Matt gave us a desk a few weeks ago with the warning “it might make a good crafting desk”. I picked it up for Carrie to use, but as I’m on the eternal and never ending quest to build the perfect office setup, I poached it for myself.

It quickly became apparent why the warning was given – it was a corner unit (you can see it here in Matt’s office) and the opening was pretty narrow. When shifting positions or trying to get closer to the monitors, the armrests on my Mirra chair would bash into it, and it became annoying and uncomfortable really fast.

Other than that, the desk was great – fully height adjustable legs from Ikea (important for me, as that’s a big part of my Holy Grail of a perfect work setup) and perfect amount of space for my two monitors, but not too big.

Yesterday, I ditched the desk top and made my own design out of MDF. It literally took just a few hours. I took the old desktop and matched part of its shape, but widened the “mouth”, and just sort of connected the dots. No precise measurements or anything, just went for it. It has imperfections, but those are quickly overlooked as I’m able to move my chair forward and pivot while nestled in the arc of the mouth of the desk.

You could do something similar as well, a few legs from Ikea, a $20.00 piece of MDF, and a $30.00 scroll saw will put you on your way to custom desk freedom. Make your own Biomorph desk for a fraction of the cost (and, admittedly, features).