Custom Ikea Standing Desk a Reality

Damn I haven't blogged in a while. Anyways, I am blogging now because I am excited that I have made a new custom desk - a standing desk! I am very about self help and increasing my life span and when I read an article about 3 years ago how sitting can kill you, I decided to start standing. I had a crappy make shift table and keyboard just sitting on my computer desk. Even before all that I had boxes on top of my desk.

Now that I have been very productive and creating new businesses on the internet. I needed more room on my desk with more options. I wanted to really buy a mechanical standing desk but it lacks some key points. Below is an image of how you should be standing while working.

After reading more about standing desks and seeing some amazing custom tables. I wanted to go on my own and do one. The image above shows where your monitor needs to be. Before, I had my monitor and keyboard on the same level, not good. I would still have to look down and it would bother my neck from time to time. Also my arms would bother me but not too much, having a perfect playing field for your body to work while standing makes everything easier and better.

So I looked at custom contractors who can build a desk for me with what I need. It is pretty pricey for a custom desk and especially if you are not building it yourself (I am not a handy man at all). So I started searching the internet and found this site called Ikea Hackers, they got a great little section dedicated to workspace and work stations. I didn't really want to wait for 2 weeks to get a desk. Thus I found Ikea Hacks and other furniture hacks for custom desk.

Ikea is all ready to be used, it is just piecing everything together and making sure it is strong.

So here some of the things I wanted with my new desk...

1. I wanted more room - I do a lot of paper work and some times putting them on my kitchen counter isn't all that helpful. Stains and all.
2. Needed a computer shelf to put my Mac on, keeping my keyboard at arms level and my Mac monitor at eye level.
3. Needed room for my external battery and sub. The clutter of wires underneath my desk was too messy and I kick it all the time.
4. I also wanted to have a nice wire management system, making it easier to manage my wires and looking neat and elegant.
5. I want to add a usb hub underneath my second shelf to I have easy access to USB ports.
6. Lastly, I want to add my speaker volume control to the front of my desk and underneath it as well, having simple access to the volume and the headphone jack when needed.

So the best way to do this was to just get some already made furniture from Ikea and even parts to create my desk. My desk is made from literally from 4 items from Ikea.

1. Expedit Book shelf
2. Numerar Kitchen Counter top
3. Capita Brackets
4. Ekby Hemnes

Those are all what my custom Ikea desk is made of. There are other parts too, but these are the main components that make up my desk. Here are some images of the progress...

As you can see the top image is the bookcase laying on its side with the counter top being held by the Capita brackets. This concept and style looks really fitting. Right now the height to the table top is about 39 inches high. My elbow is at 41 inches. I was thinking of putting legs on it but it would raise the table about 4 inches, which wouldn't help with my arms.

The second picture is basically the finished product. It has the extra shelf on top of the counter top and is also held by Capita brackets to keep with the design of the table. This table is big and I like it, it gives me room for paper work and what I need to do. The bookcase section is where i am going to keep the bottom area of my desk clean. My sub and battery back up will be held in one of those sections and the others probably books or other items.

I also bought a gelpro mat to stand on. Since I have hard wood floors, I think it would be best to have a soft mat to stand on most of the day.

Here is the final product...

Now that I have an amazing standing desk, my productivity will def increase and I know I will be enjoying this for a long time. The best part this desk is a two piece desk. This means that the top table can be easily lifted. The reason is because the screw for the Capita brackets were not long enough to add in some secure screws. This is better anyways because I can easily just take it a part and move it when need be. This is a big desk, so taking it apart has its advantages.

If you want to build this type of desk here is my shopping list from Ikea.