My DIY Custom Wood Stained IKEA Standing Desk!

Making your own standing desk doesn't have to be complicated, or expensive. In fact, with a budget motorised standing desk from Amazon and a wooden desk top from IKEA, and a few dollars of wood stain, you can create your very own DIY masterpiece.

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00:00 Introduction
01:18 Why Make Your Own Standing Desk?
01:50 Finding a Frame
02:55 Choosing a Desk Top
04:36 Sponsor
05:42 Staining the Desk Top
07:37 Building the Desk
08:26 Cable Management
09:00 Extras

#desksetup #minimalism #IKEAhacks
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[daviddeady]

Stains just color the wood. If you use a stain, you'll want to also apply a clear polyurethane coat on top of the stain. Polyurethane will protect the top (from water rings, etc) and it gives the color more depth and beauty (like nice wood floors; you can buy polyeurethane in glossy or matte finish). It makes a big difference! You can also find poly/stain blends that can be applied in one coat. Also, before applying a water-based stain, you'll want to dampen the desk with water first, wait a day for it to dry out, then very, very minimally sand it one last time with a 220 grit sandpaper (sand in the direction of the wood grain - ie longways). If you don't wet first, your water-based stain will make the fibers of the wood stand up (like whiskers) and it will have a fuzzy/cheap look/feel to it. By wetting it, you "raise the grain" and then knock it off with that last bit of sanding (2 swipes). Best bet is to ask an old woodworker about this stuff!

[iFINNIX]

Another option is getting the karlby at the 42” deep option and cutting off 12” so you have a 30” deep top and then turn the 12” you cut off into a monitor stand

[yiannisspanos]

I have a 150x75cm Linnmon tabletop from 2015. It has been my desk since then and Ive spent almost half of the past 7 years with my hand on that table. It hasn't broken yet, but I have made some scratches and I will look for a new table. I have 2x 24" monitors on arms, a laptop, 2 speaker, and some of the time a few heavy books on there. You don't need to fearmonger people to make the spend more money on a desk. Just say solid wood is better, more premium and it makes you feel nice.

[jaytpaul]

I feel so lucky that I got this tabletop a year or so ago in Socal. Not sure why IKEA would discontinue it when it would immediately sell out whenever they restocked it.

[mje]

Gerton tabletop not available. Any suggestions for a replacement?

[Jared]

This is great! Unfortunately that solid wood top no longer exists… and the only ones from ikea are 25” deep and the cheapest is 215$

[gold.gorilla]

Looks like the Gerton has been discontinued in Australia unfortunately! Looks like a great desk top.

[mangowett]

The gerton is discontinued !! What do I go with then?

[AJCoReTV]

Karlby seems nice, 26” deep is perfect. I’m trying to avoid that absolute hassle & mess of staining & treating wood.

[KiomEl]

Would you recommend just having the tabletop sit ontop of the frame without any drilling?

[saibfps]

Sadly it looks like Ikea doesn't sell the Gerton Table Top in the U.S :(

[GuilelessDiamnd]

I'm so glad I came across your channel, I'm a student myself and I can relate to almost everything in your videos!

[SWSW]

Re the crank style desk, I prefer this over the motor.
Yes it take physical effort (God forbid) to adjust the desk height but its usually within 10 seconds...far less if you are in a rush and I am over 6 feet....nowhere near 2 minutes.
I have what could be considered a "cheap" one (brand name Vivo, cost $150 US at the time), no problems thus far with over a year of daily use.
It is safer, uses no electricity, no motor issue which apparently is common especially with some that use 2 motors.

Just sharing my two cents, cheers.

[carlostapia]

this was literally the video i needed. i am going to try and attempt this on my own

[chadpenton]

I always thought you had that monitor for your MBA. I can see now you're running a nice little Mini underneath that setup. Sneaky! Love it though. Very sleek. Thanks for the video.

[iMadeThisThat]

Ikea does not have GERTON tabletop anymore. I could not find any tabletop on IKEA website with Beechwood.

[austinmathew]

Roughly, how much did it cost all together?

[ChrisTheAppleOne]

Exactly the video I need… was watching your desk setup video and was like… I need to do that! And here we are haha

[fatboynip]

wow bro that desk is SO NICE. such a nice finish, love it.

[slymeszn]

wonder if they will ever restock this table top