I'm thinking of building my own desk, why? I hear you say; shame on you for asking you hear me say! Desk that would be built: Desk that would be bought: OR Now, which should I build (as the ones from Argos are flat-packed, I'd end up building them too ). The first one is my own design, its unique, its custom made for what I want (DVD's, Books. printer/scanner etc), or the more expensive argos type? please send your opinions on a S.A.E. to Po Box 101101101 Dublin, Ireland. Then again, you could reply, if thats... 'easier'
Where would your legs go in your custom desk? Looks like a shin breaker to me. Also...the flat screen would have to be on some sort of swivel mount as it would be too high to look at comfortably. Custom is immovable. Im all for custom building, but there is alot of strikes against you in that current design. The argos with the hutch is the better of the two...very similiar to mine, although I think its funny that it has a covered storage for the tower, but picture it with a desktop system sitting under the monitor.
well, the custom pic' is all out of porportion, I'm not exactly skilled in 3D modeling, also the desk would be higher than it looks, bad camera angle . Also, theres nothing saying that there couldnt be a curve in the desk allowing for chest/legs. and lastly, the flat-screen wouldnt be as high as it seems, the height of the selves are the same as a DVD, so it would be no farther away from the main part of the desk than two~three dvds stacked top-to-bottom
Buy a nice Effectiv desk from Ikea, plus some other stuff to put your printer on if you wish. Got myself a nice L shaped desk, 160 by 120, loads of space to work and fits my 22" monitor nicely! Also its birch/beech (?), a light wood so its looks contemporary and cool. Ikea sell loads of stuff so you could add a storage unit + a cd/dvd storage unit
my location doesnt allow for Ikea, I'd probably end up buying a pre-fab desk but I cant help but think I want it MY way! <------
you'll find that the keyboard area won't be either big enough for you to see the keyboard and rest your wrists on or it'll snap or bend under the weight of the constant use like mind did :|
I built/am still building my desk, and I couldn't be happier. Just make sure that you use decent wood for your project (if you do go with the self-built desk). I used 1/2" pressboard (the full 4x8' sheet weighs about 60lbs). And, I made it to my needs (room for a 21" and a 19" monitor and with a lot of space for all my periphs). Besides what has been already mentioned, my suggestion would be to drop out the shelf for the DVD area in the center (top center shelf) so that the monitor is a bit lower, and just add DVD shelves on each side of the monitor (another shelf on top of your multi-storage area).
I vote for custom built, because you get exactly what you want, not to mention it's an original. For the pre-fab, they have good points too, mainly that you just buy it and place your stuff on it. It's way easier and takes less time. If you have to assemble it, it is easier than building as there are hardly any tools required....
I prefer a normal Desk, you know 4 legs, plank of thick wood on top, nice and easy no fancy ****, but thats me
the activation key is one of my mini-mods, you take the push-to-go switch from the PC (you know ON/OFF), and solder both a chrome key-switch and chrome push-to-go switch, making it so that if the key isnt in the ON position the push-to-go switch does nothing. Its very useful if you have some security issues and/or are paranoid, like me . in regards to the wood, hows two inch thick MDF sound? EDIT: in case your wondering why I cant decide, since I'm all for the custom build.. its that the computer would be locked in place, it would require loosening of screws to get it out.
i just use an old round kitchen table for my computer desk. all those other ones are too darn low and i cant sit underneath them, specially the ones with the keyboard trays. I like your custom design the best but i think you could do better with the design of the printer/scanner area. i saw a desk once in a store that had like 2 shelves on either end that were kind of like bookends for the monitor. you could do that and then have a printer on one side and scanner on the other. _X_ _=shelf X=Monitor
You could easily do 3/4" MDF and double it up on the edge and that would be strong and give the illusion of a 1.5" desk. I custom built my desk, I like it, but I think I actually built it rather large for my room, then again perhaps I should clean up more. Its got 3/4" Plywood, a custom set of 8.5 x 11" drawers, for files and stuff, a cable chase, and a custom 8" tower shelf. It also has a pull out keyboard drawer, the desk is a corner desk and is 32" tall, the drawer allow the keyboard to be at a comforatble height, and places my monitor comfortable for me. Word to teh wise, the pull out keyboard drawer takes a lot more engineering than I first thought tho, It ended up being screwed in with about amillion screws, and then a couple of bits of brass angle iron to make sure the edges of the shelf didnt chip away, but now it is as solid as a rock, before it fell off every oteh time I put my wrists on it.
why not remodel a bit so it's easier to get your computer out? Something like putting it on a sliding panel? With a door in front of it that locks?
I use to work in a cabinet shop and custom built mine for nothing. The thing wieghs a ton, But due for another one since there is gonna be mine and my ole lady's cumputer soon..
my room is the perfect size. at one end im gonna have three of those 4x8 foot cheapo 30 doller folding tables in a U shape! i got one right now and its nice! nothing like 96 sqft of desktop space
I like to custom everything, and I do interior design to boot. If you have the room, why not do an L shape? You could round the inside corner and have a pull-out tray for your keyboard and mouse, that way your desk can be just high enough to have your monitor at a comfortable level. You can build shelving for dvds and whatnot along either side of the monitor and still have plenty of room for your peripherals. And, from your corner seat, you'll be able to look in either direction and still see out into the room. This way you won't feel completely cooped in a corner and shut off from the world, but still have a completely private work area. Also, doing it this way would allow you to leave ample legroom underneath in that corner and still build shelving underneath so you will not be compromising your storage space. Also, with the monitor in the corner, you will be able to show off to more people in the room should you choose to do so, without cramming everyone around to see in that little nook you have going right now. Of course, space is always an issue too, so the corner idea may not be practical for you. But if the space is available, I think you may like it better all around. You won't feel like you're working in a closet. That's my two bits worth.
