keyboard/mouse platform and can be utilized in 2 ways. For my desk, I attached the board, facing outward, into the 5th slot from the top. This is the perfect height to keep my arms bent at 90 degrees. I added additional support to the outer edge of the keyboard platform by placing a box underneath.
The second option is to use the final board as a separate keyboard platform detached from the unit. You can prop up the board with boxes, boards or other items. Below is Marco Arment’s creative use of six packs.
One pleasant surprise of the keyboard platform are the slots in the board. I thought these would be an issue but, they are actually great for keeping wires out of the way. (The push pins hold the ends of the cords so they don’t slip through the slots when not connected to a laptop.)
The result is a functional standing desk that is the perfect height for my monitor, keyboard and mouse. The desk might not win me any design awards but I will feel great about my posture and energy, all for the cost of one Andrew Jackson.
Possible Improvements:
- Aesthetics: If you have a power saw, you can cut off the top section of each leg and have a flat top. Once removed, 2 of the partial legs could be used as support for the keyboard platform (replacing my sharp looking box).
- Paint: This has been suggested to me many times by the people sitting next to me. Honestly, I kinda like the ragtag, DIY look. But a fresh coat of paint will probably sharpen the look of the unit.
- Stability: The unit is pretty stable and does not rock or sway as much as other DIY desks I have seen. One trick is to place a shoebox at the base of the unit between two of the legs for additional stability.
- Stool: In the early stages of trying a standing desk, it is good to have a stool to lean on. I purchased one off Amazon that did not look too comfortable with no back to discourage myself from utilizing it too much.
Additional Notes:
- I don’t use an external keyboard and mouse. I just use my laptop. Probably not the most ergo setup but it works for me and I enjoy having my mousepad below the keyboard.
- The laptop monitor serves as a great second monitor for email, twitter and other time sinks. These services remain out of your eye line and to respond or engage requires you to look downward at a slightly uncomfortable angle. The result is much less noise/distraction and quicker, shorter responses.
