Standing Desk Build Log (inc pictures)

It seems there isn't one of these on the forum. Either that or my search powers are failing me (not hard).

What Am I Doing?

Making a standing desk

Why?

Heard good things about them and benefits seem to outweigh the cons. This may or may not be true but some forward planning has taken care of that.
I spend most of the day at work sitting down so to come home and veg out in front of the PC won't do me any favours.

What Did I Need?

Some worktop - Wickes were offering this piece of solid beech
Some adjustable legs - Thank you IKEA
A monitor shelf - Used some worktop and raised it with these from IKEA
A cable tidy - Once again, IKEA provided
Lighting - ON the 1st day, IKEA created light!
Some cable trunking for the light cables

Circular saw comes in handy for the worktop
Drill for screwing in lots of screws (pilot holes first though)
10mm wood drillbit for the Capita bolts


How about some pictures of my progress?

My old desk, covered in clutter


Get rid of all that (took the opportunity to shred a ton of paperwork too, took a while...)


Adjustable legs from IKEA (£15 each)
They extend to 107cm which is pretty much what I need


Comparison with old desk dimensions


Time to cut the worktop (measure twice, cut once!)
130cm wide works for me, just a few inches short of my old desk
Lots of noise later.......

Time to look at the legs


Check how far the screw goes in too, I just got lucky


Thats the leg holders in place. Remember your pilot holes to make life easier. My drill needed charging so screwed these in by hand.....not much fun


Cable tidy hangs under the desk, it just moves the nest of snakes from the floor to where you can't see it


Legs on and move into the alcove.
Like my old desk, 2 legs have to be assembled in situ because of the stupid wardrobe to the side


Raised to the height I want, pretty much level. Weight of PC will balance that out


Monitor shelf legs


Holes for bolts...needed something with a bit more power to go through this wood


Desk done, just some other bits to do


Lights and trunking (switch stuck to underside of desk on the right)



Finished!!


Summary
Very easy to do as long as you measure everything accurately.
Plan what you intend to do first. This took me 15 hours in total from when I took the first picture (desk clearing took forever).

Since starting this project log, my heels are aching quite a bit but the rest of my legs feel fine.
Will try and remember to update this each month diary style.

Whats Next?
Been reading about anti-fatigue mats but will see how my legs do after a few months first. Could get a treadmill, would make walking/running in games a bit more interactive
Plan on a new case soon too and a dual monitor set up by the end of the year.

I used the IKEA stolomen system to make a standing desk, gave me lots of adjustment for keyboard and monitor height as took a while to get it comfortable... First few weeks will give you sore heels but after that its great I was at mine for around 10 hours a day...

Good little project that, looks miles better! Not to keen on standing desks but great effort.

Never tried one so thought I'd give it a go.

If I don't like it, I can drop the legs back down and sit at it again. Legs come off easily enough for moving it around too. Weighs about 25kg in total.

Let us know your thoughts on standing, say.. 1 month on.

Very interesting concept standing at your desk. Can't say ive ever thought to do it. Is this a new thing or have I just been living under the rock? Are there major health benefits? Or is it just a matter of preference?

I suppose it must be better than being sat down all day.

There are indeed major health benefits. Although I imagine and from blogs it's very hard to get used to, sore feet etc until' your body gets used to it. Burn on average 50calories more an hour, amongst all the other benefits, that's a lot of extra a calories a day.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-health-benefits-standing-desks-180950259/?no-ist

It looks great, although looks to low, won't you be crouching?

Have you been watching Break71 on Twitch. He swears by his stand up desk
Mine you he is standing there 8 hours sometimes.

Glaucus said:

It looks great, although looks to low, won't you be crouching?

Click to expand...

Nope. Elbows level with desk, monitor centre is just below eye level. The alcove is quiquite decdeceptive as we have higher than average ceilings. The alcove could have a standard internal door put on it (used to be double width airing cupboard).

I'll update on the condition of my feet every few weeks.
Not watched anything about standing desks. Quite liked them in a job I had a fair few years back and read an article in PC Gamer about them.
Wanted to do a purpose built one rather than a small table on a desk which I don't think looks as good.

One month update (more or less)....

Have spent the day playing Civ: Beyond Earth. Not even noticed the time go by and my legs/heels feel fine.

I am struggling to concentrate on writing (RPG story) as I have a habit of leaning back in my chair to think about things, can't do that standing up but gaming is easy though.

Not bothered with an anti fatigue mat, can't see why I would need one.
Got to the point last weekend though where I thought I'd just drop the legs and go back to sitting. Considered a barstool too but that would defeat the purpose.

I spend 2 hours a night in front of my PC after work and about 14 hours (on and off) if I have a free weekend.

I'm 5'10" and weigh 14st. The desk height means I can lean on it a little as it comes to my elbows and is very sturdy.

All in all, I'm very happy with it and wish I had done it sooner.

I'd be tempted to box in the space underneath and use it as a cupboard, looks like quite a lot of wasted space if you're not going to put your feet under there.

Its filled with crates and empty Lego boxes at the moment. Planning on putting some storage under there at some point but need to allow for dropping the desk down again (should I want to)

I like the dirty messy well-used desk look over the modern minimalist clean look to be honest.

Any update on how its going? I have last week got rid of my chair at work and started standing all day using a big box on my workbench to raise it. TBH 12-14 hours of that a day is killing me at the moment but I think its starting to get better already.

I can happily stand there for 8 hours with no issues. This is broken up with tea making trips and bladder emptying.
It does take a while you just need perseverance for a few weeks.

Nice build great use of space aswell, specially like therea hardly no cablea visable

Good job

Glaucus said:

Burn on average 50calories more an hour, amongst all the other benefits

Click to expand...

Unless you actually need to lose weight that could be a disadvantage too. Stand there for 8 hours and you'd have to eat a couple of sausage rolls to be on par with the folk sitting down. Could end up costing you a quid or two a day.

Nice. I'd consider it in the future although from what I've read in reality if you spend a lot of time at the computer you're better off mixing standing and using a leaning stool like the Mobis or Muvman which gives your feet a rest.

Great job!! Looking to do exactly the same thing myself, thank you for the ideas

If ya work in an office this is a great idea, if i was sat down all day the last thing i would want to do when i got home would be to sit down for hours on end. I spend most my day stood up so i look forward to resting me feet when i get home so its not for me, but i can see a lot of people taking on this idea.