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The $22 DIY Standing Desk Made With IKEA Parts

Gregory Han
Gregory Han
A Los Angeles native, Gregory’s interests fall upon the relationship between design, nature, and technology. His resume includes art director, toy designer, and design writer. Co-author of Poketo's "Creative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire", you can find him regularly at Design Milk and the New York Times Wirecutter. Gregory lives with his wife Emily and their two cats—Eames and Eero—in Mt. Washington, California, curiously investigating the entomological and mycological.
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published Jun 28, 2012
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You probably sit too much. I know I do, parked on my backside for stretches for hours (something I’m trying to alleviate with interval breaks; cups of coffee can be good incentive). Standing desks are often cited as a good option, but retail options can be pricey. Here’s a low risk way to see if working standing up is right for you, a DIY solution that holds back the ugly sauce enough for us to recommend it as one of the better DIY solutions out there…

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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

The Standesk 2200 was designed by Colin Nederkoorn, founder of Customer.io, and was devised as low cost solution addressing monitor height and keyboard height with cost efficiency alongside ergonomics. One his readers pointed out he had an even cheaper $20 standing desk solution, put together with an As-Is kitchen cabinet for standing desk duties. But we think Colin’s solution is a bit more elegant. Instructions below:

You Will Need:

  • Lack side table – $7.99
  • Viktor Shelf – $5.99
  • Ekby Valter bracket $4.00 x 2
  • Wood Screws
  • Total cost: $21.98
Assembly Instructions:
  1. Assemble the lack side table according to the instructions in the packaging.
  2. Place the lack side table on top of your existing desk, and your computer monitor or laptop on top of the side table.
  3. Add a textbook underneath the monitor to raise the height if necessary. You want your head to be straight and your eyes to naturally fall into the top 1/3 of the screen.
  4. Measure the distance for the brackets. Consider using a twist-tie and stacking them on top of a ream of paper or by placing the shelf underneath the bracket in order to get the height precise.
  5. Screw the brackets into the legs of the table with an approximately 1.5″ long flat head screw.
  6. Place the shelf on top. Optionally, screw the shelf into the brackets

Full PDF instructions to download.

(Images: Colin Nederkoorn)

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