What kind of desk you got?

[#SadCowboy]

I am looking for a new computer desk. All the ones I like the look of get bad reviews. I am going to be moving at the end of February so I want to have it here and ready to move with me so I can just leave the piece of junk I am using now behind. I don't want to spend more than $200. I plan to get a better one down the road but not yet as I will have a limited amount of space at first (moving in with my brother and sister-in-law and taking over the rent in the summer when they buy their house). 

[Kormath]

19 hours ago, #SadCowboy said:

I am looking for a new computer desk. All the ones I like the look of get bad reviews. I am going to be moving at the end of February so I want to have it here and ready to move with me so I can just leave the piece of junk I am using now behind. I don't want to spend more than $200. I plan to get a better one down the road but not yet as I will have a limited amount of space at first (moving in with my brother and sister-in-law and taking over the rent in the summer when they buy their house). 

I got mine about 8 or 9 years ago at Office Max.  Closest one i can find online now is this one.

https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/475958/Realspace-Magellan-Collection-L-Shaped-Desk/

Great desk, i had a 3 monitor setup on it (23" Dell P23H15 i think they were) HP wireless printer, and it still had a good bit of space for whatever.  now it just holds my lizard and his supplies as i sold off all my PC gaming stuff.  This summer that desk is probably going away too, once i get my nightstand built the lizard tank can sit on.

[BropolloCreed79]

I try not to buy things I can make at home.  The upshot is, as a taller person, I can make things that work for my frame instead of buying off the shelf, and I can get it to look exactly how I want it to right out of the gate.  Wood is surprisingly easy to use as a construction material with minimal training, and is very forgiving with a little bit of patience, trial and error. 

I actually built my own chair to sit in for gaming out of a wooden ceiling beam scrap leftover from when my folks had an addition put on their house 20+ years ago that was just lying around.  Stain and poly with 1/2" black steel pipe fittings to make the arms, legs, and back all fit me comfortably.  Built in a lumbar support with the pipe and some U-joints, and padded the arm and back rests with pipe insulation that was then covered with custom made covers that have Velcro seams so they can be washed as needed.

Spray paint the pipe fittings and flanges with matte black finish and then secure them to the wood with screws, and I have a heavy duty chair ready to go.

I've built tons of stuff for my house, storage lockers, coffee tables, and more.  A desk, depending on the design and utility you are looking for, would be a fairly straightforward project.  If you have the means and access to tools, you could probably build a decent computer desk for $50-$100 in lumber and hardware (stain, wood glue, screws, etc...).  Depending on your level of comfort attempting something like that, a few hours of planning will go a long way to making something you'll take a lot of pride in.

[Anc1entC0re]

7 hours ago, BropolloCreed79 said:

I try not to buy things I can make at home.  The upshot is, as a taller person, I can make things that work for my frame instead of buying off the shelf, and I can get it to look exactly how I want it to right out of the gate.  Wood is surprisingly easy to use as a construction material with minimal training, and is very forgiving with a little bit of patience, trial and error. 

I actually built my own chair to sit in for gaming out of a wooden ceiling beam scrap leftover from when my folks had an addition put on their house 20+ years ago that was just lying around.  Stain and poly with 1/2" black steel pipe fittings to make the arms, legs, and back all fit me comfortably.  Built in a lumbar support with the pipe and some U-joints, and padded the arm and back rests with pipe insulation that was then covered with custom made covers that have Velcro seams so they can be washed as needed.

Spray paint the pipe fittings and flanges with matte black finish and then secure them to the wood with screws, and I have a heavy duty chair ready to go.

I've built tons of stuff for my house, storage lockers, coffee tables, and more.  A desk, depending on the design and utility you are looking for, would be a fairly straightforward project.  If you have the means and access to tools, you could probably build a decent computer desk for $50-$100 in lumber and hardware (stain, wood glue, screws, etc...).  Depending on your level of comfort attempting something like that, a few hours of planning will go a long way to making something you'll take a lot of pride in.

I wish I had the skill to do this. I can screw up putting a nail in a 2x4. lol

I actually agree with this though. If you can build a desk or even just a table and add in drawers and what not, it beats buying store bought junk. I paid for a desk a few years back, it was like $300 and the POS basically fell apart in less than a year. They don't make furniture like they once did and if it is good quality, you are looking at a HIGH markup. 

[Kormath]

On 2/1/2019 at 10:02 PM, Anc1entC0re said:

I wish I had the skill to do this. I can screw up putting a nail in a 2x4. lol

I actually agree with this though. If you can build a desk or even just a table and add in drawers and what not, it beats buying store bought junk. I paid for a desk a few years back, it was like $300 and the POS basically fell apart in less than a year. They don't make furniture like they once did and if it is good quality, you are looking at a HIGH markup. 

with prices for everything climbing it's getting cheaper to build your own.  20 years ago i spent maybe $50 building my son's crib, then probably that much for his toddler bed a couple years later.  My father and I built both in his shop, the crib the ex wanted was almost $300 back then, and his toddler bed close to $200.  since then i've made a couple night stands, my headboard i built this past summer, my son's tv stand we built together, and used to have a tv stand in the living room i built, but tore it apart to build the stand with my son.   I compare prices to buy stuff with what it would cost me to make it and go from there.  

 

[CowBoii]

If you ever want to attempt building your own, just go on YouTube. There are some really good DIY builders on there. I can't remember the name of the dude I watch. I am planning on building an entire set of office furniture this summer. Desk, bookshelves, storage drawers, and so on.

[madfretter]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:17 PM, BropolloCreed79 said:

I try not to buy things I can make at home.  The upshot is, as a taller person, I can make things that work for my frame instead of buying off the shelf, and I can get it to look exactly how I want it to right out of the gate.  Wood is surprisingly easy to use as a construction material with minimal training, and is very forgiving with a little bit of patience, trial and error. 

I actually built my own chair to sit in for gaming out of a wooden ceiling beam scrap leftover from when my folks had an addition put on their house 20+ years ago that was just lying around.  Stain and poly with 1/2" black steel pipe fittings to make the arms, legs, and back all fit me comfortably.  Built in a lumbar support with the pipe and some U-joints, and padded the arm and back rests with pipe insulation that was then covered with custom made covers that have Velcro seams so they can be washed as needed.

Spray paint the pipe fittings and flanges with matte black finish and then secure them to the wood with screws, and I have a heavy duty chair ready to go.

I've built tons of stuff for my house, storage lockers, coffee tables, and more.  A desk, depending on the design and utility you are looking for, would be a fairly straightforward project.  If you have the means and access to tools, you could probably build a decent computer desk for $50-$100 in lumber and hardware (stain, wood glue, screws, etc...).  Depending on your level of comfort attempting something like that, a few hours of planning will go a long way to making something you'll take a lot of pride in.

Building stuff for furniture solutions is getting to be a lost art. Nice to hear someone who still does.  I prefer to build when I can, it's always a better fit. When I built my book shelves it cost me about 150.00 bucks. If I had purchased them at ikea it would have been 900.00  and they wouldn't have fit nearly as well.

[BropolloCreed79]

23 hours ago, madfretter said:

and they wouldn't have fit nearly as well.

That's the other thing--I can build things to maximize space and utility.  Built some lockers and benches to turn the bottom of the stairs into our finished basement into a mud room.  For $100 in materials, I got something that would have cost me 5-6 times as much to pay someone else to do.  I did it in a few hours on a Saturday afternoon with a drill, tape measure, miter saw, cabinet screws, and wood putty.