Standing Desk Conversion Platform

I've gotten really into the idea of having a standing desk lately (due mostly to lower back pain caused by poor posture), but I have a desk that I really love and didn't want to do anything permanent to mess it up. My solution was to build a platform of sorts that my desk can stand on top of.

Step 1 Drawing/math

First, I needed to do some planning. I determined that I wanted a desk to be 41 inches tall (through some trial and error - I stacked books under my laptop until it felt comfortable, then measured the books). My current desk (the Parsons Desk with Drawers from West Elm) is 30". So I needed a platform to be 11" tall. I also decided to make the platform a little wider than my desk, to account for any slipping. Measure your desk, and add an inch to each dimension.

Originally, I had planned to make two seperate platforms for the left and right sides of the desk. I realized pretty quickly that they'd tip over way to easily, so I stuck with that design and added a connector at the back of the desk.

Here's a rough drawing of each side platform (not to scale, and apologies for the blur - your numbers would be different from mine anyways):

Comments

[johnlvs2run]

Nice photo. Thanks.

[jaektaylor]

I have my desk as a standing desk, but wasn't sure I'd want it to be permanent. It's a desk that sits on two file-drawer pillars. All I did was make two more plywood boxes the same size - roughly - I measured the height so that it would be at the right spot for the keyboard to be comfy. I cut for holes in the cornser of the tops of the boxes to allow the small desk legs to poke through and they stablize the desk on top of the boxes. I tried it out for a while and then, once it worked well, I painted them black to match the desk. I now refer it as an 'heirloom quality' addition. I can still go back to a regular desk by lifting off the boxes, but so far I like it this way and it's been over 2 years now.

[trebuchet03]

If you liked this - you might also be interested in this instructable for a similar setup: http://www.instructables.com/id/EDO2JI7UVZEP287ZUR/

[5dots]

I'd seen that one, actually, and it was part of my inspiration to do this. I'm still not 100% sure I want to keep my desk as a standing desk, so I did it this way to avoid having to physically attach anything to the desk.

[ewilhelm]

I had my desk on milkcrates for a few months until I was ready to commit. Not that you can't imagine what a desk on milkcrates looks like, but I just love making links.

[ewilhelm]

Thanks for linking mine! Standing desks are awesome; I'm glad to see another.