Hack a Standing Desk from IKEA

None of these "hacks" are adjustable height. I don't get the point of this page. Sure you can buy a table and make it taller, that's not why the standing desks are expensive. Can we have a hack for getting the adjustable part right?

I hacked together a standing desk mode for my ikea galant:<p><a href="http://www.jorgecastro.org/2011/12/09/the-43-ikea-galant-standing-desk-mod" rel="nofollow">http://www.jorgecastro.org/2011/12/09/the-43-ikea-galant-sta...</a><p>A word of warning for those of you who are thinking about doing this. I read all I could ahead of time about how to get the right height. At the time I didn't realize I was slouching, so when I measured and made the desk it was about 2cm too short.<p>I didn't realize until about a month later my left leg started getting numb due to a mild Sciatica. Adjusting it for the +2cm made all the difference in the world, so if you're going to do this make sure are standing up straight and your are not slightly looking down, and plan for adjusting the height to do microadjustments, it's a pain in the ass taking the thing apart because you mismeasured.<p>Either way I had no idea how to stand or sit right until I went to physical therapy and the lady showed me proper posture. Then when I went home I realized how messed up I was standing and sitting.<p>I learned all this _after_ I had made my standing desk, so either way if you make one yourself or get an adjustable talk to your doctor/PT-person/whoever who knows this stuff and have them show you how to do it properly.<p>Also, monitor arms to get those panels eye level, they make a huge difference!

I was thinking, "why not just buy a standing desk?" But then I saw the prices :-). Well, if you have the right tools, you can build quite a great adjustable desk, but you'll need more than IKEA. Off the top of my head, here's some things that you could use to build a manual or electric adjustable standing/sitting desk:<p>Metal tube - <a href="http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/alum2.phtml?page=tube&#38;LimAcc=%20&#38;aident=" rel="nofollow">http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/alum2.phtml?page=tube&#3...</a> ;<p>Threaded rods - <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-6-x-3-ft-ACME-Threaded-Rod-General-Purpose-Class-2G-/220993986391?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&#38;hash=item3374449f57" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-6-x-3-ft-ACME-Threaded-Rod-Gener...</a><p>Gas springs (several of them would hold the desk pretty firmly, and you can adjust by pushing it down, with some locking mechanism in place) - <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-USA-Made-Liftgate-Lift-Supports-Shocks-Struts-Props-Gas-Springs-4857-4856-/130740629417?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&#38;hash=item1e70bfafa9&#38;vxp=mtr" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-USA-Made-Liftgate-Lift-Supports-...</a><p>Reduction motors - <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&#38;_nkw=reduction+motor&#38;_sacat=0" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&#38;...</a><p>OR steppers (if you go all out) - <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=stepper+motor&#38;_sacat=0&#38;_odkw=12v+motor+gear&#38;_osacat=0" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=stepper+motor&#38;_sacat...</a><p>I guess the work involved is not for everyone, but it could be a fun project :-)...

The most effective hack is to just step away from the computer for an hour or two. Go for a walk, run, hell take up a martial art or two and meet people outside of you usual circle of friends while being physically active. Now that's a hack!

Everytime I open up a link about a do-it-yourself standing desk, I hope that someone's found a recipe of Ikea parts and motors to make a motorized, adjustable standing desk.<p>If I had enough time to spend in Ikea maybe it'd be possible. :)

Hack a standing desk from Amazon ... by buying a drafting table: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&#38;field-keywords=drafting+table&#38;x=0&#38;y=0" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dap...</a>

For those of you considering building one, what's great about all of these in the article is the difference in height between the monitor and the keyboard. This benefit for ergonomics can't be overstated.<p>If you already have a desk / work in a cube, my buddy bought a Kangaroo which is a nice way to mount your monitor at the right height: <a href="http://www.ergodesktop.com/content/kangaroo-0" rel="nofollow">http://www.ergodesktop.com/content/kangaroo-0</a><p>I use my geekdesk at home but I love the $22 standing desk from ikea for work. <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4134307" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4134307</a>

I also have the crank-adjustable desk mentioned and vouch for its coolness. Very nice to be able to switch from sitting to standing on demand.

I took a do-it-yourself approach and built my own stand-up desk using parts and tools I bought from Home Depot. It cost me 52 dollars and 3 hours of labor. I had a lot of fun and learned some basic carpentry skills in the process!

Get a kitchen island. You can hack away during the day and dine at night.

I appreciate repurposing things, but it seems like soon we're going to be "hacking" our ramen noodles by adding an egg. One the word means everything, it ceases to mean anything.

Still cheaper off by using some basic construction material: <a href="http://navni-stuff.blogspot.be/2011/07/standing-desk-part-1.html" rel="nofollow">http://navni-stuff.blogspot.be/2011/07/standing-desk-part-1....</a> <a href="http://navni-stuff.blogspot.be/2011/07/standing-desk-part-2.html" rel="nofollow">http://navni-stuff.blogspot.be/2011/07/standing-desk-part-2....</a>

After hacking together these desks in the past I bought a Geekdesk (<a href="http://www.geekdesk.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.geekdesk.com</a>).<p>You quickly realize the value of the $1,200 pricetag is that the desk adjusts in seconds to the exact sit or stand height you want. I would spend the same money on anything that keeps me healthier and decreases my back issues.

For those who sometimes work super long hours, checkout the sitting + standing desk on Ikea Hackers:<p><a href="http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/09/sitting-standing-desk-combo.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/09/sitting-standing-desk-com...</a><p>Just moved into Vegas so there's no Ikea around me :-(, but plan to make the trip to CA just for this

I didn't know the definition of "hack" included "buy some of-the-shelf parts from Ikea and stick them on your desk".

I'm seeing a lot of posts about standing desks lately. Additionally to what wikipedia says(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_desk#Advantages" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_desk#Advantages</a>), is there another benefit of using a standing desk I'm not seeing?

I hacked a similar Utby underframe based solution [1] together a few years ago which I'm still content with. I did end up buying a drafting chair so I can sit at it on occasion.<p>[1] <a href="http://imgur.com/6lfl3" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/6lfl3</a>

I just have the standard IDEA Fredrik desk with the table mounted at standing height, it works great for me.<p><a href="http://www.jrnielsen.com/ikea-fredrik-desk-as-standing-workstation/" rel="nofollow">http://www.jrnielsen.com/ikea-fredrik-desk-as-standing-works...</a>