A minimalistic desk to handle cables and electronic clutter elegantly (opens in new tab)

(elzr.com)

294 pointselzr15y ago45 comments

45 comments

39 comments · 17 top-level

That's clever, but I wish you had chosen a nicer-looking veneer. For all that work, the result hilariously cheap- and cheesy-looking. Jennifer Newman's slot desk, by contrast, is gorgeous; love the firetruck red (although the grey is also lovely).

pjscott15y ago

Your characterization of this as cheap and cheesy-looking fills me with happiness at living in a world prosperous enough that even cheap furniture can be so decent-looking.

(Kudos to the OP, by the way. It really is a cool desk.)

electromagnetic15y ago

I hate Jennifer Newman's slot desk. It looks like she stole pieces off of $50 ikea desks.

I work with aluminium, you can do a lot of elegance with it and hers is just awful construction with no effort put in.

lobster_johnson15y ago

I was referring to the choice of surface, not the desk design itself.

lobster_johnson15y ago

Why downvote a perfectly reasonable, valid personal opinion and constructive critique? Only effusively positive aesthetic comments count?

johnohara15y ago· 3 in thread

Rain gutters also work great.

http://lifehacker.com/#!5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-manage...

alex_c15y ago

Oh... another pointlessly broken Lifehacker link. Thanks Gawker.

deadbadger15y ago

I see from your profile you're based in Canada - here in the UK, I've found it's the regional redirects that are breaking things (because the regional sites aren't on the new setup yet). Assuming the same thing is affecting Canadian users, if you delete either the "ca." from the hostname or the #! from the path string, the link should work.

2 more replies

glenjamin15y ago

http://lifehacker.com/5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-manageme... is a working link which seems to redirect properly.

sliverstorm15y ago· 3 in thread

Have you considered adding something like recessed USB ports on the desk front for flash drives and other transient USB accessories? I always thought that would be pretty slick, but I haven't had a chance, and this desk, being custom designed seems like a great place to try it

trickjarrett15y ago

After my desk is made, I intend to get a custom coffee table made and hope to put in a recessed outlet with usb plugs for easy charging of phones and laptops.

elzrOP15y ago

Could you please send me a pic or further description of what you mean? It sounds interesting and I'm trying to wrap my head around it but I guess I've simply never seen it.

sliverstorm15y ago

I can't find a good picture, so here's the best I've located:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseI...

Like that, except finished and/or polished.

1 more reply

jrwoodruff15y ago· 2 in thread

Wow, this thing is beautiful. I love the cost to have it built: $190USD. I'm fairly certain it would cost me 3 times that to build it myself here in Michigan.

Is it solid wood or veneer? Also, anything you would do differently?

elzrOP15y ago

It's veneer, I guess. I'm not very familiar with carpentry vocabulary but here in Mexico they call the technique "tambor" (drum): sheets of cedar enclosing a simple skeleton of cheap wood. Solid wood would have been more expensive and too heavy (this one's heavy enough!).

Nothing yet that I would have done differently about this desk: it's barely my second day with it and I'm just happily overwhelmed by the response its getting from the interwebs.

That said, if I had to design a desk all over again, I would probably do a standing desk. That NYT article on sitting as a lethal activity was definitely the last straw for committing to a future with less sitting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.h...

The problem is that I haven't yet the slightest clue into how to make an elegant standing desk, all the designs I've seen are pretty terrible.

Thanks for your kind remark :)

bosie15y ago

i thought about getting a standing desk as well. what do you don't like on standing desks like the steelcase activa lift [1]? (other than the quite outrageous price ;)) what would you change?

[1]: http://www.steelcase.eu/en/products/category/desks-tables/sy...

1 more reply

chromejs1015y ago· 2 in thread

That is a beautiful desk. I also found the link to the underdesk with the peg board to be ingenius. I currently use a glass top corner desk. The glass is pretty awesome because I can use it as a whiteboard :D. However, a smaller corner desk is kind of awful for the 3 monitors I work with.

One problem I see is if you had the desk up against the wall, it would be a huge pain to access everything to say remove drives or add new stuff. Though judging from the picture he doesn't keep it by the wall.

Fantastic design though! Too bad I'm sure it would cost a fortune more to have it done here in Cali :(

elzrOP15y ago

You should still try asking around, it's a very simple design requiring very straightforward workmanship and few, simple materials.

Thanks for your kind remarks! :)

gsf15y ago

The design might work against the wall if the drawer were open in front. Crawling under the desk you would see the clutter of the cords, routers, power strips, etc., but access would be easier, and you wouldn't see the drawer much otherwise.

A drawer that was open only toward the front might also look better in an office setup where the back of the desk faces the room.

ilikepi15y ago· 2 in thread

I really like the look of the slot. My only concern would be small stuff (e.g. writing utensils) falling into it, but I suppose as long as it wasn't backed up against the wall it wouldn't be an issue.

hernan715y ago

You could install a brush seal. Some cable management solutions use them.

mitchty15y ago

I think cleaning it would be a pain as well. Doesn't look very easy to clean out the slot/back.

mr_november15y ago· 2 in thread

Any chance you are planning on selling this commercially? I would definitely purchase. Awesome work.

elzrOP15y ago

Thanks for your interest. I would love to sell this commercially as a side project but the market is entirely on the US while I'm in Mexico. Cross-country shipping and customs is too much of a pain.

The story of my life: I should be in the States. Only now it comes with an interesting twist: If I lived in the States I would very likely sell plenty of these desks, yet if I didn't live in Mexico I would very likely never have built this ultra cheap proof of concept in the first place. :)

Mz15y ago

I've upvoted the comment to express "agreement" -- but I am commenting because upvotes no longer show so no one would know that the comment was upvoted except mr_november.

TL; DR: Great idea!

trickjarrett15y ago· 1 in thread

This looks fantastic! I may incorporate some ideas in my standing desk when I get it built later this year.

elzrOP15y ago

Please share pics when you do build it! I'm VERY interested in how you evolve the design for standing desks. :)

hartror15y ago· 1 in thread

All I can think of when I look at that desk is constantly losing things into the gap, pens being the main loss.

dpcan15y ago

Maybe. Adding a simple shallow groove in front of the gap may be all that's needed to catch the roll-away items.

dfischer15y ago· 1 in thread

I've done something similar with a standing desk. I'll clean it up and post pictures soon.

dvdhsu15y ago

I'm very curious, do you have an update?

jaxn15y ago· 1 in thread

Unfortunately this wouldn't work for an office where other people may be sitting on the other side of the desk for meetings.

brianpan15y ago

As an engineer, I had to think really hard to imagine this world you describe where people have meetings around the other side of the desk. Luckily, I've seen offices in movies.

The back could be closed up assuming you're running everything out the large side holes.

sigzero15y ago

The binder clip cable catcher ... so simple ... so perfect!

tcskeptic15y ago

This is neat, is sort of reminds me of a desk I have hade my eye on:

http://www.bluelounge.com/products/studiodesk/

I'd really like to see one that is counter height so that I could sit or stand as desired.

mikerg8715y ago

Well done. My thought thought is to fashion a vanity panel for the back to obscure the cable or device clutter if you are going to keep the desk out on the open. Something like two panels to cover the back affixed by magnets. Maybe one in each corner.

Another possibility would be to make the shelf back on a hinge affixed to the underside of the desktop so that you could access the gear on the shelf from the front. if the desk was ever positioned against a wall it would be painful to access that back area to install new gear or retrieve the odd pen that fell into the table top slot.

A very cool design to be sure

bdobynx15y ago

you can get just the adjustable lift/legs parts from Geekdesk GDB1 the base-only is expensive, but not so expensive. My company is about to build about a dozen desks based on the Geekdesk legs and custom tops. but now that we see your desk, we may build a cable slot/box on the back that matches your design. Awesome.

carbonx15y ago

I love it. A simple, elegant solution to a seemingly complex and frustrating issue.

stevedekorte15y ago

Instead of changing your desk, get rid of your electronics. A phone and a laptop are all you (probably) need.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

45 comments

39 comments · 17 top-level

lobster_johnson15y ago· 4 in thread

pjscott15y ago

Your characterization of this as cheap and cheesy-looking fills me with happiness at living in a world prosperous enough that even cheap furniture can be so decent-looking.

(Kudos to the OP, by the way. It really is a cool desk.)

electromagnetic15y ago

I hate Jennifer Newman's slot desk. It looks like she stole pieces off of $50 ikea desks.

I work with aluminium, you can do a lot of elegance with it and hers is just awful construction with no effort put in.

lobster_johnson15y ago

I was referring to the choice of surface, not the desk design itself.

lobster_johnson15y ago

Why downvote a perfectly reasonable, valid personal opinion and constructive critique? Only effusively positive aesthetic comments count?

johnohara15y ago· 3 in thread

Rain gutters also work great.

http://lifehacker.com/#!5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-manage...

alex_c15y ago

Oh... another pointlessly broken Lifehacker link. Thanks Gawker.

deadbadger15y ago

2 more replies

glenjamin15y ago

http://lifehacker.com/5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-manageme... is a working link which seems to redirect properly.

sliverstorm15y ago· 3 in thread

trickjarrett15y ago

After my desk is made, I intend to get a custom coffee table made and hope to put in a recessed outlet with usb plugs for easy charging of phones and laptops.

elzrOP15y ago

Could you please send me a pic or further description of what you mean? It sounds interesting and I'm trying to wrap my head around it but I guess I've simply never seen it.

sliverstorm15y ago

I can't find a good picture, so here's the best I've located:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseI...

Like that, except finished and/or polished.

1 more reply

jrwoodruff15y ago· 2 in thread

Wow, this thing is beautiful. I love the cost to have it built: $190USD. I'm fairly certain it would cost me 3 times that to build it myself here in Michigan.

Is it solid wood or veneer? Also, anything you would do differently?

elzrOP15y ago

Nothing yet that I would have done differently about this desk: it's barely my second day with it and I'm just happily overwhelmed by the response its getting from the interwebs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.h...

The problem is that I haven't yet the slightest clue into how to make an elegant standing desk, all the designs I've seen are pretty terrible.

Thanks for your kind remark :)

bosie15y ago

i thought about getting a standing desk as well. what do you don't like on standing desks like the steelcase activa lift [1]? (other than the quite outrageous price ;)) what would you change?

[1]: http://www.steelcase.eu/en/products/category/desks-tables/sy...

1 more reply

chromejs1015y ago· 2 in thread

Fantastic design though! Too bad I'm sure it would cost a fortune more to have it done here in Cali :(

elzrOP15y ago

You should still try asking around, it's a very simple design requiring very straightforward workmanship and few, simple materials.

Thanks for your kind remarks! :)

gsf15y ago

A drawer that was open only toward the front might also look better in an office setup where the back of the desk faces the room.

ilikepi15y ago· 2 in thread

hernan715y ago

You could install a brush seal. Some cable management solutions use them.

mitchty15y ago

I think cleaning it would be a pain as well. Doesn't look very easy to clean out the slot/back.

mr_november15y ago· 2 in thread

Any chance you are planning on selling this commercially? I would definitely purchase. Awesome work.

elzrOP15y ago

Thanks for your interest. I would love to sell this commercially as a side project but the market is entirely on the US while I'm in Mexico. Cross-country shipping and customs is too much of a pain.

Mz15y ago

I've upvoted the comment to express "agreement" -- but I am commenting because upvotes no longer show so no one would know that the comment was upvoted except mr_november.

TL; DR: Great idea!

trickjarrett15y ago· 1 in thread

This looks fantastic! I may incorporate some ideas in my standing desk when I get it built later this year.

elzrOP15y ago

Please share pics when you do build it! I'm VERY interested in how you evolve the design for standing desks. :)

hartror15y ago· 1 in thread

All I can think of when I look at that desk is constantly losing things into the gap, pens being the main loss.

dpcan15y ago

Maybe. Adding a simple shallow groove in front of the gap may be all that's needed to catch the roll-away items.

dfischer15y ago· 1 in thread

I've done something similar with a standing desk. I'll clean it up and post pictures soon.

dvdhsu15y ago

I'm very curious, do you have an update?

jaxn15y ago· 1 in thread

Unfortunately this wouldn't work for an office where other people may be sitting on the other side of the desk for meetings.

brianpan15y ago

As an engineer, I had to think really hard to imagine this world you describe where people have meetings around the other side of the desk. Luckily, I've seen offices in movies.

The back could be closed up assuming you're running everything out the large side holes.

sigzero15y ago

The binder clip cable catcher ... so simple ... so perfect!

tcskeptic15y ago

This is neat, is sort of reminds me of a desk I have hade my eye on:

http://www.bluelounge.com/products/studiodesk/

I'd really like to see one that is counter height so that I could sit or stand as desired.

mikerg8715y ago

A very cool design to be sure

bdobynx15y ago

carbonx15y ago

I love it. A simple, elegant solution to a seemingly complex and frustrating issue.

stevedekorte15y ago

Instead of changing your desk, get rid of your electronics. A phone and a laptop are all you (probably) need.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse