With a little paint and 2-3 days I recycled this 1910s piano into a work desk. Cost: paint and manual labor to pick up the piano from craigslist.I'm here to answer questions incase you are interested in doing the same.
Really nice. If he wants to spend more time on this, additional hacks would be:<p>- hook up the foot pedal to a KVM or some kind of software switch to switch desktops/environments<p>- put some speakers behind the 2 grills if it isn't done already<p>- make one or both of the grills openable and attach a power strip in them so the power wires can be hooked up hidden inside instead of outside<p>- cut out the flat part of keyboard cover and use it to extend the desktop for more desktop space and more leg room
On a related note, the NY Times had an article this week about the rising number of pianos being dumped: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/arts/music/for-more-pianos-last-note-is-thud-in-the-dump.html?pagewanted=all" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/arts/music/for-more-pianos...</a>
Someone should send this article to the guys who make a business out of taking old pianos and, when no one wants their donation, doing this and selling them.<p>edit: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317242" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317242</a>
Years ago I recycled an old 8-ball table into a desk. Utilising a claw hammer to take off one side of the table rails, so as to be flush with the table surface. I threw away my mouse pad. Best table ever, it was amazing for FPS gaming.
I love how the keyboard is (by design) at perfect keyboard height and the monitor is likewise at a pretty ideal viewing height, since the spot it's in was designed to be looked at while using a keyboard.
There are pictures of a few piano desks someone else made here: <a href="http://www.tinkertunes.com/upright-furniture-co" rel="nofollow">http://www.tinkertunes.com/upright-furniture-co</a>
Is there enough legroom? I tend to unconsciously wrap my feet around anything within reach while I'm working, and not being able to do that actually kind of impedes concentration.
Well done, not bad at all. The only change I would make is to cut away a portion of the back-board under the desk so I could stretch my legs out a bit.