Slashdot Mirror
Building a DIY Home Office?
Rednerd asks: "I just moved into a new apartment and I'm almost done painting and running the cat 5. I have been looking at office furniture for a new desk to become the new home for all of my misc. computer gadgetry, but I haven't been able to find anything that really fits. (No one seems to sell a desk with room for two 19" monitors, seven computers, a beer fridge, coffee maker, and a small compartment to serve as a shrine for my little plush penguin - Potelé) I'm leaning toward building a custom desk for my computers. With all the talk on Slashdot about creating an ultra-efficient cubicle, I was wondering what other slashdotters have created in the way of DIY home offices?"
Take a peak at IKEA's line of office furniture, they can be extended quite a lot, and then you can just add whatever comes to mind:)
Go build something with wood. In other news, this has to be the dumbest article that ever got posted on /.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Building your own DUI Home Office.
why bother with a beer fridge and a coffee maker? don't reinvent the wheel
... have you considered a monitor arm? get a good one that lets you move it around if need be. i keep my kvm'd monitor on one of those, and it can be quite useful, especially when i'm working on some boxen and need the monitor to follow me
jet powered beer cooler
that famous coffee machine
keep a browser window open to check on the coffee, and keep the thing in your kitchen. when you don't hear the jet engine blaring anymore, you know your beer is good and cold. stick a few brats behind the exhaust, and pitch your bbq
as for the monitors
I hate computer noise and cable clutter so I envision a home office where the computers (clients as well as servers) are stored in a seperate computerroom and where the kbds, monitors and mouses are all attached thru one of those KVM-over-cat5 type devices. Kinda like the way they do it in stock trading rooms.
And I would like a laptop that boots from the (wireless) network and has no noisy harddisk. I guess this is doable by running Linux on it...
Regards,
Xenna (stuck in a noisy room with cluttered cables)
Its all about shelving, no precious desk space wasted. There are also a number of catalogs and such that sell desks for server rooms in almost what you are looking for, the two monitors and more than normal PCs. I would still say shelving though.
If we don't make light of everything, we are just stumbling in the dark - Blank
If you can't figure how to build a custom desk, I think you should keep playing with your Lego or whatever the latest geek trend is.
Everybody knows someone who's handy.
A friend and I designed and built a new desk when I moved to fit the room and my gear perfectly. (Well, my friend did most of the work) It's doable. And it turned out to be a LOT cheaper than the suitable desks I found out there.
If you DO want to buy a ready-made desk, don't look in furniture stores, they just sell kiddy stuff, and desks for people that need a place for their electric typewriter. Go look at companies that sell to other companies. They're usually more difficult to find, even though they often have a showroom (though just not visible from the outside) and sell to regular people. They're insanely expensive though. But, if you really want ready-made, they'll usually have something that fits.
The cool thing about making your own desk is not only that your desk gets to be BIG, but you also get to choose the materials and colors.
The downside about making your own desk is that it's too difficult to make a desk that has adjustable height, so you have to be REALLY sure how high your surface needs to be (mine is 2 cm too high).
If you are going to make your own desk, make it deep enough. Commercial desks usually are too shallow to place a keyboard in front of your monitor and still be able to rest your elbows in a comfortable manner.
Building a "terminal" computer with an underclocked CPU, heavily padded case and a quiet power source with its fan possibly disabled. Then lock all the noisy computers in another room.
Yourself some plans. Of what exactly what you would like. With some graph paper layout out your room. Then decide exacly your space requirement. Think about things like raising your boxes off the floor. Starting making your plans get a couple of buddies for a few weekends buy them some beer and have fun.
i have 2-21" monitors, a 16" FP, 1-19" monitor (plus some small speaker cubes and misc) on that chromed wire rack shelving (called bakers'racks), this stuff is from a company called Metro Shelving, but IKEA has its own brand...
i use the wide shelves, 24" (and 8 or 10 feet long) for the monitors, and use the narrow (around 8-10"wide) to create a keyboard shelf right in front/below the wider "top"....
you can adjust the height on those legs, with those nylon bushings and i've put a ton of weight on these things (well, about 600-800#'s) and not had much deflection...(though the center of percussion was really high..took about 200# off)
the downsides include having to put "trays" for your pens, smoking materials, etc...as they would otherwise just drop through the wires and if you are one of those folk who rest their wrists on the desktop edge...WELL, a couple of hours of that will teach you about numbness and pain...if you use a contoured KB or wrist rest..nada problemo...
it looks kinda HiTek...and you really can find the stuff just about anywhere, its reasonably priced (IKEA's is the cheapest but they don't have a very big selection of sizes) and if you really HATE the chrome...it's available in a semi-dull/shiny BLACL finish...Blood, Bath and Beyond has a really ***nice*** brand of this stuff, but it's kinda pricey
i equipped an office with about 12-15 of these "desks"...got lots of compliments from customer/visitors and only checked it out for the same reason you mention...all of our employees had at least 3 monitors per desktop and we just couldn't find a nice-looking, cost-effective solution...
i thinks it's medium cool looking, but, as always, should you or any of your..., i mean, YMMV...
Ten quid, she's so easy to blind. And not a word is spoken...
A word on chairs: Don't go cheap. My 100$ IKEA chair was a nuisance and literally a pain. I found 4 used Eames Aluminium Frame chairs (the conference table model, not the highback) and it's an unbelievable difference.
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
I am sure you will be able to find something on ebay.....
Cruise TT
Go to your local home improvement store. You can usually find a pre-cut formica counter top in the clearance bin. Add two filing cabinets or vanitys - one on each end of the countertop. Voila! My workspace is 10' long with a backsplash (to keep all of my pens from finding their normal resting place behind the desk).
Unsightly? maybe... but functionality is great!
When it comes to office furniture, one's got to mention these:
Slashdot: The Ultimate Chair
Poetic Tech: Working environments for high tech professionals
They don't come with beer fridges but can serve as inspiration, that's for sure...
Here at the Vaierre psychotope of the Mentifex AI project, the essential sine qua non of artificial mind-makery is an immersive environment of books, files, computers and organizers. Pick a friend early in life with whom thou shalt have a year-in-year-out ongoing contest to see which of you is the more organized and the more retentive of instant access to any piece of information or physical object. Do your work in a wrap-around surround-ground with all the most needed paraphernalia only an arm's length or at most a few steps away. Put posters or photographs of your heroes (e.g. to wit twit: Beethoven; Jimmy Carter; the DEC Alpha 64-bit IC; Alexander Dubcek; Lech Walesa; George Smiley a.k.a. Sir Alec Guiness -- all enshrined on the mentifical walls) up around you, because "Tell me who your heroes are, and I'll tell you how much of a nutcase you are." Then steal the password of a really famous Slashdot d00d, Dude, and post all about it so as to grant the poor Harry Haller wannabe a good case of plausible deniability.
Oh, and it is almost worth buying something just to see their packaging: 2 inch thick corrugated cardboard!
For the record, I don't work for Anthro and have no relatives or friends who do, I just own one of their desks and like it very much.
I use a 72" door layed across two 30" high 2-drawer filing cabinets. This is, IMHO, the ultimate desk. It comfortably fits 2x21" + 1x17" monitor, a load of CD's and anything else you want. This has been the most stable way for me to build a functional desk, with room for the towers underneath. (although the 7 that you mention may need more room..)
A computer without Microsoft is like ice cream without ketchup.
Either buy something at an office furniture store or build something from wood, formica, etc. How are we supposed to know what you want? We don't know your taste (if applicable), the size of the room, the size of the computers, where your doors and windows are, etc.
Another thing: You don't need seven computers. Get rid of at least three of them, buy drive drawers or set up some kind of multi-booting software.
I had exactly the same problem--I solved it with creativity, a 4x8 sheet of plywood, and a scroll saw.
:). I finished it with Verithane, because the stuff doesn't stink and cleans up with water.
;) on the floor. Place your computer equipment, books, etc. in place. Does it feel right? Try again in a couple of days. Does it still feel right?
My construction was simple. I cut a single 4'x8', 0.75" sheet of oak plywood to the correct shape. To support the weight of my monitors, I ran bracing the length and width of the table directly under the monitors. The bracing strips are 2" wide, made from the same sheet of plywood, and mounted perpendicular to the bottom of the table. For added stability, I fastened two edges the table to the wall using 2"x2"s, but if your installation is temporary this may not work for you. Because of the bracing and wall fastening, the table requires just one leg, which leaves plenty of space for my legs and four computers under the table.
I cut the table to shape using a scroll saw, which I already owned. I rounded the edges using a router, which I now had an excuse to buy
Total cost, $90. Satisfaction, at least 10 times anything I found in stores at a reasonable price.
Notes:
1. Explicitly define your requirements. Mine were lots of table space, enough depth for 21" monitor, keyboard tray that also has room for the mouse, and plenty of room under the table for multiple computers. Also, where are you going to put it? In particular, consider the location's lighting.
2. Create a prototype. Use string or masking tape to create a virtual table
3. Double check that the design is stable and robust. In particular, is it strong enough to hold that pair of 21" monitors. Consider bracing to MHz or RAM, more is better.
5. Buy the wood, tools, screws and wood glue. Try and find "void free" plywood. Most plywood has hidden holes in the interior layers.
6. Even thought I took my time, used guides to ensure my straight edges were straight and curves consistent, rounded the edges, and put on three finishing coats, the entire project only took four hours. It is well worth it!
You can try a local kitchen and bath remodeler.
Most cabinet suppliers now carry a home office line. The possibilites are unlimited and you can find things in almost any price range.
Go to your local office supply place and get two 6ft folding tables. About $40.00 each or so. Cheap and works great for me. 12ft of desk space is nice.
i agree... this topic is sorta lame...
but here is my thirteen cents worth.
Go to Home Depot (or your local lumberyard), along the way grab/steal/obtain one of those hard to find lumber carts...then:
Select a Solid Core Oak Door. SOLID. not hollow.
usually about $45-$50
Take it home, polyurethane or paint it to your hearts delight...(satin black was my choice)
then...
grab two of your file cabinets...one on each end
throw the door on top and voila!
one helluva strong computer desk.
If you are as motivated a good friend of mine...cut a 4" drop shelf out of the back-center of the door as wide as (2) 19" monitors, and drop supports, and voila, a nice cozy place for them expensive monitors, but wait there's more...add a few pieces of plywood and some dowels and glue and voila, now you have a shelf over those 19" monitors. If you have a router handy, give the edges of the door/desk a rounded top and sand to smooth.
Note:
this is HEAVY solution but cheap and effective.
HON file cabinets work great as supports.
two short Ikea cabinets and a full size commercial door works for me. Even painted the door white to match the Ikea :-)
I keep using pre-fab counter tops. Get one in the color and length you need. Get a couple of 2 drawer filing cabinets for the legs & you're done! need more room yet, stack another unit on top.
The IVAR line is something you should look at. Extremely versatile and adaptive : it is made of wood, it goes around corners and over doors. And more with some imagination.
One tip : put 30 cm between the wall and the furniture - first you can go behind to setup the wiring, and you have more space for your monitors.
First of all, you should get, for $200, SMC's Wireless Broadband Router. Then you wouldn't have to use Category Five all over the place, and you would have network printing.
Next, for a desk, consider using an interior door for a desktop. You can put it on top of some file cabinets (which have foam rubber on top to cushion the vibrations). Put some kind of nice, hard finish on it - Varathane, Minwax or such.
Finally, Give up that Coffee. It will raise your cholesterol, make your glands swell, and make your desk sticky.
I've got four computers set up in a relatively small (about 9' x 13') office, and after a number of different attempts (I've been working at this home-office-with-multiple-computers thing for close to 20 years), I've settled on a solution that seems to work.
Everything is modular, no bigger than it needs to be, and on wheels.
Every computer gets its own desk. As small as possible, with as few gimmicks as possible - no CD towers, no printer shelves, no cubbyholes; the only thing I'll accept, if the desk isn't low enough already, is a keyboard shelf, and that has to be wide and deep. It has to be on wheels. The ones I've come to like are the very simple little rolling workstation platforms that you can find at most computer or office superstores for about $60 - basically a flat desktop with a keyboard drawer and a bottom shelf to stash the tower.
Then I have one adjustable height folding table - Sam's for about $40 - about 30" deep x 72" wide; I've set that at a convenient keyboard height, and I usually have a laptop or two set up there. But it's easy to take the laptops off and set up a tower/monitor/keyboard at a convenient height for setup, modification, debugging. I've also got my DSL router, network switch, and a couple of power blocks velcro'd to that table at one end toward the back.
Then I've picked up a couple of sets of lovely maple folding tv tables - four tables, plus a stand, for typically $20-30 bucks. I've got a scanner more or less permanently set on one, and a printer on another. The others come and go as my need for horizontal space grows and shrinks.
Add one of those plastic 4-drawer cabinets (any office superstore, about $20-30) and a couple of file crates with wheels that live under the laptop table when I'm not actively working with them, and a bookshelf on one wall, and I've got a very efficient and flexible workspace!
Remember the three M's of home office furniture - Modular, Minimal, and Mobile.
Good luck.
Richard
Everything possible to be believ'd is an Image of Truth - Wm. Blake
I've been working in my home office full-time (with 7 computers) for almost a year. I wouldn't want to be working at the same desk where the computers are because of all the heat they produce. So I have four of my computers stacked together on an anti-static mat. It's a lot cheaper than buying furniture for them, it works well, and they're directing their heat out of my office.
I use a desk from Office Depot (about $60) for my workstation - it's wider than normal computer desks, so you can fit your mouse, keyboard and a frosty beverage on the main desk surface. A shelf in the back comfortably holds 2 monitors, and the space under the shelf gives me plenty of room to hold all those little odds and ends. I have two of the desks together at about a 90 degree angle, and they make a great work area.
The other trick was to get a decent chair with height-adjustable arms (about $100) and set them so that the top of the arms is roughly even with the desk. I've had tendinitis and carpal tunnel in the past, but I haven't had any trouble at all working in my home office.
One option I'm surprised I haven't seen voiced -- get a bunch of desks at thrift stores, arrange them in a semi-circle. Not necessarily the slickest option, but definitely the cheapest. At least if yr willing to place the machines & fridge on the floor. I use two desks & the top of a filing cabinet; add desks according to need.
man, if you've got SEVEN computers, you really ought to rack them and use some KVM switching. You can also cool them more efficiently that way as well as providing better security and power supply. Keep your desk nice with your screens, kbd, mse and whatever cradle-like peripherals you need. Two's a couple, three's a crowd but SEVEN's a FARM.
That was classic intercourse!
I searched for ages for a computer desk big enough and solid enough and affordable enough. No luck. So, I went to an unfinished furniture store and bought a dining room table. Long enough for all my computer stuff PLUS a TV/VCR. Deep enough so that I can stick papers I'm dealing with in front of my keyboard. $100 for the table. $10 to polyurethane it (why stain it? -- natural wood colors look great).
Life is short: void the warranty.
Why is this modded up as insightful? At least the jocks stick together: if a geek comes to a football game and shouts "Football is a huge waste of time", he'll get beaten up by both team's supporters. But if a jock posts to a geek site that you don't need so much computers, he gets modded up. Strange world.
Helping with organizational effectiveness is our job.
I do (its got Ikea legs though) but firedoors from skips are a tad cheaper than the desktops in IKEA, and you don't mind as much when you drop your soldering iron on them.
What you need to do mate, is get your newspaper paper, check the classifieds for auctions.
:)
There are tonnes of auction company's that auction off old office furniture collected by finance companies from bumbed out companies and so on..
They generally go pretty cheap, at work we got a $800 corner desk for about $100, pretty much top quality..
So check them out, youll be able to find something that suites, or maybe 5 desks
stuff
I Used a flush door (no door knob whole or hinge cut-outs). a 33 inch by 7 foot desk top was $30.00. Add some quarter round mouldings to fit arround your el-cheapo book cases ( on the underside), and stain and finish. took about a week, mainly to get the luan finished smooth and glossy. It looks great, I used about 6 coats of of sanded ureathane to get a glassy finish. Then I set this top on top of the bookshelves and viola a huge desk that has room to crawl under and reach behind to get to hardware! :) I try not to sit or stand on top of it, it flexs a little. the best thing is if necessary, the desk top just lifts off the bookcases. I wouldn't trade it, the only improvement that I would make is to add one of those keyboard drawers on the underside.
The bookcases are a little hard to get to so they only have books about Windows on them
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
You really need to get a 19" equipment rack to go in the office...it makes for a nice touch.
My office is less than elegant, I must add...making total use of folding tables and such simply because it's cost effective. The place is a dump.
http://www.agentgreen.org/content/homeoffice.html
// Agent Green (Ian / IU7 / KB1JQO)
// IEEE 802.3: All 10base Are Belong To Us
Rule 1) No matter how useful a table is, it is never enough. As a result my table are a series of pieces of wood (IKEA table tops) held up using legs (IKEA). Important that the table top height can be adjusted so that you will be comfortable.
Rule 2) Always put plastic / carpet between your chair wheels and floor. If you do not do this then the floor will look like hell after one year. Or worse you will loosen the tiles
Rule 3) Get a REALLY good chair. Your butt is going to be in it for a while and you want to be comfortable. And I do not go for the ergonomic chairs. Often I sit diagonally in my chair or something wierd and a "boss" style chair is great. I find ergonomic chair makes my butt fall asleep.
Rule 4) Get wireless or multi-device boxes. Otherwise you will have wire spaghetti...
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
My friend, who has loads of cash,
designed his own, and contracted the guy who custom did cabinets for his kitchen to build it.
The towers are on platforms that slide on aircraft-grade drawer tracks, so that the towers under the desks can be pulled out easily for access. the monitors sit at 45 degrees in recesses in the top of the desk (yes, he uses 19" screens. I encouraged him to get 17" LCDs and have then on articulated arms from the wall, but noooo!)
His scanner is on a shelf that slides forward and down. There's a full complement of cubbies in the hutch above the desktop.
Now, remember, the kitchen cabinet guy did all this, so the desk is a slick black granite formica, and everything else- best quality you can get. It's pretty damn sharp.
My new desk is about as low tech as it gets. As with the rest, I had 3 machines, 4 monitors and preferably a space for my laptop to fit into a reasonably big room - but be pretty snug and 'presentable' when not in use.
Not being tooled up, I went down to B&Q and bought a drill, jigsaw, sander, saw, and one of those 'every tool you'll ever need' boxes for about £60. I then drove over to my mates work and took about 6 of the cleanest pallets I could find in their warehouse.
Two weekends of sanding, cutting, hammering and the like later I have a spanky 'slightly rustic' desk for absolutely free! Apart from having to buy the tools. which will last.
The timber would have cost about £100 - so even then its a HUGE desk about 14 feet long, and between 3 and 5 feet deep, with shelving beneath and some neat monitor stands for under 160 quids!
I'm hoping I can find some of that 'Boomerang' pattern formica. Very Retro.
If it has a sink cutout, that's where I'm going to put the monitor. (Maybe I can get a 'swirling water' screen saver. That would be cool.)
A couple of spigots that attach down to the beer and coffee dispensers would be key.
If I replace the old aeron with a working john, I'd never have to get up, too!
(Sorry - I've been coding all day - I'm a little punchy...)
Actually, formica makes a great work surface and as g33kb0y mentioned, that backsplash is really handy.
Cheers,
Jim
-- My Weblog.
I have 6 machines, and my friend has 5. Here's what each of us did.
.jpgs.
He built a a custom "horseshoe" desk that fits around three sides of his small room. He used IKEA parts, which I believe ran him somewhere in the neighborhood of $400, and he went to the IKEA store and picked up the parts to save on shipping. It looks nice, and the parts are re-configurable and replaceable. It's not as sturday as what I did, however.
What I did was get a couple of pieces of 4x8 foor, 3/4s inch AC-grade plywoord ($60) and probably about 20, 8-foot long pine "wall stud" 2x4s ($2.25 each at Home Depot). When I cut these up and bolted them together, what resulted was a desk 12 feet long with a 32" high desktop, 28" high keyboard/mouse "drop downs," if you will, for four workstations; and sets of shelves at 5.5 feet and 7 feet high.
What results is a 12 foot long, 7 foot tall, 2 foot deep "Command Center," made of soft wood and deck screws that can be finished in any color or finish you would like, and is able to be assembled and disassembled in a few hours if you're moving.
I know it's hard to imagine, but I don't have any pictures online at this point. Email me privately and I would be happy to email you a couple
Good luck!
SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a
Two half-height file cabinets and a door. Had a desk like this when I was a kid and it rocked.
Brackets contain world's first nanosig, highly magnified:[.]
Yeah, I went the route of two 1 x 12 by 10 foot boards across two heavy black file cabinets, with a hung keyboard and a handy A/B box to switch monitors with. I used Remote Viewing to switch between the different Linux/Mac/Windows computers on my monitors.
The eight foot distance between my file cabinets was plenty of room for my icebox and my woofers, and a large black trashcan with a shredder.
The major difference was that I put this along one wall with a narrow walkway between the wall and my desk, for getting to those pesky spaghetti piles of wires. I even got some of that split plastic corrogated tubing to keep the wiring in, which helps.
I added another thinner shelf behind my computers, standing it upright to hide all the wiring mess from view.
The first time I put it together, it was flush to the wall, and impossible to wire up. Therefore, I moved it out to make the narrow walking space behind it all.
After a while, I tried to cover it with a semidull black formica. It worked! That was easier than I thought it would be, and now it all looks pretty cool.
Once you add some tiny studio post lights for the keyboard and writing spaces, some big speakers hooked to an AV amplifier, nail all your powerstrips and routers to the back of the upright shelf, and add a cable box with a small television, you have a place to work that you would never have to leave.
Oh, and get a comfortable black leather chair to match. Also get a hard flat floor mat under your chair so you can navigate the distance from one end to the other on wheels.
The whole thing was gotten for less than $300, a bit at a time. I got some hot posters framed in narrow black frames on the wall behind, and some indirect lighting for them hung behind that back board, and I am set.
Lets see? Humm? What if I exchanged that leather chair for a portapotty? . . . (grin)
I found myself in a similar situation recently, and have found the sort of tables that you want. Unfortunately they don't seem to have been made since the fifties. I found mine at a sale before the remodeling of Maine's only state office building, which was filled with furniature dating back to when it was new in 1956. These tables run to big and steel-framed. I got two, the larger of which is holding a pair of big monitors with room to spare (one of these is an ancient 19 inch grayscale of spectacular weight). These things do tend to run to bulky and gray, but the metal parts are easy enough to paint. I would be careful not to overload them, though, as I expect that their legs will go through the floor before they break, alarming the folks downstairs. Look for an office that is selling off old furniature. Mine were a remarkable buy, and in good condition.
I had already purchased (and used) all of my office furniture before I moved to my current place.
I have two desks with built-in adjustable-height keyboard shelves. The desks are considerably wider at one end than the other, designed specifically for a fairly large monitor, and I have them in opposing orientations - so you have two positions almost back-to-back, but facing into the corners of the room. There are matching rolling filing cabinets which are able to fit under the desks (although they actually aren't under the desks) and matching bookshelves.
When we moved to the new place we happened to have an alcove off the lounge room which was a perfect fit - literally, 5cm either end of a desk. The filing cabinets are placed between the desks at the end where we sit, and have the two printers (laser and inkjet) on top of them - again, there is about 10cm total clearance from one wall to the other with this setup, and it provides plenty of space so that we don't run into each other.
The monitors sit on stands with a couple of small drawers in them (for holding things such as monitor wipes, pens, rechargable batteries, etc). There is plenty of space for the cats to sit between myself and the monitor ... one of the few disadvantages ;)
The 3rd and 4th computers are at the other ends of the desks - using them is slightly uncomfortable, but since they are used a lot less this is a non-issue.
The shelves form a very good separator between the lounge room and the office. I have one of my lounges backing onto the two sets of shelves, and have ended up with an almost-separate room from which you can happily watch the TV while something is going on.
Computers are placed under the desks at the ends away from where we sit - the monitor cables are just long enough for this to work perfectly. I have my scanner just off to to the side where I sit (easy to get at, doesn't interfere with anything) and my switch and hub on the other desk in the same position.
However, I would advise that if you can, use a separate room for the office (we didn't have the option, and the alcove was a perfect fit - if we hadn't used it for an office I don't know what we would have done, because the space was way too large for a lounge room).
Now I'm going back to play Arcanum - without a doubt CRPG of the yearNo one on here suggested checking out http://www.anthro.com for all the DIY furniture?
Sligh furniture carries a line of home office furniture that looks like conventional furniture (hutches, desks, cabinets, etc). It's modular, of very high furniture quality, and really functional. Best of all, it looks like it belongs in a home and not an office or spacecraft or sterile.
But, it is pricey. We're in the process of finishing our basement which now includes a home office with 16 network jacks, 25 dedicated ground outlets and, I think, 8 phone jacks. We've got a built-in storage cabinet that will house my networking gear and UPS to help keep the office uncluttered. Additionally, we're looking at a printer cabinet that will house my laser printer, and a dedicated print server and probably our fax machine.
The kids play area also has a builtin dedicated computer desk (networked, of course) and place for an ink-jet printer and phone. Having one's own home with an unfinished area is a bonus as I have the luxury to do it right and not have to retrofit.
Yeah..I had to take a loan out for this...but when people say there are no decent computer furniture, that applies to people who are:
1) either not willing to really look or
2) don't have a budget for the more expensive stuff or
3) need a temporary arrangement (like a student moving into a dorm). In this case, rule #2 (or #1) usually applies.
I do however, applaud all the people who have responded with solutions that are truly functional for them and on a relatively low budget. It shows ingenuity and that necessity truly is the mother of invention.
And, I have to admit that sometimes I wish my wife would let me splurge and get some really off the wall stuff. Personally, I prefer the high tech look. But, for a home that I may have to resell someday, that isn't the most practical solution.
Cheers,
RD
Bear in mind that in a couple of years a lot of us will (hopefully) switching to flat-panel screens and ditching those gargantuan high-voltage space-heating CRT monitors. I'm suprised they don't have bakelite knife switches on the sides!
I'm figuring that in a year or two when my current CRT dies I'll get a similar-sized flat panel, and then I'll be able to use my nice little antique oak letter desk as my computer station.
Anyway, I'm currently using a $50 8-foot table from Office Max, with a cheapo shelf up on a couple of blocks to hold the monitor and another cheapo shelf attached to the front edge for a lowered keyboard tray. At home I've got a kickass height-adjustable computer table, which instead is the electronics bench. The computer sits in a roll-around stand from Office Max, and I keep drilling more holes to move the shelves around as equipment changes.
I have just finished this process, and have what I hope are some useful comments. Rather than speculate on what you should do, I'll just tell you what I did.
THE DESK
I built a 3 section desk out of wood. The middle section was made from 4x4 legs, and and old IKEA butcher block top. It's about 5 feet wide. The wings are about 23" wide, and sit in line with the desk. I had limited space - you may want to angle yours to wrap around you a bit. The wings have a frame made out of 2x2's.
The wings each have 15 U of of rack space for holding computers, and in my case, recording equipment. This would also be a great place to put your CD player or receiver.
17" back from the front of the desk is a monitor shelf, which is 9 inches above the desk surface, and deep enough to hold a big monitor. The shelf runs the whole width, including the wings.
The space underneath the shelf is divided into 19" segments, with more rack rail for gear, little shelves for office supplies, and a bare cubbyhole for the scanner, KVM, etc.
RACK AND WIRING ADVICE
I used ball bearing drawer rails from a kitchen supply store to make slides for my rack mount computers. I also made a sliding shelf to hold the Mac.
It pays to be neat when cabling. I bundled a snake to run to each computer. At the back of the rack, each bundle is tied down and split apart. From the back of the rack to the peripheral equipment, the bundles are group by type - I.E. a KVM bundle for all machines, running to the KVM swith, and a network bundle running to the router/switch.
For any audio that you care about, keep those 6" from the data cables wherever you can.
... to the next April 20th ;-)
...and here was my solution:
I took my THREE 19" monitors, and traded them in for flat panels. I took my NINE computers and put them in an old telephone switching rack with big fans in the top and bottom. I took the beer fridge and coffee maker and traded them in for a couple of bottles of Vodka and no-doze. (more space efficient) I bought screw hooks and suspended the plush penguin and daemon from the ceiling. (to be fair, there are already windows in the room)
Did anyone else think this article was a lame excuse to brag? It is not what you have, it is what you do with it.
my desk consists of two of those long, folding-leg bamquet tables in a corner of an extra bedroom. on one I have enough room for my linux box and my mac, plus phone, ham radio gear, and small stuff. the other is my analog desk, with plenty of room to spread papers and books out.
those fancy 'computer workstations' are a waste of money, imo. two tables full of equipment and books looks way cooler than any 'ol woodwork.
Karma only matters to me now and zen.
Poetictech has always had really cool stuff... it's not DIY... but it's very slick.
BlackNova Traders
I used to use 2 display tables from OfficeMax, but I finally nagged my dad enough, and he built me a really nice desk setup.
Its two Oak verneer table tops, with wide legs made of the same material. Very nice and extremely heavy. IT took 2 guys to lift the table top.
I couldn't find a suitable desk either, but I had slightly different goals. I wanted something to fit in a very specific place and that looked good. Functionality was a secondary design goal.
Anyway, my desk is in an alcove about 1.5m wide by 1m deep. It's constructed of a single sheet of tempered glass 6mm thick supported on three sides by 1" square blocks of wood bolted to the walls.
There are gaps in the support blocks at the back for the wires to go through and the glass is pulled slightly forward for them to fit. There's a piece of conduit bolted to the back wall that hides all the cables away.
It holds a 19" monitor, printer and a scanner (plus the inevitable pile of CDs, manuals etc that end up on it).
The effect is amazing, it looks like everything is just hanging there, the supports are painted the same coulour as the walls so they're not very obvious when you first see it. I intend to get a wireless mouse and keyboard to complete the effect at some point.
If you're thinking of doing this, get some professional advice on the glass and supports. I had the glass cut and polished by a specialist company (cost about £60) who worked out how thick it would need to be to support the weight.
Not pretty, but ultra-portable and functional.
Did I mention cheap? $50US for an 8' table you
can pickup and carry out when you get evicted.
Miles Lott
I removed the closet doors and put one of my desks in the closet. Mom passed along this tip from a magazine she'd read, and I am amazed at how much space it saves (plus I get a whole extra usable wall).
My other desk is a big piece of lam pine from Home Depot on top of a couple of drawer units from IKEA with home-built spacers on top to put the desktop at the right height. The lam pine hasn't shown any signs of warping after 5+ years of big monitors on top.
My hardware setup is less than ideal -- just utility shelving (vertical supports screwed into the wall with slots for shelf brackets) and pine boards for shelves. I wouldn't really recommend this stuff as it's turning out not to be sturdy enough for heavy stuff. I plan to replace it with something similar, though -- the overall arrangement works well. The extra heat near my desk is actually a bonus in my case, because my husband likes the house temperature kept somewhere around the "meat locker" setting. Other storage and a drop-leaf table (more horizontal space when I need it, out of the way when I don't) is provided by an IKEA "IVAR" wall unit. May not be the best quality in the world, but it definitely wins for ease of customization.
I had the same trouble after my fancy computer desk got destroyed in a move. After looking around and seeing the cost for substandard desks, I just went to the office supply store. I bought an 8' folding table, like the kind you use in school or government functions. TONS of room underneath it also. When I move again, I won't have to disassemble anything, just fold up the legs and I'm good to go.
Sturdy.
60$.
I bought a second one for a workbench. The office stores deliver for free also.
Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
At my old apartment when I only had one (yes one) computer, I picked up a cheap hutch at Office Max which served its purpose well - until the top started crumbling away. So I threw away the top part and used the base as a nightstand, and picked up a $150 L-shaped desk.
I then started acquiring more and more machines, and suddenly I was running out of space AND I noticed my landlord was illegally entering my place without my knowledge.
Well, having ~$7,500 worth of computer equipment in plain view with a nosy landlord does not put me at ease. Sure, it would probably take someone unfamiliar with my setup a few hours to dismantle everything and wade through the cables, but I wanted to be put at ease.
I took that "nightstand" I previously mentioned and started dismantling my network. Computer by computer, I uncabled everything, and started housing them inside that old desk. Each one having 10 feet of each monitor cable, mouse cable, keyboard cable, and CAT5, that was 160 feet of cabling I also wanted to do away with. Hooked KVM cables up to my 4 port Belkin KVM switch (hot-key switchable) and mounted my 8 port 10/100 Netgear switch to the direct underside of the desk.
The cabling was so massive I assumed I'd have screwed something up. I crossed my fingers, turned the desk around and powered it up. (After two tries...) everything worked.
I put some crap on the other desk and my L-shaped desk had just a 17" monitor, keyboard, and mouse. That wasn't good enough, since, well, "where's the computer?" So I salvaged an HP 486/25 desktop and now use that as a monitor stand.
The only thing worth yoinking now is the monitor, or so it seems. But now that I (should) have a completely uncluttered desk, it conveniently houses a monitor, computer, mouse, keyboard, 219 empty cans of Budweiser, 87 empty packs of Camels and a bunch of other junk. It works like a charm.
This desk was built by Blake who runs Blakespot (used to run a Nino fan page until Philips killed it(the Nino that is...)). He built his own and I have been contemplating doing the same. Sauder and folks that make the home desks don't really make them good enough for people who actually need to work at them. Mine has stuff littered all over it because my wife uses it too. I don't have enough space for everything. It's also too deap. I would like to have one go floor to ceiling (well, almost) and have it L shaped with a long L shaped section that goes below my Window with a cut out in it for my 35 in TV. Why? I eventually will have a ATI or some other card with TV out and I feel whiy have two DVD players in the same room when I have one in my computer? Also this design would allow my TV to be seen without having to look through a person using the computer. Anyway, check out Blake's design at Blakespot.
Gorkman
I have two folding tables, one 6' and one 5', lining two adjacent walls in what is supposed to be my dining room (heh). Sturdy, cheap ($30 each), lots of room under the desks for the computers, just enough room on top for my 21" monitor, easy to spread stuff out... no shelves, though, but you could mount shelves on the wall above a desk if you wanted. I use a bookcase instead.
When I set up my home office, I sat down and designed the desk/work area, with the intention of having a guy in my hometown build it. I was a bit shocked when our new office furniture from Bush came in at work, and it was essentially my design. I checked the cost, and found that the savings was over 50%. Got it and it works great.
For my computers, I changed from cases to rack mount units, and bought a 22U rack from Greybar. I have one desktop system running Windows, as my Quicken and games system. Everything fits, and runs great.
nbd = solid_core_door + 2 * saw_horse
solid_core_door: laminated in birch or some nice looking wood, without knob hole, they make fairly wide ones at least 3'. It can be painted with oil finish for protection from the elements.
saw_horse: pick the one that fits the height you want.
pros of this desk:
-very sturdy (you can stand on it).
-can be easily disasambled/assambled.
-cheap for what you get.
cons:
-top is kind of heavy.
-painting is needed if you want it to keep a nice look.
For my home office I had to accommodate 5 computers, 2 printers, networking equipment, a scanner, 3 monitors, phones, and files. I used an armoire with strategically spaced shelves and the back cut out. I placed it in a corner so I could slip behind it to get to the business side of all the equipment.
I used to smallish tables from Ikea on either side to provide the workspaces my wife and I need. Mine has a 22" Iiyama with a KVM, a phone, real bookshelf speakers, and enough extra space to make it look messy when working. My wife's workstation contains her 2 19" monitors, phones, and speakers with plenty of room left over for crap. (and in her case lots of it)
We also have two rolling file drawers for storage. All in all it makes for an efficient clean looking work area, suitable visiting clients. The armoire solution was so successful in out office, that I duplicated it in our game room for all of the Aux machines. X10 server , MP3 server. It keeps things really tidy, and the focus off of the LEDs. (I know some think its all about the LEDs).
The price tag.
Amour (Used Sudo antique) $300
Ikea Desk/Table $130 each
Rolling file drawers $50 each
thats not that big problem, I did build my desk with 4 adjustable legs, works very well. The leges were are around 50 Euro, and you have about 10 cm range for adjustment.
A comment about moderation that is being moderated up? Aren't those traditionally considered as off-topic?
Or, use PVC Pipe. Go with something like 1.25" for a balance between strength and space lost to structural elements, and maybe use 3/4 for the "hutch" sections (1/2" would work for fairly short spans /light load areas). Get some veneered plywood (or some MDF and veneer/roller of your own) and make shelvins/sides for the thing. You could build one heck of a kick-ass desk that's precisely what you want/need for not too much money if you went with cheap shelving materials (PVC is pretty cheap to begin with). Remember, you *can* paint the pipe to make it look more impressive.
Check out http://www.thepvcstore.com for some furniture plans that might get you started if you don't already know what to do...
Also, submit some pictures when it's done. :)
I built my own desk and it was the best thing I ever did. Left myself plenty of space underneath for all the computers. A nice set of shelves all over the place. A cd tower and a 19" rack built in. I use it every day, and it was the best $200 I ever spent.
Large-Scale erector sets work well for this. They are strong, go together quickly, and are easily modified, when you get more equipment or when you want to try out a new design. And if you ever move, just unbolt the thing and carry it off in convenient parts.
l
All of the good ideas mentioned previously here for surface tops you can use with the erector set: plywood, doors, etc. People throw out oak desks from time to time, you can take the tops off an refinish them.
If you use the large-scale erector set, then I think that it is worth getting the cutter for the angle. I have a cutter, and it makes building with this stuff stuff really fun. It aligns with the holes in the angle and quickly snips it making a neat straight cut in the right place with little effort.
McMaster-Carr sells the cutter, the erector rail, and packs of bolts and angles.
See "Erecto Slotted Steel Flats and Angles" here: http://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/107/html/1387.htm
The only other think you'll want is a ratcheting socket wrench, which you can pick up at Odd Lots/Big Lots for a few $. I also put a socket on my 12volt cordless electric drill and blast through the job.
If you're going with plywood tops, you'll probably want a saw to cut that, and washers and wood screws (put them up from the bottom) to hold the plywood down to the angle frame.
Happy Constructing !
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
Now the beauty with building your own furniture is that you can finish it anyway you want. If it was me, I'd put a clear epoxy coating on the top surface after staining or painting the wood. Essentially, you end up with a thick clear glass-like surface that is impermeable to lots of harsh chemicals--the same type of surface you see on nice bar tops or nice restaurant tables. Goto www.eti-usa.com to find the polymers and kits needed to do this. Directions come with the materials and the site lists lots of different polymer types for the exact type of finish you're looking for.
Linux at home
Go to Staples. Go to Ikea. Buy modular. Perfect.
+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
I've build my own desk. It is 2.5 m wide and 1,20 m deep. It has 10 wooden poles. It has 2 levels, the first working area is 75 cm high and 60 cm deep. That's where my keyboards, mouses, stereo, Sun sparc 2, phone, etc reside. The second area is 100 cm high and 60 cm deep. That's where I've stored my three monitors (19", 20" and 15"). tux, my printer, external disk array, someother stuff.
At the DIY shop I bought a kitchen blade (standard 2,5m x 0,6m) wich is serving as working area. I'm very satisfied, if you like I will send the construction chart.
6 ft. table with tubular steel legs, stainless steel top with rolled edges, and a shelf underneath, under $200 from restaurant supply dealers. In NY, these guys are on the Bowery, near Delancey.
I have a few of these tables, and know of many shops that buy them for use as workstations, etc. They are sturdy, look good, and cheap. On the lower shelf of my 6 ft. table I have a scanner, laser printer, small filing cabinet, 2 tower Mac G4s, a USB switchbox, all the network hardware etc.; on the top I have 2 17 in. monitors, speakers, phone, etc., and plenty of room for all the papers I need around.
If you have all of that $hit on your computer desk, maybe you need to take 3 steps back and look at yourself. I mean, come on, if one person needs 7 computers, we aren't working very efficiently... Whats wrong, cant get all 7 things to run on one linux box? aww... sorry, too bad.
I am going to start a new stand up comedy routine, called you might be a nerd if, and a loser asking for a computer desk might me my first shtick...
The consumer markup on Metro racking is outrageous, and to make it worse, is usualy the light-duty variety.
Pull out the yellow pages and track down a store fixture or restaurant supply shop- preferably one that sells used. I've been able to find used stuff at 50% of the industrial price, which is already considerably lower than the consumer retail price.
My parents were the kind of people who thought their son didn't deserve anything better than lumber and bricks for furniture. As a result, they threw together a desk for me when I was in highschool It was a door and two filing cabinets. It turned out remarkably well. I still use this arrangement today. I have two of the short filing cabinets with an interior door on top. I also made some saw horses from 2x4s and put another door on top. this is easily enough space to hold my two 19" monitors, color laser, component stereo, 17" monitor, two towers, scanner, fax/copier, and assorded hubs and other goodies. I'm getting ready to make a third set of saw horses for the other door in the garage.
So you can go to your local home center and buy a door ($40), metal saw horse brackets ($2 * 2), and a couple 2x4s ($3 * 2). So for 50 you can get a huge (if unattrctive) desk.
I also recycled a friend's old kithen counter. I screwed some plywood into the sides to act as legs. Now I can put that on top of the file cabinets and door for a more floor space efficient arrangement.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
With 2 monitors and 7 boxes your office, unless it's a huge room, is going to get very hot. I've always hated working at my machine while I'm sweating.
I'd strongly recommend planning your design with 2 or 3 room fans to move the hot air away from your boxes and vent cool air in from the A/C vent or the rest of your apartment. Perhaps one mounted to blow past the back of your boxes (it' be excellent it they were racked), one to blow from the A/C vent into the center of the your setup, and one to blow the warm air out of the room. Of course, don't forget your thermodynamics in the plan. Keep the boxes low and vent your exhaust air upwards.
A little moving air here and there will keep you and your machines cool and happy.
Just a word of warning. I bought one of these Anthro desks about a year ago. They are very solid and stable. However, I must warn you of this since you are living in an apartment: the reason they are so strudy and wonderful is because they are made out of quality materials, like good old fashioned steel.
So, why do you care? Sounds great, right?
You can NEVER move again. I unfortunately am trying to. I cannot imagine how I am going to get this 200lb desk down two flights of stairs (no elevator), much less into a truck/van -- without taking it apart. It took me about 6 hours to put this thing together, and now I have to take it apart again. argh!
But I _love_ the desk, there is so much room on it that I have doubled the amount of crap and unopened mail in my apartment since I got it. Also, the people at Anthro are awesome - one of the legs of my desk did not get manufactured properly (missing an all important screw hole!) and they Fed Ex'd me a new one, no questions asked.
anyway. thats all i got.
"Oh, you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called everyone, they meet at the bar."
Dude, you should check out the butcherblock tabletops and metal legs at Room and Board.
I have a super long-ass one and two shorter ones on each side, much more open feeling than cubifying your living room. They're solid, holding multiple 21"ers, printers, speakers, etc, etc...
What are you going to do with 7 machines? Are they all running at the same time? If so, that's a hella lotta electricity.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Just my $0.02 here - I have an old office desk (NOTE: look at the local University, as they should have somewhere they sell off old furniture and computers, etc, for large, old, office desks for CHEAP), solid wood, that measures 38" X 60" The way I used to have it set up, my three monitors (two 15" and one 19") took up most of the depth. By moving the desk away from the wall, you can hang the backs of the CRTs off of the desk, putting their stands right up against the back edge, and create a TON of workspace. Though they still take up the entire width (with a little extra space for my speakers, Zip drive, and SanDisk memory card reader), this is the best solution for me, considering I'm in a dorm room. Speaking of dorm rooms, what's up with the trend (at least here at U of M) of giving smaller and smaller desks to students, and encouraging (and in some cases, requiring) the ownership of a computer? Makes no sense to me... Finally, think seriously about getting stuff that rolls. I scavenged some old carts that were originally used to hold lie detector machines, scrapped all the useless stuff, and now I have two 2.5 foot square, industrial strength cards that hold all my misc. computer stuff, my server, and even my fish tank. :o)
Ack!
I used some laminated countertop material (fairly cheap) that I got from the home depot. For that kind of hardware use two that come pre mitered to make a kind of v shape, add some 2x4's and or 2X6's to make a base I made mine like a tressel table. The only tools I used were a drill, circular saw, couple screwdrivers, and a hammer and chisel. Took me a lazy weekend to put together, and has survived for 5 years and counting. Looks pretty cool too..
koko76
The best and cheapest solution would be to go to your local hardware store, and get a door (white looks great in my room). Then, place a filing cabinet under each end (or replace one filing cabinet with wood planks), and voila! Huge table that can support lots of equipment.
My setup is: a stereo receiver in the middle, flanked by two monitors on each side. Looks great, and has excellent depth to boot.
Just be careful not to spill anything on an unfinished wood door. Also, be sure you find a strong enough door to handle the weight.
Check this place out http://www.poetictech.com if you don't mind spending some bucks. They come ready for multiple monitors, fridge hookups, the whole 9 yards.
When I was first married and moved into a new apartment, I spent a good while designing what I thought would be the perfect computer desk. (It fit around an Apple //e -- I guess that dates me.) It turned out to be a desktop with lots of drawers in the supports and a bookcase for reference books that was basically an inverted U, with the computer and monitor in the middle. I got fed up with it in a year.
Then I designed a bigger one, with a custom shelf system and even designed it to fit the computer right into a custom space with built in disk storage drawers (shielded from the CPU) right near the computer. That lasted another year.
Now I'm using a heavy 6 foot (or longer?!) door. It's on two units from Ikea -- one is drawers, the other is two shelves with a door (the door is removed and it is now a bookshelf only). I have shelves next to my desk but not as part of the desk. I've been using this simple door-as-a-desktop for about 15 years. Without extra shelves or anything else, I find I can arrange things any way I want and I just use shelving units for books, CD-ROMs, and even to hold my CPU's. The shelves are to my right and I have my desk set up so I am much closer to the right end than the left.
Since both of the carefully designed desks became confining as my habits changed, and the door desktop solution worked fine, I haven't bothered to try to come up with anything fancy or custom done in years.
I just got done building a desk/shelf along 2 walls of my new office and my girlfriend's brother-in-law liked it so much we built him one also. Mine is basically a shelf that sits at 30" high running along 2 walls of my office for a total of 24' of desk space with plenty of room underneath for towers. We used melamine, which is a heavy engineered lumber with a white plastic type covering on top. This makes it water resistant, scratch resistant and very durable for sliding monitors and parts around on top of. We attatched 1/x4" boards to the studs in the walls to mount the melamine to and then made supports to go out diagonally from the wall to hold the edges up. Even at 14' x 9', this is a very sturdy desk and will take a heck of a lot weight on top. You can get melamine with the edges covered or you can do like I did and run strips of oak along the edges for a very finished look. Just seal the oak with some spray sealant and your desk will hold up nicely to spilled cokes, crumbs, etc. This is a pretty easy project (1 Saturday with food breaks) if you've got access to a table saw or circular saw and it looks awesome. Next weekend I'm going to build some custom bookshelves along the shorter wall of the office, this is also a pretty easy project.
:)
If you have tools and a little know-how (or access to someone with both, or you can rent the tools) you can do a lot of neat woodworking projects that cost way less than anything you can buy premade and you can impress all your friends as a bonus.
I have a whup ass Ikea "Effektiv" desk in my office. The furniture is modular and very oriented toward BIG work areas.
Also, it's super high quality, not at all like the cheap stuff they carry. In fact, it isn't cheap. I have a 47" by 94" desk, cost about $900 Canadian. It's fully modular, comes apart and puts together easily, weighs 20 tons. No screws-in-particle-board nonsense. It's all mounted on heavy steel frame and bolts together. Fantastic stuff, and really worth a look.
But like the other guy said, don't even bother with the cheap stuff at IKEA. Move house once and that stuff is finished.
I've made multi-tier computer desks, counterweighted end tables, and other bachelor furniture by going to HomeDepot and buying .75" MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard -- something like particle board, but more attractive, cleaner edge cuts, very smooth, more rigid, and not stinky). You might be able to use .50" stuff, but I say splurge for more weight and rigidity. Do your measurements at home, and as long as you're dealing with rectangular pieces, they'll cut it up for you out of the 4'x8' sheets. (They charge a small, fair fee for cutting on the radial arm saw.) This way you don't have to drag a full sheet home or clean up the sawdust yourself. While you're there, grab a bunch of masonry blocks. (They're dirt cheap and look like this) Two legs of stacked blocks with the wide side down will be enough for a shallow desk. If you do four legs, you can go as deep as you want for tons of monitor space, etc. I generally get out a brush or spray can or whatever is hanging around and paint the MDF before assembling. Instant decor match or personal statement. You can do a multi-tier tables with four legs on the bottom (offset back a bit in the front for more leg room) and two legs on the top tier(s), shoved to the back of the main surface. I've built tables 7' long like this. If your monitors are extremely heavy and you need to place them in the center of a long span, just add another "leg" of masonry blocks in the center at the back.
And it breaks down for easy moving or reconfiguration. The only drag I've found is the masonry blocks will shed a little dust when you move them.
When I set up my home office, I put all of the computers on a wire rack that you can get from Home Depot and use a KVM to connect them all together. What makes the rack really work is that I had wheels put on it, so that if I need to get to the back of the computer, I can just move the rack. You do need to pay attention to cable lengths, and have enough slack enough that you can move the rack easily.
At one point, I did try using a Cybex Longview (which you use a cat5 cable to connect the monitor, keyboard, mouse to the computer at a distance), and found the video quality to be unacceptacle.
You might want to consider having an electrician put the computers on a separate circuit breaker, with enough wattage to handle all of the computers with room to grow.
Hey, tried sligh.com but i couldn't get in at first... kept complaining about not having the Flash plugin installed, which i know to be B.S. Turns out, the javascript only redirects you straight to the page if you run MSIE... but if you set the location bar to default.htm (which it may already do depending on your browser) and hit enter... you'll go right in.
One might ask the same about birds. What ARE birds? We just don't know.
I've got several computers running either windows or linux. Since I rarely need access to them, I put them and the noisy A/C to keep them cool in another room and use a Belkin 2x8 KVM switch (2 kybd/monnitors/mice). One kvm setup is with the equipment for when I need ready access to the hardware, the other is at my desk. I also went to a real office funiture store and bought a very good high end chair. Its the first chair I've had that has lasted more then a year or so. I've had it for over 5 years and its comfortable sitting even on those long 16+ hour days. I've even slept in it a couple times, though not intentionally ;)
The Sligh stuff probably would look a bit out of place next to my plastic drawer set, but obviously plastic drawers means they are out of my range anyway. But if they were in my range, I could imagine fitting them together with other things. And wood is always attractive in a very natural way -- unassuming and undemanding.
OTOH, I'm not a big fan of moulding and , which covers most of Sligh's stuff. But I suppose there's lots of other places with that style too, if you look for it.
I've got a two-tier setup that has space for my monitor, printer, USB hub, Visor dock, external CD burner, external HD, external Zip drive, flatbed scanner, my laptop, keyboard, and still enough space for the phone and two spots for putting all my paperwork and associated crap.
I've had other home desk setups before, usually cheap, one-shot arrangements. But as others have mentioned, the Anthro products are very high-quality, sturdy, and attractive. Think of it this way - if you use your home office for hours on end, day after day, wouldn't you rather invest a bit more money for something that will actually keep you happy?
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
... are my requirements, and I've used the same solution for almost 10 years now: folding tables. For $50 at any office store you can buy large, strong folding tables that are three feet wide, which gives me plenty of depth for a 21" monitor and keyboard. They're surprisingly strong, too, although I find that if I put two large monitors on one, I'm better off separating them a little -- putting both monitors right next to each other in the center of the table tends to produce a little sag. I'm currently using two tables, one is 6' long and the other 9', set in a corner configuration. I've been toying with getting another 9' table to put behind me. I don't find I have much need for drawers, etc.; just lots of table space, one small filing cabinet and, of course, the inevitable bookshelves that cover every spare inch of wall space.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
My desk is a 6 foot long piece of countertop with a rounded edge. It's placed on top of two plastic folding sawhorses w. shelves underneath each. Make it very easy to manage cables, rest a subwoofer, cable modem, router, etc. Total cash outlay was like $100, and I have room to grow....once I find a place for all the clutter that's around me.
Bill
Anthro used to have a simpler cheaper line of desks without all the fancy widgets but lacking some of the issues (cost, weight) that others have mentioned. I've owned one of these simpler desks for several years, and it still looks/works great. Don't know if they still have this line, but if so don't assume it's the usual cheapo flimsy laminated-cardboard stuff.
I do not personally recommend the "door across filing cabinets" DIY solution. At my former job we had those kinds of desks for awhile, and had RSI problems. When we switched to adjustable desks, the problems went away. Especially avoid the DIY desk if your chair isn't very adjustable, if you're short (like me -- your feet will never touch the ground, which sucks), or if you're going to be using a laptop part of the time.
Chuckle. Yes indeed, you can never move. Well you can, but it's a big pain. I have one of the biggest Anthro carts and have moved twice with it. Functionally, it is the best piece of furniture (for any use) I have even owned. It also it truly indestructable, and has survived two moves without a single dent or ding.
Downsides: Yup, it's really, really heavy. I took a long time to assemble this when I bought it (you assemble this piece upside down) and almost killed myself trying to right it when complete. Also, the supplied allen srewdriver tools are of low quality. Sort of a one-use deal. I'd like it if they supplied a higher quality tool. That would make it easier to move, since people are discouraged from disassembling the piece.
Somewhere in my filing cabinet I have a diagram of the method we used to get the Anthro into our home office, for when we end up moving again.
I recently started designing a computer desk for my fiancé and myself. The desks we currently have simply are not cutting it anymore and I figured it was time we upgraded. My sister had recently purchased a nicely shaped desk for under $300 but besides being made out of particleboard I would need two to fill the roll. I was simply not willing to pay $600 for two desks of particleboard.
After much searching around town I came to the realization that I wanted the look and functionality of a cheep desk made out of hardwood like the expensive, god awful ugly unfunctional executive style desks. So from this I realized that I would have to make my own. Luckily, my grandfather is very skilled at woodworking and has made pieces of furniture before. So after talking it over with him I began making plans for a computer desk with enough room for:
(and if space permitted)
I did the plans in MS Word 2000 (yea, try to keep the laughing to a minimum) in 1/12th scale (i.e. 1 inch = 1 foot). The plans show only the left side and the printer/server island. The second desk is a mirror of the left side.
Word 2000 Desk PlansMy desk is as yet to be built, but it looks like we'll be able to get it done with nice materials for about $400! Anyway this is the DIY home office solution I've come up with so I hope it either gives someone else ideas or the guts to do it themselves! If you have any questions or suggestions, email me!
"1984" was ment to be a warning, not a guidebook. You hear that Kim Jong-il!? BushCo?!
Dencon - expensive, height-adjustable, high-tech look, very cool
Sligh - traditional look, "executive desk" style
Jesper - also a fairly traditional look
Techline - loads of options here, from traditional to chic (check out the Atelier line)
Oh btw, since we're on the topic of lisp, check out my friend's project at http://vapour.sourceforge.net. His OS is written completely in Lisp :)
While they are rather expensive, Techline's offerings are really nice. I bought myself a wrap-around desk for about $1,300 (I spend 8 hours a day here... it is worth it). Everything is so strong that you can walk on any part of it without a second thought, and I have a 17" flatscreen (very worth it) and a !9" monitor in two of the corners, and there is a lot of open space left over. You can customize the design to your heart's (and pocketbook's) content. And best of all, you can take it all apart and set it up somewhere else! It is not like the cheap Sauder-esk stuff that you build once, and then throw away. I will be able to take this desk with me when I move, even overseas if I want to. Here is the url: http://www.techlineusa.com/
I'm not convinced you are looking for a DIY. I think maybe what you want is just a custom home office. My wife and I hired, of all things, a closet designer! This closet designer worked with melamine (sp?). You would think it would look cheap, but people *love* our office. He introduced us to the fact that melamine comes in various wood veneers. It is also very sturdy. We chose a maple look. Because he is a designer he had lots of excellent ideas we hadn't thought of when we tried it ourselves. Now, we have a very nicely balanced office. There is plenty of room for us to work and everything has its own space. The handles on drawers are fancy, which improved the look quite a bit. The surface is very smooth and non-conductive (good for my electronics work). Finally, because it was all custom, we have kb/mouse trays that are actually comfortably wide and the correct height for optimal comfort (same goes for the monitors). A think for small spaces, it helps to have a pro. He inventoried all of our needs (in your case, fridge, coffee maker, etc.), then came up with a kewl plan that we love. All his work is guaranteed and was built and installed in a timely fashion. He even caulked around the edges for a clean look. When he designed the desk, he accounted for how to hide all the cables and still not cover up the power/data outlets. Upon installation, he drilled the holes johnny-on-the-spot exactly where we needed them for all the devices. He brought along some little portals to stick in the holes so the cut edges wouldn't damage cords and it organizes them better. After he left, I routed the cables underneath the tabletop so the room has a real clean look. I hope that helps 1) recommend using a pro and 2) give you ideas if you DIY. BTW the cost was just over $1K for parts and labor. It was all done in just a couple weeks. This, for us, was well worth the expense.
Personally, I think that trying to put all that equipment into a single piece of furniture is silly, never mind expensive.
I have a pretty big corner desk I got at Office Depot, with a short bookshelf in matching color sitting on top of the back of one side. Two APC UPSes (one for my dual monitors, one for the computer and some net equipment) act as a stand for a heavy wood platform for both monitors. A second wood platform is supported by a simple pedestal of two 1x6 boards nailed in a "T", standing between the back ends of the monitors, and a 13" TV sits atop that.
Nearby are two shelving units; one is plastic with a cabinet in the bottom, and holds my printer and various supplies. I picked that up at Target. The second is a heavy wire shelving unit on casters that I picked up at Sam's Club. That shelf holds my other CPUs, as well as open workspace and an extra monitor and keyboard for diagnostic purposes. The power and network wires are routed so I can pull the unit away from the wall for easy cabling access.
Does it sound crowded? Well, yes, it is. But it's a hell of a lot less crowded than if I'd attempted to shoehorn the lot into one desk.
Check out omnirax. I'm using the Prostation right now, which has four 19" racks, a huge table space, and then some:
http://www.omnirax.com
The F2 is pretty badass as well.
Hmmm. I don't think I'd have trouble moving with my AnthroCart, but I have a 36" wide unit that's big mostly in the vertical direction, so it comes apart into more pieces.
As for the tools, maybe they've changed what they ship. They shipped an allen screwdriver and a rubber mallet with mine, and they were both durable, good quality, not at all single-use, not the hexagonal twig of a "screwdriver" that's come with other RTA furniture I bought in the past.
I have always longed for a command console chair, or a game-pod. I have done several lamer DIY attempts. Now I long for something awesome. This is the best I have seen, on the high end. http://www.poetictech.com
Favorite Sumo Move:
Hataki Noi (Frontal Slap Down)
They were Audio Engineers and they were freakishly cool.
They needed desks very similar to what us computer geeks would need. But because they needed a quiet environment to work with sound they made their rackmounts soundproof.
Oh, and because they were as much artists as engineers they made it all look really nice. Check it out:
http://www.middleatlantic.com/studio/main.htm
Dan
I have three six-foot folding tables in a C shape. They were purchased one at a time over the years as I needed more room, with the thought that they could be easily be folded up and carried if I ever moved. At some point I got a 21" monitor, so I bolted extra legs on its table to support the weight, and this was done to another table when I put a 20" monitor on it. The tables also have heavy, adjustable lamps bolted to them, keyboard drawers screwed underneath, and one table has a wooden shelf that holds my network equipment bolted to the top of it. Occasionally a table gets too much weight on it and the metal frame separates from the pressboard top, so I have to drill a hold in the top and bolt it on the frame. Drink spills and glass sweating lead to the fake woodgrain veneer wrinkling and eventually tearing, so I cover those spots with packing tape (the table edges are covered with tape also due to wear and the fact that I constantly swivel my chair against them). Plus, my newest pressboard bookshelf is seven years old (the oldest has been around sixteen years) so you can imagine how wonderful those look! Still, the whole mess is very functional and as long as it's all piled into its own room I can always shut the door and hide it from guests.
"My mother works for Microsoft now. A whole other cult."
Unfortunately, everything Hermann Miller makes is kinda on the expensive side, so this fancy keyboard tray costs $299. See Levenger if you want to order one. (I'd have posted a more specific link, except that their stupid website uses a frameset. Just search for scooter.)
I bought a second hand table that the seller told me was a sewing table. It is wide as a desk but deeper and has a pullout (similar to a keybord drawer only bigger) that is the same size as the top. The pullout has room for a keyboard and mouse and any docs I'm looking at as well as plenty of room in the back to hide some notebooks/manuals I like handy. The top has room for 2 monitors (17" in my case) and still plenty of depth left. It's made of solid wood and has some bracing in the back and solid sides. My only problem is that since I've moved so much in the past few years, each time the movers break off parts of my furniture and this table was no exception. I have no clue where to buy a new one of these, but if you're designing your own I highly recommend adding a full sized pullout for the keyboard. This one has been with me for 5-6 year now and the previous owner had it for an additional 5 years (but with a much lighter load).
I have a decent sized room with multiple computers 3 desktops (one has no monitor as is a server only) and 1 laptop and printer. I measured exactly what I wanted gave the plans to a local carpenter (who coincidentally was my dad) and had them built. I have 3 SEPARATE small workstations for each - so if we ever move I can set them up whereever I want - the best part is they are real wood none of that fake particle board crap. Less than $200 for all and a shelf for my networking stuff.
This is how my office is setup, an 8' countertop and a 10' countertop in an "L" configuration in the corner of the room. They're mounted to the walls on the heavy duty 20" shelving brackets (drywall screws into the studs) that they sell at home depot, lowes and such. Mounting to the walls may not be an option for a renter, but it's sturdy enough for me to jump up and down on, and I'm not a lightweight :)
:)
Counter tops $40 and $60 respectively, brackets ~ $8 each x 8 for a total $170, and it's far from unsightly. Personally, I think it looks great.
Fits my 21" monitor in the corner of the "L", workstations lined up next to it, KVM mounted under the desk. An extra 17" monitor at one end of the "L" for testing/etc.
Add one Global leather high-back chair from Staples, $179, and you've got one kick-ass office setup
- Turbo
Slightly off-topic, but after all the discussion about chairs I had to say it. I'm a fairly tall guy (6'3-6'4 depends on the time of day) and I spent 2 weeks going to all the office stores, and furniture stores looking for a good computer chair. With my asthma and allergies I needed a nice tall, leather highback chair. I had just graduated high school and had a fair bit of change to spend, so I was going for comfort. After all was said and done the best chair I found was a $250 leather executive highback chair by samsonite at officemax. Best part is, its got padded leather arms! Worth every penny of the $250 I spent on it.
A good, versatile, and easy solution would be gorilla racks, which are available at hardware stores in general. They are not expensive and come in differing depths. You could probably come up with something pretty useful using a few units of different depths for about $200. I just put a nice work area and two workstations together at my office last week using four 18"-deep pieces and one 24"-deep piece. You set the shelf heights appropriately, add a couple of keyboard drawers, and you'll have something that can handle a few computers (hopefully you use switchboxes to some extent). I've used baker's racks in the past, and I don't think they make a good workstation; they basically serve to keep your equipment off the floor, but the metal wiring does not provide any kind of nice surface or the solid feel I would want in a desk.
She also has a yen for antique furniture, and insisted on using a 120 year old partner's desk with its matching chair. The desk was a about eight inches too high to comfortably type, and was almost a foot think (so you couldn't solve the problem by jacking up the chair). It was aslo shaped as a square, with the origional idea being that two peopl would work from either side. My mother's solution was to place the desk in the center of the room, and walk around the thing whenever she needed to get to one of the systems on the other side. Needless to say, after every project, she had horrible back pain and aching wrists (bad enough that she couldn't hold a cup of coffee). And yet, she utterly refused to buy a real desk - "I just can't stand modern furniture!" was her reasoning.
In any event, I decided that the only way I was going to get her to use a real desk was if I built the thing myself, thus guilting her into an ergonimic solution. So, I took measurements of her height, the length of her legs to the knees and to the hip, and the length of her arms, and built a desk to her exact measurements. Fortunatly, my high school offered and woodworking evening activity. I spent about seven months building the thing (it had to hold up nearly a 1000 Kg of equipment, not to mention live up to her tasts for good furniture). In the end, it was four feet deep, fourteen feet long, with two sets of drawers and two vented computer cabinets. If anyone's ever built furniture before, you know what a pain in the ass it is to build drawers, especially big ones! Wood expands and contracts by as much as 5% with humidity and temperature, so big drawers are next to impossible to get right without doing all sorts of strange things to compensate for the changes in geometry. I also had the pleasure (?!!) to have had access to a seasoned trunk of red oak, so I milled the desk surface, leggs and other main parts myself. Since the desk had to be so large and hold up so much weight, I actually found all the available plans and project guides to be utterly useless. The main span of the desk is nine feet, and had to be able to support up to two tons (in case, for instance, someone dropped one of those 20" monitors on it from a few feet in the air, the desk wouldn't collapse and destroy the rest of her equipment).
I ended up turning to bridge design for a workable solution. It had to take into account the high loads, vibration and shock, and expansion and contraction of the material. Basically, I went with a box-girder construction, but with suspension cables inside the box. The suspension cables were nessesary becasuse the joints of the box girder could not simply be fixed to one another, or the surface of the desk would split. Each of the joints is made using lateral rails with ballbearings, like the sliders for a drawer, only much larger. Unfortunatly, this leads to a rather unpleasant amount of gear lash since the bearings require a small amount of play. The suspension cables keep the desk arched slightly upward, instead of bowed downward. This insures that the bearings are aways biased in the same direction so there is no gear lash. Also, the suspension cables are mounted to shock absorbers. Any vibration on the surface is transmitted into the shock absorbers. The result is that the desk surface is only four inches thick at the center, but is strong enough to hold up a small car (or withstand the shock of a 150 Kg object droped from two meters), sturdy enough that you can pound a nail into a block of wood and not skip a CD player a foot away, and flexible enough that it expands an contracts lengthwise by about an inch and a half.
In the end, it cost me about $300 to build the desk, if you assume my time was worthless (I was a high school student, so that was pretty much the case) and you don't count the electricity and heating oil I used up. After graduation, my mother shiped it from Vermont to California - all 400 kilograms of it. I'll leave it as an exersize to the reader to figure out how much more it cost to ship than to build.
She is now happily using a desk built to her exact ergonimic requirements, and has not suffered from back or wrist pain in the four years since she's been using it. It's not quite as pretty as the aincent antiques she's got - but hey, it was my first (and thusfar only) attempt at woodworking.
In spite of the suggestions and all the tests that I have made, I have not cavato a spider from the hole.
I have one of the six foot tables I bought, and they are great for everything I got, though a second one would be nice. One thing I did:
I got some dual sided terminal strips, with about six connectors - about 4 or 5 should do. Then, I got some heavy gauge automotive wire, and a Sun power supply. I mounted the power supply on the bottom of the table, hooked an LED to one of the 5v leads, and ran it to the front metal lip, drilled the hole and mounted it. Then, I ran the wires from the 12 and 5 volt lines along different paths on the terminal strips, so I have this "ladder" arrangement of take off points for 12, 7, and 5 volts, to power most devices, like my Zip drive, my phone (office style phone with power), scanner, and a couple of cooling fans. Eliminates the need for all of those wall warts!!!
And for shelves, I have used several el-cheapo steel shelving units. They were 4 foot tall units, so I bolted two atop one another, to make 8 foot units, bolted them to the wall, and next to each other, and bolted them all together, for a wall of bookshelf space, and other things. Impressive as hell.
Oh yeah, my desk is in the center of the room, chair facing door (hey, I am paranoid). I routed power with extension cords from plugs on the wall, across the ceiling and down to the table, and covered them with plastic cable wrap. By having everything out in the middle of the floor, it makes it super, ultra easy to pull a box out, pop the top, and fiddle with it, which I tend to be very prone to doing...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
http://www.tema-usa.com has some really sweet SOHO office furniture. I bought a desk from their Wall street line, and I love it. I have 2 21" Monitors side by side on it, keyboard tray which is large enough for my ergo keyboard and MS optical trackball, and a side thingy that I have my scanner and printer on. Everything is modular and you can configure it just about any way you like. It's heavy, high quality stuff too. The price isn't bad either, about $350-$400 for what I have, much cheaper than alot of other solutions out there, but more expensive than a sheet of plywood on top of 2 filing cabinets.
I bought mine at a store called Elements, so I didn't have to pay shipping, but you can order the stuff right off their site. Although, the pricing at Elements was actually a little less than the website pricing, go figure. They also have tons of matching furniture, like filing cabinets (I have one, it's built like a brick shithouse), bookcases, etc.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
Not that I have quit that much stuff.
In this little 10' x 10'-ish apartment office thing I have there are three desks. My desk is one of them 'L' shaped things that takes up half of two walls. One wall has another desk finishing it off, the other has a bookshelf. Wall three is a full width closet (the closet space in this apartment is wonderful, especially since I don't have a garage *grumble*), but it holds a third tiny desk with room for another computer. Wall four has a door in it, plus the area taken up by the side of desk #2, so there's about 4 feet of just plain wall space, full of a calendar, whiteboard, and a lamp for lighting (there is almost no overhead lighting in this damn state (SoCal) so I have to use floorspace instead).
Okay, shutting up
Automotive carpet is an ideal way to cover up plywood creations. At work, there is a bunch of deep (24") benches running around the shop, with 2x4's on the edge for support, and angled 2x4's that run diagonally towards the wall for additional bracing. It has been covered in off-gray automotive carpeting. Looks wonderful. The automotive carpet isn't plush, and static hasn't been a problem at all (I've built many computers on one of the benches). The only thing I might mention is that if you tend to spill things, this might not be the ideal solution.
PS - File cabinets are wonderful to reduce clutter. As well as shelves that are a higher height then normal, and runs around the room. A bookshelf is often useful. Also, try to arrange the work area in a U-shape, its more efficient. And throw ethernet connections EVERYWHERE. If you have a lot of computers, consider investing in a rack, its worth it.
Rack-mount the boxes, and use a kvm..use one of a wall-mount tv stand(s) to mount the monitor(s). Only a keyboard and a mouse are on the desk; plenty of clutter space
With all that stuff on your desk, what on earth do you need an apartment for?
Bruce Perens aime avoir le sexe avec de petits enfants.
I've seen a lot of great ideas for DIY'ers and this topic has gotten me motivated to do something with my mess of a home office. But I'm amazed at the lack of pictures! You'd think geeks would be proud enough of the solutions they've come up with to snap a few digital pics or at least scan a photograph. I'd like to see some of these self-built setups, words can only describe the details to a point.
3 3.0x6.8 solid core birch doors with
several layers of poly, 2 29" high full
extension file cabinets under each. Power
strip bars fastened under tables at back.
Won't bend when you stand on it (so the
keyboard won't rock). moveable, a lot of
space, Set up a U and you have a **lot** of
space.
I would definately recommend doing it yourself. I recently moved into a new house (finally no more renting!) with my family and quickly found out that my current computer desk (a ready-made from Walmart of all places) didn't fit into the way the rooms were situated. Since I had been wanting to do it anyways, I went ahead and built my own desk.
I used a large sheet of solid pine (natural finish) as the surface. It's approx. 12' wide x 4' deep x 1" thick. In the center of the table (on top), I built a little bookcase/printer/scanner stand.
I then built enclosers, that act as spport legs, for a small file cabinet (brushed metal look that goes awesome with the natural pine), a small fridge, and a tower case (this one i had to make a lockable door for... kids can do the wierdest things with your computer...). We have a tower system and a laptop, but if we ever got another tower unit, it would be easy to add another enclosure.
To finish it all up I built little stands for the monitors (both 17" CRT's), added off the shelf cable routers/organizers, and picked up an awesome set of computer chairs from a garage sell (for $10 total I am proud to declare).
All in all I spent around $200, but that was a lot less than I would have payed for a ready-built one that is as sturdy and roomy as mine.
While I don't have 7 computers I do have a decent setup:
I'm using two workstations, a 17" and 19" monitor, two laptops and a laser printer.
As I write this my wife is reading to me from her laptop (not one of my 4 computers) I'm watching anime on T.V. and out the french doors I'm watching the sandias turn purty colors as the sun sets.
While we are 2 people living in a four bedroom house, this move I refused to set up a desk or a computer room.
Instead I set up a little work area in the family room. I tore apart my L shape computer desk, and I use one leg of the L as a shelf to sit my Laser Printer, Dell L800r, and 17" monitor. This all goes flush against one arm of our great couch. I put my 19" monitor on a chair sitting off to the corner of the couch and my old keeps on keeping on Micron Millenium PPro2 under the shelf.
I put the keyboard in my lap, the mouse on one of those little beanbag lap desks and my feet up on the cofee table.
Anyway this has worked out wonderfully. Playing on the computer no longer equals ignoring/annoying the wife and I get to watch the big screen T.V. (and the sun sitting over the sandias) while working on the computers.
I've used this for a year and I can not imagine going back to having a desk. I'm thinking of tweaking the design a little, getting a KVM, tossing out the 7 year old 17" monitor and replacing it with a epson 1640 scanner.
If one has the budget, check out 80/20, or "The Industrial Erector Set" as they like to call it. I've seen this used for everything from simple workbenches to one-off conveyors and robots. Stronger, more adaptable, and better looking than Metro shelving.
It can be quite pricey though. The trick is to check out various surplus and metal scrap places for materials, or even pre-built units that can be adapted. There's also some off-brands of the same idea that may be cheaper, such as Bosch.
my take is any chair is a bad chair
try sitting on the floor in a half-lotus position with the keyboard on a small box and the monitor on a coffee table at eye height - for me this is a perfect solution
after a while you'll be able to manage a full lotus position for extended amounts of time and you'll find ppl complimenting you on yr well-muscled back :)
cheers
i have a lovely anthro desk which has a giant andjustable section in the middle for keyboard and random crap. it has shelving to allow me to stuff lots of machinery in, and plenty of space for monitors (3 21" is probably max) on top..and its on giant casters. it cost about a k, buts its extremely comfortable and roomy
I'm personally against buying anything with a "clever" product name like that.
Ikea has a desk called (of all things) the Jerker, which runs about $229 CDN (that's how much i paid). I should hold 2 19" monitors quite nicely at eye level.. it has some great pull out leaves to store stuff on, and you can buy swing out extensions to put things like cpu's (i have two mid-towers on one) and printers. Also they have some smaller ones that are great for phones or dsl routers/hubs.. :)
www.ikea.com
dude open your wallet a little, you are saying there is nothing out there that what? hold a monitor and keyboard?
there are thousands of desks out there; dont shop at Target for furniture.
About the same time, I got to tinker with my mom's house, where I stash most of my servers. Her "sewing room" added:
While we were at it, we redid the rest of the house. Every room now has at least one cat5e drop and a coax cable feed (yes, including her desk). The whole house runs switched 100TX. Oh yes, and we threw 4200w of solar cells on the roof and about 24 KwH of battery storage in the garage, to help with those wonderful brownouts. Even with everything running full blast (inc. 12 servers + switch + 2 routers) we pretty much balance out.
Another person mentioned IKEA furniture. If you're in an apartment, their office stuff seems like it offers some pretty good possibilities and options - I was quite impressed, esp. with value-for-money.
Go to any Home Depot
Buy a 6 foot by 40 inch Door (hollow core) cheapest they have....
sandpaper, GALLON of polyurethane (house brand), disposable paintbrush, 2 sawhorse kits.
lay the polyurethane on THICK (3 coats), it strengthens the surface of the door. all you need is a hammer to put the sawhorses together...
Presto! magnificent work area for less than $50
"A Little Song, A Little Dance, A Little Seltzer Down your Pants" -Chuckles The Clown
I was on the same quest not long ago and found a great solution. It seems musicians have a need for the same things we do. Copious rack space, lots of desk top space, and pleny of room for monitors. Check out http://www.omnirax.com I specifically like the F2, Omnidesk, and Force series. I bought a Prostation MC at a steep discount from Mars Music here in town. I was snooping around and found out they had one left at a huge discount. Paid about 250 for it. I mounted rack rails on both the front and the back. I have my PC's mounted in the front along with my PS2 and TV Genie. On the top right I have my router, switch, cable modem, and DSL modem. On the left I have a drawer and my laptop docking station. SWEET!
In the poster's case, one of the filing cabinets would probably be replaced by the beer cooler.
I'm actually using an old foot-treadle sewing machine table as the base - remember the old Singer ones that you cranked with your foot instead of using an electric motor? Gives me somthing fidgety to do while working.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I just found out recently that one of the biggest culprits that causes chronic back pain is...the Chair! Not just because of the shape, but because of the back support! Freaky, huh? Apparently your lumbar and lower vertebrae do not align properly without the assistance of your lower-back and pelvic muscles...which atrophy if your back is constantly resting against something! Anyway, I and some friends have experienced blinding success with low tables (someone I know cut the legs off his desk) and nice thick mats to sit Indian-style or kneel on. I've even found sitting unassisted even helps my wrists and shoulders, tho I'm no chiropractor so I couldn't tell ya why.
There's a lot of information out there, but as a summary, I found this article very helpful (even though it comes from a commercial site).
Viva la butt muscles!
Sara Thustra
I got a great home office at Form in Teak a chain of stores that imports Scandanvian knock downs. They're a cut above Ikea in quality.
I purchased a very large desk ( about 6 ft x 3.5 ft) with a side attachment that adds about another 3.5 x 3.5) It works out purfect for two 21 inch monitors.
I also purchased a 4 drawer file cabinet (strapped) and two book cases. Everyting I need is within arms reach.
I have found that building your own desk is best. If you are not much of a carpenter, hire someone. I had a whole room customized once for $500. I had to paint it mysleft, but all three walls were the desk. Complete room wrap-around. Places for printers monitors, computers, TV, ham radio, etc...
I have since upgraded. I converted a 35' x 25' garage into a 5 room office: two office rooms, conference room, lab and small kitchen.
I chose to make the walls only 5 1/2 feet tall. This leaves the top opne, but the feeling of a closed office when you are seated.
I ran 2 CAT-5, 1 CAT-3 and coaxial to each room (except the kitchen). Terminiation is in the LAB.
I installed over 30 recepticals for power. Two panels and two 10.5 KWh diesel generators.
I use Starband VSAT for interent. I live on the top of a remote montain in Southern California. I have no grid power or grid telephone.
Jamey
Jamey Kirby
Metro also has a Rack Mount solution for their shelving system. Metro's computer shelving products are here. When you see a product you want, be sure the get the spec sheet, they are .pdf docs.
Personally, I think the Metro brand is the best out there. I can see the reduced quality in the knock-off brands. YMMV.
All 4 desktop systems and 2 laptops were stored on my Metro shelving next to my desk. I used one KVM switch for all 7 systems. I used a regular desk for my work surface, monitor, keyboard & files. Plus I had another monitor & keyboard for the Sparc. This leaves a clean work surface for me, which is important. I do a lot of document creation and still like working with paper. Also, having a mostly clear desk helps me focus on the tasks at hand.
The Metro shelving also held my fax, laser printer, power strips and networking devices. The cables were kept clean using black velcro strips. The shelves were black too. Metro's Heavy Duty castors let me easily pull the shelving out to manage the cables when needed.
Two shelves held 4 rows of books, back-to-back. I also stored my printer paper on the bottom (increased stability). My working file folders and incoming mail were on side-attached accessories.
All of this stuff used to take up 3 desks, a bookshelf and some floor space. Pretty slick.
Hi,
;>
I've been working from home for more than a year now. Here is my home office get up:
3 8' buffet tables from staples. US$80 each. Each holds about 800lbs (per it's rating). It's not wrap around but it's cheap, has plenty of space is very sturdy. About 3-5 computer towers fit under each one.
3 rolls of anti static mat from Wal-Mart. US$35 each. These come in various sizes. I use the 10x10 size
various power strips and grounded outdoor power cords. About US$100 worth. do not forget to place the non-ground two-plug devices on a different correct from grounded appliances.
quote from electrician where each power circuit is, how much power can be safely drawn from each circuit, and a fire code review of my wiring. About US$250
one lumbar support executive chair. US$250. Do not skimp here. Your back can be hurt by the wrong chair, and you have no one to blame if this occurs
two four-port belkin omni desktop switches (PS/2). US$150 each, plus US$25 per connected system for the wires.
HTH,
Sam
I woke up the other morning with what seemed like the best idea ever. See, we have a spare room that has an old bed in it. We were going to throw the bed out and get a desk, make it into a proper little office.
But then I thought: what if I spread fibreglass resin all over the base of the bed. Raise it up on a couple of bedside lockers, cut out some gaps in the side where you would sit and Voila! You then have a bedroom that you've turned into an office, but still looks like a bedroom!
See you r Bios,
See if you have acces to steppings
modify multiplicator if necessary
If Multiplicator isn't available, try lowering the voltage
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
Don't forget the DVD player, DSS, 35 inch TV, and Stereo. Oh wait, thats my office! hehe (all except the 35inch tv, only have 27)
-- 4 8 15 16 23 42
If you want a strong as hell desk system that is modular, look into Steelcase office products here. My old employer used these desks for everyone and they were wonderful in my opinion. Working as helpdesk, network admin, and telcom admin, I was just about everywhere in the building. I'm only about 155 lbs., but I could climb on top of the desks to do anything I needed and not half to worry about my weight being supported. I've also seen 200-300 lbs. people (sometimes more than one at a time) ontop of these desks with out a single wobble.
I personaly had several computers each with their own 17" monitors, spare PC's, spare parts, boxes of backup tapes from my predicessors, and paper files like you would not beleave all stacked on these desks, or cabnets. The legal dept. and the finnace dept. put me to shame with documentation stored on a desk, but never a concern on these desks. There usualy is a Steelcase dealer in most areas from what I've seen, but you will pay more to a lot.
You could if you wanted to park a large car on these desks surfaces, as they are that strong with some of their series they have. I'm use to the series that is all steel, painted, and modular, and has removeable side pannels to hide the cables you use. There are also the options of having power hardwired directly into the desks, and cubical walls if you want to go nuts and have a true office like environment.
They also came out with a lot of newer, sharp looking furnature as well.
Just my advice for the people with the cash...
Who wants Pork Chops?
My solution is to buy medium grade file drawers that are two high. Then buy solid core wood doors. The doors are blanks without cutouts for hinges or doorknobs, etc. I sand, stain and poly the doors. Depending on the file drawers' depth the door can be laid across the drawers or a block of wood anchored to the wall to support the back of the door.
Then a Hole saw can be used to drill the right sized hole for wires to be feed through the back ofhte doors. A couple of well placed screws allow a power strip to be mounted underneath the door. Large ladder hooks can be screwed in for cable runs. I even mount my keyboard drawers where I want them.
Todd
The Office Depo / Office Max stores sell cheap (less than US$50) folding tables. Mix and match to wrap around your room.
Its a cheap, fast solution. Add a couple of cheap file cabinets... Perhaps some heavy-duty plastic click-together shelves on top of the desks for over-top-of-monitor shelving.
But do spend a *lot* of money on your chair. That is the one thing you can't skimp on.