WITIWYG: What I Think Is What You Get


   

Ikea standing Desk





I love working standing up, it prevents you from falling asleep in your chair and is better for your posture and keeps you more alert.

I had before used a simple door and brackets to make a cheap standing desk for about 30$, that was in my "man cave".

Now that my office is going to be inside the new house, I needed something nicer looking.

I decided to make one from Ikea parts, there are many good ideas at http://www.ikeahackers.net/ , But i came up with my own thing, as far as I know.

I'm about 6'1 and that desk is the perfect height for me (~ 44"), but you could remove the "feet" to make it 4" smaller (if you are about 5'6), or use 6" or 8" feet available at Ikea instead if you are a giant ;)

Total cost: 200$ or so

Height: ~44" This is good for somebody ~6' but can be made for people 5.6', 6'2 or 6'4 easily, see bellow.

The parts:



The trick is to find parts that will give you the right heigth, at first I thought i would use some Billy bookcases(41" tall) with a table top but I didn't like the look of that.

So here is what I used:


I ended up using 2 smaller expedit bookcases rather than one large one because it was out of stock.

You can replace the bottom feet with those casters if you prefer.

You can make the desk ~5" shorter by removing the bottom feet, or 2" or 4" taller by using the longer capita legs available at Ikea.

The build:


Mounted the Capita legs under the expedit bookcase (i screwed them but also applied epoxy glue for extra strength, but that's optional).
Since i used 2 smaller expedit bookcases instead of one (out of stock),I also epoxied them together.



Then I screwed and epoxied the angled captiva brackets on top:


Then the table top goes on top:


I Bolted the back 3 brackets, after drilling 3 holes in the table top. For the 3 front brackets I did NOT use the bolt assemblies of the captiva brackets, that is because 1) I did not want any bolts coming out the front part of the desk, as it's ugly and in the way 2) the 3 back bolts are plenty enough to keep it in place 3) It give a slight slant, a little lower in the front, which I find a bit more ergonomic.



Finished Product




With a monkey:


My wife using it, note that it's too tall for her :)


Now you see all the messy wires:


Now you don't:


I also bought a Lak shelf to make a monitor/speaker stand, but haven't mounted it yet as there was no more 4'' capita legs available.
I'm not sure wether i'll add it or not, I think I like it as it is.




Last modified: Thu Jan 12 00:03:28 EST 2012 by Thibaut Colar

Post time:02/18/2012 00:44 By:Guest (Guest)
Title: My 2 cents.
This is great. Def inspired my design on the desk below.

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/01/vika-brad-standing-desk.html?m=1

Post time:01/16/2012 22:47 By:Guest (Guest)
Title: Where do the Signum go?
Very cool hack; where do the Signum go in order to hide all the wires?

Post time:01/16/2012 14:15 By:Elle (Guest)
Title: Question about adjustment for 5'2" (elbow is 40")
Looks amazing! Do you have any suggestions for short ladies? I am 5'2", my elbow probably needs to rest at 40" off the ground. Can you tell me what I should do to make it fit my needs? Thanks so much!!

Post time:01/11/2012 23:45 By:Guest (Guest)
Title: Epoxy
I don't know if epoxy is needed. But at least for the bottom legs I think it's a good idea. From my experience screws in particule bard or very weak if you move them laterally (like moving the desk). On the other hand adhesives like epoxy are very good at that. So i figure screws + epoxy should help. Note that Expedit material is not too bad compare to some other Ikea stuff.

Post time:01/11/2012 23:24 By:shelf (Guest)
Title: yeahhhh bro
i'd been planning on making something like this for a long time, i just agonise over screwing things into the expedit. might give it a go with epoxy and a 4x2 expedit. nice work bro

Post time:01/11/2012 11:46 By:Guest (Guest)
Title: My 2 cents.
Cool, glad you like it. I actually bought a Lak shelf too, but haven't mounted it yet as the shortest capita brackets where out of stock.

Post time:01/11/2012 11:43 By:BDunk (Guest)
Title: I built one
I had been looking for a design with a 44" desk height and that would allow for two workstations. I knew this was the one for me as soon as I saw it =] Assembled it last night and it was well worth the effort. I added a Lack shelf (via more Capita brackets) on top for monitors and it turned out great! Thank you very much for sharing your project and inspiring me to build my own!

Post time:01/08/2012 21:55 By:Guest (Guest)
Title: Monitor stand
It's just this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043H39WM/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details

Post time:01/08/2012 21:35 By:BH (Guest)
Title: Monitor Stand on IKEA standing desk
A very nice project. I'm interested in the monitor stand. how did that go together?