DIY Standing Desk Ideas

Seriously, why do you even need to build your own standing desk? It's a no-brainer, to be sure. You'll get top quality on a shoestring budget and bragging rights with your mates, not to mention the satisfaction that comes with using something you built with your own two hands.

DIY standing desks are ideal if you are looking to save money on your desk requirements and are handy with furniture DIYs. It feels incredibly satisfying to know that you built your very own standing desk. But is it difficult? The answer is: not really. It's not difficult to build your own sit stand desk and turn an existing desk into a brilliant piece of furniture. Start by brainstorming standing desk ideas or look to an IKEA hack for different ideas.

Considerations for a DIY Standing Desk

Before getting into DIY standing desks, there are a few elementary factors that you need to take into account. Considering these issues will further enhance the quality of your DIY standing desk, so definitely take some time to think about these factors before starting on this project.

Cost Factors

Is it cheaper to make your own standing desk? Certainly, you stand to save some moolah when you research ways on creating your own. The first thing you should know about a DIY standing desk is that these standing desks are for those on a budget. One easy way of creating a DIY standing desk is by purchasing a standing desk converter.

If you wish to build a standing desk from scratch, it will end up costing you more than purchasing a basic standing desk converter. The main reason behind this is that you will have to buy a lot of supplies to create your own DIY standing desk. So, if you want cost-efficiency and minimal expenses, another way of having a standing desk is to use a standing desk converter instead.

Ergonomics Factor

Don't forget that professional standing desk manufacturers spend a lot of time and resources in coming up with ergonomic standing desks. They understand how to enhance the user's experience with a standing desk. It's natural that they can offer better comfort and ergonomics, resulting in ideal posture with their standing desks.

This is why it's so important for you to understand the different ergonomics factors associated with DIY standing desk creation. If you think you can live without an ergonomic standing desk or a sitting desk, you can ignore this factor and move onto the next one. But are DIY standing desks by themselves ergonomic? It really depends on your type of DIY desk and how much it allows you to attain perfect posture while working or gaming at your computer. Standing desks in general do promote better posture when used correctly.

Adjustable Height

Adjustable height standing desks are quite popular, and users from different walks of life love the desk height adjustment options. Regardless of whether you want to sit or stand with your adjustable standing desk, you can enjoy flexible options at your fingertips. You will need to ensure that your desk offers height adjustment for different postures. At any time of the day, you can sit or stand with your adjustable standing desk.

Optimal Desk Height

Before diving into desk creation, you need to make sure that you understand proper workplace ergonomics. You will need to read different research studies from scientists and engineers about workplace ergonomics. These will help you identify the core elements of implementing modern building practices.

You should understand the optimal desk height for your standing desk creation, and you can generate plenty of ideas without any issues. First ask yourself, “How tall should a standing desk be?” and move forward with your project. This height will depend upon your own preferences and work requirements.

Problems with Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Standing Desks

DIY standing desks bring a lot of opportunities and benefits to your fingertips. Similarly, there are also a few problems you should know before getting started with sit stand desk ideas. Standing desks can allow you to save money, but you will have to invest a lot of time in the creation of your work space.

If you want to use a coffee table or want to transform your existing desk into a DIY standing desk, you will have to invest resources and time into the creation process. If you're still wondering, “how can I turn my regular desk into a standing desk?” then consider using some of the following ideas to transform your current table into a standing desk instead. Here, we'll discuss the various issues with DIY standing desks.

Lack of Quality and Ergonomics

Creating your own desk does not always mean that your DIY will be on par with a commercial standing desk in terms of quality and research-backed ergonomics, not to mention potential issues with durability.

Trying out a DIY desk for a start and then upgrading to a high-quality standing desk would be a great choice for those who aren't sure a standing desk will work for their needs.

Lack of Stability

Adjustable standing desks are gaining popularity among users. One of the essential factors in determining whether or not it is stable is to test it in various positions. You can adjust the height, place different objects on the desk surface, and conduct testing for stability.

You can create one by yourself, but it may not offer as much stability as a professionally manufactured standing desk. This is why you must ensure that your project is stable and offers durability over a long period of time.

Lack of Adjustment Options

Since you are not a professional standing desk manufacturer, your DIY standing desk may lack plenty of adjustment options that are necessary for an adjustable standing desk. This means that it may go up and down, but it will not be as stable or adjustable as a professional standing desk.

If you want to convert your existing standing desk with the help of a monitor riser, for example, you should know that it will lack maximum adjustability as compared to a professional standing desk. You can also use random books and empty product cartons to raise the desk height according to your requirements. You will need to ensure that the temporary legs are stable and your desk will not fall over. You can also use a smaller IKEA desk on top of your existing desk to raise its height.

Minimal Aesthetics

This is yet another problem with the design as your desk may not look as amazing as a professionally created standing desk design. However, you can also come up with brilliant ideas to maximize its visual aesthetics.

In any case, your DIY adjustable standing desk surface may look a little less polished when compared to a professional standing desk. Try covering the standing desk surface with different paint jobs for a spruced-up desk. It will help boost your home office and workspace aesthetic.

5 DIY Standing Desk Ideas for Your Home and Office

If you want to convert your current desk and try out a sit stand office desk, here are the top 5 DIY standing desk DIYs that we've got. In this article we've shown you the pros and cons, now on to the sit stand desk ideas!

Purchase A Standing Desk Frame

The most reliable way to DIY your own standing desk is to purchase a high-quality stand up desk frame. This will ensure you quality and ergonomics on par with a commercial sit stand desk. Try Desky's range of standing desk frames if you intend to build your own stand up desk.

Raise Your Desk With Everyday Objects

This option offers low-cost risk, and you can save with such DIY solutions. You only need to buy a converter, and you can quickly raise your desk. If you cannot afford a converter, you can also use an empty trash bin or a combination of books to create a stable leg for your standing desk. You can adjust the height of your standing desk according to your preferences.

DIY IKEA Standing Desk Option

Try this option for people who like a good IKEA hack in their lives. Who doesn't love an IKEA idea for standing desks? You will not have to spend more than $22 to quickly turn your existing desk into an elegant standing desk and find a good place to use your laptop or monitor.

This IKEA hack will help you convert your existing desk without raising the height. You can place a smaller desk on top of your existing desk surface and enjoy a high place for your laptop, monitor, or keyboard.

L-Shaped Standing Desk

This is yet another amazing DIY solution if you want to convert your existing desk into a sit stand desk. This allows you maximum mobility and you will not have to spend a lot of money on buying a converter for your table. In addition to this, the wrap-around L-shaped standing desk design looks beautiful and gorgeous.

You can create this standing desk in the corner of your room in an L shape. You can find an equally high chair that can help you achieve optimal eye level for using your standup desk. It is also wider than an ordinary desk, and you can work on multiple projects and items on the desk surface.

Wall-mounted Standing Desk

If you do not want your standup desk to cover any space on your floor, you can enjoy a stand up desk that is mounted on the wall. You can quickly fold this up and enjoy the free space. This is a space-saving DIY solution for people who live in small quarters and areas.

Build A Standing Desk From Scratch

If you want to enjoy the best results for your standing desk design and ideas, you will have to start from scratch. It will help you save, but it will also cost more than other options when you factor in the cost of power tools.

You can start by brainstorming the best design ideas. Use the materials of your choice and start working on your personalized designs. Ultimately, you can also customize it any way you want.

Innovative DIY Standing Desks On Instagram

Instagram is filled with amazing DIY options. You can get a lot of inspirational DIY desk design ideas from Instagram feeds. We have compiled a list of the best sit stand desk ideas for you.

The Ironing Board Standing Desk

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If you lack the necessary amount of money to spend on getting a converter or materials for your DIY standing desk, you can use an ironing board for this purpose. One of the benefits of using an ironing board for a standing desk is that you can quickly adjust height according to your preferences.

You can get a clutter-free wide desk space as ironing boards are wider than traditional standing desks. You can get creative with your ironing board and use something to cover up the desk surface while you work on your laptop or monitor. An ironing board is also designed to withstand maximum pressure, so you won't have to suffer any damage to your expensive items.

Used Books for Standup Table Leg

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A post shared by Esther Fung (@estherisk)

If you want to raise the height of the existing desk, you can use books and create table legs for your desk. You will not have to spend a lot of money on expensive options, and you can save money by using big books to create stable legs for your standing desk.

Empty Product Box

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A post shared by Vanessa Courie (@nessiemonster4)

If you have a empty product box lying around, you can use them to turn your existing desk into a powerful standing desk quickly. You can adjust height of this standing desk by adding more product cartons underneath the existing ones. You can look around and find other things that can serve as stable legs or foundation for your standing desk.

Turn Your Regular Desk Into A Standing Desk

There are hundreds of different DIY solutions for your standing up desk ideas. You can use empty product cartons or books lying around to convert your home office desk into a sit stand desk. In addition to this, you can also place a smaller desk on top of your desk to adjust height and get a standing height for yourself for periods of time and encourage yourself to move around instead of sitting all day.

You can use an ironing table or other objects and come up with your own DIY standing desk idea. If you want something professional, try purchasing a professional standing desk frame and mounting your own table top on it. This will allow you to adjust the height of your desk according to your preferences. Chances are, the final choice will depend upon your budget, time and needs. 

source https://desky.com.au/blogs/news/diy-standing-desk-ideas

Guide: How To Choose The Best Adjustable Monitor Arm

We put together this monitor arm guide as we are aware that a lot of our customers struggle to get their monitors set up correctly. If you want to get the most out of your desk, correctly aligning your monitors is crucial. And if stands aren't doing it, a mounted monitor could well be the best solution.

Bad alignment can place strain on the neck and shoulders, which can radiate out down the spine and cause no end of problems. So we figured a monitor arm buying guide was in order. Choosing the best monitor arm for you will depend on your work style, the desk you use and how many monitors you have. We'll cover the dual monitor arm, wall mounts, the monitor mount and monitor stand, and even let you know which hole patterns to look for to identify how to fit your screen. Everything you need to know, to choose how best to optimise your height adjustment and screen position.

Should I Buy A Monitor Arm?

So, before we get into the details of what you're looking for in a monitor arm, let's answer this question: are monitor arms actually worth it? Well, the short answer is, yes, very much so. But it does depend on how you work. If your setup is super minimal, and you don't change often between sitting and standing, or are static, you might get away with using a monitor mount or monitor stand. You can also wall mount your monitors. However, if you have a sit stand desk, the chances are you would benefit from having an adjustable monitor arm as preferred to a more static monitor mount. This way you aren't limited to being able to adjust the height.

Desky Single Monitor Arm

A monitor mount, like our Single and Double monitor mounts, won't offer the same flexibility as monitor arms do. Although they are useful to level up your monitors, an arm will allow you more options. Whereas a monitor mount allows for height adjustment, an arm allows movement in three dimensions, as well as from landscape to portrait. For each person, the difference in height between sitting and standing will vary, so the ability to make easy height adjustments is key.

The reason monitor arms are so important is that they allow you to move your monitors to a position where your posture is optimised. In order to keep correct posture at your desk, you need your eyes level with the top of the monitor, with your arms bent at right angles reaching the top of your keyboard comfortably, sat upright, with a natural curve in the back.

If your monitor is too high or too low, the whole thing is knocked out of whack. A stooping position (with the monitor too low) will place strain on the neck and upper back, whereas too high and you'll strain your neck in the other direction. Over time this can lead to pain and discomfort. It can also lead to headaches and all manner of things you don't want while you're working.

The other major advantage is the ability to move position easily. The way you align to your desk when standing and sitting is different, so the ability to adjust your monitor's position easily allows you to switch seamlessly. Our arms also come with an inbuilt cable management system, which you may need to keep your workspace tidy.

What Should I Look For In A Monitor Arm?

Desky Dual Monitor Arm

When selecting a monitor arm, there's a few important things to look out for, and questions to ask. One we get asked all the time is: do monitor arms work with any monitor? The best monitor arm will be the one that suits you the best. The answer is not so simple. There is almost definitely a monitor arm that would fit your monitors, but they are not all the same.

For the vast majority of people though, our Desky Single Monitor Arm will do the job nicely, or if you have a multi monitor set up our Dual Monitor Arm will be more appropriate for you.

VESA Plate and VESA Compliance

Desky IMac Monitor Arm

VESA stands for Video Electronics Standards Association, who are the people who make sure monitors are VESA compliant, and designed the standard, 4 mount square VESA mounting configuration (which you can almost certainly see on the back of your monitor). The VESA hole pattern will look like they form a square. To find out if your computer monitor is VESA compatible, look for the square shaped hole patterns in the back. The VESA attachment will work for 95% percent of monitors, which is why all of our monitor arms use this standard unless otherwise specified. If your monitors are not VESA compliant, or you are unsure of the hole pattern, be sure to get in touch to see if we can help.

For users of the iMac, we have designed an iMac Monitor Arm with a specially engineered clamp, as these machines do not comply with the VESA standard.

Number Of Monitor Screens

Desky Dual Bar Monitor Arm

The amount of computer screens you use is of course going to have a big impact on how you set up your desk, and therefore the amount and types of monitor arms you might need. If you have a dual monitor setup, or even four monitors, you can still use arms for your computer monitors.

If you use two display screens and need to move them independently, then our Dual Monitor Arm mounts both screens on its own arm, meaning you have a full range of movements for both. Our Dual Bar Monitor Arm is the best choice to move your screens in concert.

For super complicated setups, we have added the Quad Monitor Arm, which allows a full range of movements for up to 4 screens on two tiers. And we will be adding a triple monitor arm to the range very soon!

Desky Quad Monitor Arm

Monitor Weight

The weight of your monitor is important, of course: however, with a weight capacity of 2-10kgs, unless your monitor is 20 yrs old, we're pretty sure our monitor arms will be able to take the strain.

Type Of Monitor Arm Mount

Monitor Arms with Grommet Mount or C-Clamp/Desk Clamp

So, which monitor desk mount to choose? Clamp or grommet? In fact, there are quite a few monitor bracket varieties, ways to desk mount monitors, and various types of monitor mounts in use. If your desk has grommet holes, then you will be able to use a monitor arm with a grommet mount, and attach the monitor arm using the existing hole. It is of course possible to cut your own grommet hole in the desk, if you have a workshop with which to do so.

For most whose desk doesn't have grommet holes though, a C clamp or desk clamp attachment will work best. Monitor arm clamps attach firmly around the back of the desk, or possibly the side, and allow you to alter the monitor's position in 3 dimensions, meaning you can move it closer if the back of the desk is too distant. This also frees up valuable desk space. A quick check of your desk should be enough to figure out which monitor mounts are best for you.

Wall Mount Monitor Arm

Alternatively, you could go wall mounted. If you know you're not moving your desk anytime soon, you can use a wall bracket (or wall monitor bracket) to mount your monitor arm on the wall above your desk. Wall mounts are a great way of keeping desk space free, and can be great for those who need to draw and use their PC during their workday. But even those who just need to save space can benefit from a wall mounted monitor.

Gaming Monitor Arms

Desky Single LED Gaming Monitor Arm

Whether it's work or play, the positioning of your display screen is still crucial. When spending any length of time at your screen, you should be thinking posture posture posture. So you definitely need an adjustable monitor. Our gaming monitor arms allow you to optimise your position when playing, so you can enjoy your games pain free. Just like when working, it is crucial you keep the monitor at eye level, so if you change between sitting and standing while playing, a monitor arm will save both time in transition and pain in the long run.

Our gaming monitor arms do all of this, and have the added bonus of adding light and looking great. If you're looking for an lcd arm, our Single LED Gaming Monitor Arm will do for most, but if you're really serious check out our Dual LED Gaming Monitor Arm.

How Much Does A Monitor Arm Cost?

Monitor arms vary in price, and the more screens you need to elevate, the higher the price. That said, you can't put a price on your wellbeing, and saving yourself from pain and long term health concerns in the future is hard to put a price on.

A single monitor arm will be enough for most people, provide a huge amount of flexibility, and isn't going to break the bank. For multi monitor setups, we would always recommend investing too, as it's nearly impossible to achieve the correct posture otherwise (especially when changing positions). Whatever your budget, it's well worth considering a quality monitor arm.

How To Use A Monitor Arm

Desky Dual LED Gaming Monitor Arm

Fitting a monitor arm to your desk in the home office is of course no use if you don't know how to use it correctly. The position of everything in your workspace needs to be perfect relative to each other, so your monitor, keyboard and mouse must all be positioned correctly. Following the guidelines below will help you to get your computer monitor positioned correctly.

Should My Monitor Be High Or Low?

The ideal height for your monitor is with your eye level just below the top of the screen. Make sure your seated position is optimised too: that means you're sat with your back straight, and your seat at a level which allows your arms to reach the keyboard comfortably when bent at a right angle, with your upper arms parallel with your body. For this reason, a chair with height adjustment (ideally with gas springs so you avoid strain when you adjust the height) is basically essential.

Can A Monitor Be Too High?

Yes, your monitor can be too high. If you feel like you are in an unnatural position, and you're tilting your neck backwards to see your screen properly, then your monitor stand is too high. Over time this will strain the neck muscles, which have the onerous job of supporting your head (which is heavy), leading to a literal world of pain.

How Far Should Your Eyes Be From The Monitor?

How far you should you be from your monitor is, thankfully, very easy to measure. As a yardstick, the length of your arm is roughly the distance you want between your eyes and the monitor.

How Often Should You Look Away From Your Screen?

There are many schools of thought about this, but most people will accept the 20-20-20 rule as at least a good starting point. The 20-20-20 rule states that every 20 minutes, you should look at something 20 foot away for 20 seconds. This will help your eyes to reset and refocus, and should delay the onset of eyestrain.

If you need more help on setting up your desk and monitors, see our Home Office Setup Guide for great advice.

Monitor Mount Alternatives

Monitor Stands

Desky Single Gaming Monitor Stand

If you don't feel like an arm is necessary for you, that's understandable. However, you should still be very mindful of your posture - even more so if you don't sit/stand, or otherwise vary your position. So investing in a monitor stand means you at least can make the odd height adjustment.

Desky Dual Gaming Monitor Stand

Our Single Gaming Monitor Stand allows you to adjust your monitor height easily, and is also appropriate for work. The Double Monitor Stand does the same thing, but for a pair of monitors, saving you from buying two stands. If you're interested in a monitor stand, check out our full range.

Monitor Risers

Desky Monitor Riser

Even more minimal than the monitor stand, our Monitor Riser can give your monitor a little boost if that's all it needs! Not so easy to change position, but if you only need to lock in your posture for a few hours at a time this can certainly do a job.

How Long Do Monitor Arms Last?

A good quality monitor arm should provide a good few years, but the amount of usage will be the biggest factor. What's not in doubt is that a well fitted monitor arm will allow you the flexibility to enjoy your work life free from pain, and help you to stay active, healthy and productive. Check out Desky's full range of monitor arms today to see how your setup and health could be boosted!

 

source https://desky.com.au/blogs/news/monitor-arm-buying-guide