I’m so happy with this stand up desk we made! It’s cheap. It looks nice. It’s easy to move out of the way when I want to sit down.
In short, (or tall or average), this is the perfect solution for a stand up desk.
Last week, I shared that because of my increased drive time each week, it’s hard for me to want to sit down in the desk chair to work. I made a make-shift stand up desk one afternoon.
And although it worked okay, it was not an ideal solution. But it did get me thinking about stand up desks. A quick google search revealed several nice options in the $200 range. Too much for me.
And there was a diy option using an Ikea table hack. I was ready to make a trip to Ikea to buy a Lack table, when I thought of hitting up the thrift store instead.
$15 bought us this ugly thing.
Jim cut the legs off at the right height for me (11″ above my desk surface). I removed the batwing handle and used black paint I had in the garage.
We also added some stick-on gripper pads on the feet, so it doesn’t scratch the desk. Those added a couple of dollars to the total, hence the $17 cost.
When I want to stand to work, I scoot the chair out of the way and lift the little desk on top of my big desk. I could add a new handle, but I probably won’t. I don’t notice those holes at all, other than in that photo. And it’s easy to pull out the drawer without a handle.
There’s plenty of space on the stand up desk surface for my laptop and a calendar too. And there’s a lot of space left on my desk surface below for things, like my camera.
If you want to build your own stand up desk, I recommend looking for a wooden end table, so the legs can be cut off. Also look for one with a flat top to it (no elevated edge).
We are not big DIYers, but we did make a charging station a few years ago that is still in use at our house. We store (and charge) laptops, kindles, cell phones etc in this.