If you want to see a home office that packs a lot into a little, look no further. Lifehacker reader Shawn McBee modified an IKEA MICKE desk to fit into the corner of his room and added an articulating monitor arm so that it worked for both standing and sitting positions.
He offers a few details on how it came together:
I tend to spend a lot of time at my computer, so I don’t want to sit the whole time, but neither do I want to stand the whole time. So, I wanted the option to do one or the other, depending on which would be more comfortable at the time.
To that end, I am running a Quad-Core i7 Mac Mini with a Dell S2440L monitor mounted on a VESA arm (which required an adaptor, as this monitor doesn’t have VESA mounting holes). This allows me to sit or to move the monitor up to my standing eye level quite easily.
I usually keep my iPad under the monitor, as I tend to have a textbook on the iPad while I do homework on the computer. I also sometimes do research on one while I write a paper on the other. This setup is facilitated by a Logitech K811 bluetooth keyboard, which pairs with both and allows me to quickly switch back and forth between them.
Also very important for me is my lighting. I have a variable-colour LED strip installed in the hutch area that allows me to change to almost any colour to suit my mood. It’s usually blue, as I find it soothing and it helps to keep me from getting stressed out while working on school work, but sometimes red is handy for working faster when a deadline is approaching. On the shelf is a Sonic Screwdriver for quick tech repairs.
The desk is a modified Ikea MICKE, with a non-structural piece removed from inside the hutch area to allow greater range of movement to the VESA arm (which is an Ergotron LX Wall-mount). The arm is actually screwed into the wall THROUGH the back wall of the desk, as it was the only way to mount it with this particular setup while maintaining the aesthetic.
To see more pictures and get more info on the project, check out his postings on Flickr.
Corner Workspace (standing) [Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Flickr pool]
Comments
2 responses to “Sit Or Stand: The Multi-Position Corner Workspace”
How does he operate his keyboard and mouse while standing?
Levitation. All the new kids are doing it.
I don’t understand how he uses the desk when standing.
This is a great idea, rather than spending additional money to buy an actual stand up desk. You can easily buy a stand up desk converter like this http://tinyurl.com/9h5bf8o. And if you want a more strenuous routine, position your treadmill in front of it, and just go walking or running while working!