In this article I share my simple standing desk conversion sourced at the Swedish furniture store that is easy to mount, easy to dismount, doesn’t require you to make holes in your furniture and costs very little. Plus I give you a glimpse of what it’s like to work at a standing desk for many hours. All in the video below. Enjoy!
This post comes first and foremost in form of a video.
If that is not your preferred medium I suggest the slides below.
Best viewed in fullscreen
You made till here, so it seems like you really want to read. Then carry on:
Inspiration
I love Colin Nederkoorn’s take on the standing desk. I have been very inspired by his 22$ Ikea hack, but there is one thing: I don’t really like to punch holes and screw stuff into my furniture.
This is why I came up with the 18 Euro (17.97 to be precise) Screw-less Standing Desk.
Theory
What you want in a standing desk is two surfaces:
one for your monitor that should be at eye level
one for your keyboard/mouse that should be at elbow height
To know all about the theory and ergonomics of a standing desk head to the Tinkering Monkey blog.
Practice
The shopping list at IKEA looks like this:
LACK table 9,99
SAMLA box 2,99
SAMLA lid 1,00
EKBY VICTOR shelf 3,99
The assembly is minimal. Put the LACK on top of your regular table.
Add the SAMLA box with its lid and place the EKBY VIKTOR shelf on top of it.
The top surface of the LACK is perfect for your monitor or laptop, while the shelf creates the space for your keyboard and, in my case, trackpad.
The shelf is slightly wider than the LACK table, allowing you to have some paper to take notes or keep your phone next to the keyboard.
If the height of the shelf is not perfect you can always vary it by using books (art books work best). Same thing with the height of the computer. I use a combination of architecture, movie related books, plus the Complete New Yorker Cartoons for extra height.
Ritual
As a ritual I setup the standing desk every Monday morning and dismount at the end of the week. Since my office is also a dining table it’s great that in a few minutes I can go from very productive to very cozy (subtract standing desk, add candles, wine) and I get to use the nicest area of the apartment both for dining and for working.
Feedback
This is my first video. All feedback is very welcome!
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Great video! I plan to make a desk in my NYC office this month.
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