Yesterday, my friend Brandon, an ameteur woodworker and professional furniture builder, delivered an amazing custom-built standing desk unit that will replace an old, ugly temporary solution I had in my home office. The pieces that make up the whole are amazingly beautiful, hand built, and lovingly finished to make this, not just a life hack, IKEA hack or some kind of kludge solution, but something that is truly a beautiful piece of furniture. Even Brandon's co-workers commented on how this was an elegant solution that would look good in any home.
The beauty of this new piece is only eclipsed by the functionality of it. Providing wide workspace, storage solutions, and a feel that is unparalleled to any other standing desk set ups I have ever personally experienced. This was a long time in the making and the story behind this immaculate piece of lovingly-built furniture is just as good as the piece itself.
The Need
I am an Instructional Designer by trade. This means I work in front of a computer every day. The company I work for afforded me the flexibility to work from home while only requiring my presence in-office once a week. It's a nice job that affords me a lot of freedom, creativity, flexibility, and to do something I truly love. This love was put to the test about a year ago.
Late last summer, I began feeling pain that started in my right shoulder, moved down my back, through my glutes, and down into my leg. After some basic research and talking with others I found that this pain was an irritation of my Sciatic nerve. Once this was determined, I knew I had to find a solution. One cause was constant sitting, slouching, and reaching, normally associated with someone using a computer while seated. The suggestion of a standing desk seemed a bit out there until I saw a co-worker using a standing desk in the office. I figured I would give it a try for a week and see if it helped. By the time I reached this decision I was in almost constant pain, not only at work, but at home and during my 90-minute commutes to and from the office.
A week came and went and the pain almost immediately subsided. I found myself with a new source of energy, my legs quickly adapted to standing all day, and I fell in love with the concept of a standing desk. Since the desks in the office offer a shelf that can be used in a standing configuration, I had to fit together a solution for my keyboard and mouse to make it completely useable. This was truly a game-changer in my life and it was a path I wanted to follow the entire way. This worked great at the office, but with my time being split between working from home and at the office, I needed to do something so I could stand all the time.
The Temporary Solution
The office solution was crude with the milk crates and a unneeded plywood shelf. It serves its purpose and does not need to look that nice. It is truly a matter of function over style. With my home office, I wanted something nicer so I started looking around the Internet.
The home office already has a nice oak desk that I inherited from my wife, so I wanted a solution that worked with that. I found cheap solutions on Amazon but most of them were self-sufficient units that would have required my desk be removed. I found the Kangaroo Adjustable Desks online and thought they might be a solution until I saw the price tag. Plus, I had another issue: size.
Like most people with desk jobs, I like having my personal computing/online stuff in my peripheral while I'm working. At home, I do this with my personal laptop while keeping my work laptop strictly business. The Kangaroo Desks, while very neat, would not be large enough or sturdy enough to carry two laptops simultaneously. Out of store-bought solutions, I decided to take matters into my own, unskilled hands and try and build something.
My temporary solution was along the same lines as my office solution: milk crates and spare wood. I made it two-tiered so I could have my work laptop on top with my personal machine in the middle. I added another shelf I had so I could have a place to hold my mouse. The crates were held together with zip-ties and the wood just laid flat on top. It was an inelegant solution but it did what I needed it to do. Later, when I purchased a large monitor for work, I had to move my work laptop down off the crates and on top of my printer. It was the only solution I really had at that point.
The crates did have their uses. I positioned them to be open so I could use the inside for storage. I used the lower-rear crate to hide external drives and other peripherals I would not need to access very often. Once tied together, the crates themselves were fairly sturdy and did not warp or bend under the weight and heat of the computers. For those of you looking for a standing desk solution but lack the funds for even an IKEA hack, I would suggest going with a design like this. My only suggestion would be to screw in and secure the wood pieces to the crates using screws and large washers.
With my temporary solution I was less than content and started thinking of a more permanent solution made of wood or metal. The idea of having larger boxes the could support more weight, house my printer and other desk accessories, and be fitted to a specific height was what I desired. I sketched out some designs, priced materials, but found to build it myself would be as expensive as buying something already made. Plus, as I mentioned before, I am not good at building things like this, so I decided I would need some professional help.
The Plan
I sat down with my friend Brandon, a furniture builder who has started branching out into refinishing and salvaging antique furniture, at an Old Chicago and I showed him my sketches. To his credit, he did not laugh at them, but instead started to analyze and piece together what I was trying to build and how it could best be put together. With little more than the desired dimensions and an idea of what it would be used for, he set off to build a more permanent solution to my dilemma.
Working where he does, he has access to furniture-grade wood of the highest quality. He said that much of the spare or discarded wood is set aside, not because of poor quality, but because a customer changed their mind, didn't like the stain, couldn't pay, etc. and that this was free to take and use before it would be discarded. It was with this wood he woul use to make the boxes.
His first idea was to take my concept of a closed box with openings at the front and the rear and fix it so there would be four open sides with large supporting legs to keep up the weight. His reasoning was to allow for more ventilation for the electronics (especially the printer) and allow for easier access. He also suggested making it wider than I had quoted to allow for more workspace and better stability the entire way around. These and all of the ideas he had were right on the money so I let him have free reign over the project. Brandon's background in technology and in furniture building made him the perfect person for this task and he did not let me down.
Working on the actual build and finishing took a while because he could only work on his personal projects during his lunch hours and breaks. When I went to pick up the finished product he wouldn't tell me how many breaks he sacrificed to finish this project, but I could tell it was more than a few. He would send me pictures of the build process from time to time, consulted me on the finish colors, but for the most part I yielded to his superior knowledge and experience and let him run with it. The finished product let me know this was not a mistake.
The New Set Up
The finished unit is actually two pieces. The base piece is large and wide. If I only had the one computer, this would be the only piece I would conceivably need to make my standing desk work. Brandon built in a 6-inch ledge on the front of the piece to allow for more work room and to accommodate my larger, personal laptop. The legs are sturdy maple and hold together both the bottom and top cherry pieces made from a refused dining room table. To prevent (further) damage to the top of the original desk, the bottom of the piece is covered completely in quality green felt.
The top piece simply rests atop the base, with another piece of green felt covering the bottom. Before I picked up the pieces, I had the thought that there might be some slippage or an unsturdy quality to having these pieces be independent and not fastened together. Brandon assured me that the sheer weight of the top piece, while not crushingly heavy, would keep it in place. The legs on the top pieces are, again, maple but have an inward-curve to them giving the piece, and the unit as a whole, a bit of character.
Underneath the top board is a small shelf that accomplishes the same purpose as the rear milk crate: a place for my external hard drives, USB hub, and other accessories that need to remain out of the way and semi-hidden.
The finish on the pieces is some of the finest I have seen on any kind of wood furniture. It's silky but still allows some of the larger wood grains to be felt. It's smooth with a hint of distressed character to come through. The stain tints are a subtle two-tone, with a tobacco stain on the legs and a more natural stain on the cherry tops and bottoms. They blend almost seamlessly together making it a nice accent without drawing focus away from the form it covers. Best of all, the lacquer Brandon used is one that can be cleaned with either water or diluted Windex, which is good because I dislike Pledge and most other wood polish products.
All set up, it does what I want it to do and more. The top shelf allows my work laptop to be brought up with my large monitor allowing me to have a usable two-monitor set up that was impossible before. The middle shelf is large enough to accommodate both my personal laptop and the wireless keyboard for the work laptop above. To the right, I have room for more than just a mouse and a mousepad, I have a place for my drink, my notepad, and whatever else I may need to have right at my fingertips.
Behind the laptop, a near seamless transition to the lower part of the top piece that I am using as a storage shelf for notebooks, my pen mug, and anything else I can think of. It's only half-full at the moment and that suits me just fine.
On the bottom, I have plenty of room for the printer, with enough clearance to still make the flatbed scanner portion accessible. Next to it, I have the remainder of my office supplies with room left over for pretty much anything else I can think of. Right now, I'm still in the process or moving everything back, but I am finding the possibilities with this new unit to be nearly endless.
I know my situation is unique; not everyone has a friend who can build such a piece like this on the cheap and in such magnificent quality. I post this today to, not only show the world how someone has found yet another solution to a standing desk situation, but also pay tribute to the man who built this with nothing but some raw measurements and a vision.