Alex:

I work from home and have 3 laptops and 3 Desktops in a small office. When
I first moved into my office I used the Home Cheapo countertop propped up on
a couple of cheapo cabinets. It looked ugly and really stunk. Here is what I
did.

My office is a small room that is off our MBR. It is the area that would
normally be an open Foyer. We decided against an open Foyer when we built
our house. It is about 60" wide and 13 feet long and opens
up a bit by the door. I have a big arched window facing north which lets in
the light but not the glare.

Because I could not find a desk that fit for this space and was constrained
I designed my own. I designed a L shaped desk and took the measurements to a
local countertop shop. I picked out a Dark Wood Cherry laminate. It is
durable and pretty good looking. I chose this over wood because of all my
equipment and it was cheaper. For the support I had them make side panels 1
1/2" thick laminated. I can then rest the top on the two sides secured by
"L" brackets underneath. Along the wall in the back I used these Heavy duty
metal brackets for additional support. This desk is strong !!! I also cut
out a couple of holes and put cable grommets.

For storage I went out to staples.com and purchase 3 - 3 drawer HON mobile
file cabinets. I chose to make the height of my desk 4" higher than the
cabinets because I have my gigswitch and Netdisks stashed on top of them
still accessible. Because they are Mobile and on wheels I can pull them out
and clean every couple of months. Dust accumolates back there!!. It also
gives me flexability in re-arranging my space.

The other thing I did was a built a Ton of shelves and secured them with
adjustable brackets. I have so many manuals and books for my job I have to
keep them some where and their always within reach. To reduce clutter for
all of the software and cables, and computer sh%# I use gallon size ziploc
plastic bags and caztegorize the and store them in White FileFolder storage
bocs that I bought at Staples. It help reduce the clutter sooooo much. I
have started using this technique in my shop with manuals and such. It helps
keep out the dust and I know where to find stuff when I need it.

If I had to do anything different I would have made a U shaped desk/cockpit
and would suggest you entertain that idea because of the amount of computer
equipment. It always gets in the way. I always find I do not have a good
area to spread out papers and such because of the computers. I have been
looking at moving my office to a finished room in the basement because of
more room and also it would allow me to make a server room under the stairs.
My office has carpeting and I use those plastic mats to roll around on. I
recently bought some laminated flooring and secured it to a 1/4" piece of
Luan and edged it. It is more durable looks good with the cherry. I got the
idea from the skymall catalog. They wanted 350 bucks I built it for about
60.

Good Luck

Rich




"Alex" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.