That's right, folks: I've decided to attempt to build a desk. Why? My current desk is a chipboard nightmare from Wal-Mart, circa 2000...it's seen better days.
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| Le piece de la resistance |
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| Packing tape: Always the solution! |
My chair is also a disaster; remember those horrendous chairs from high school? Those terrible plastic things made by Ven Rez in Shelburne that "curved" to help your posture, but only served to annoy and hurt you? I have a pimped out version of one of those, complete with lush padding that just seems to attract dirt.
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| Beautiful, isn't she? Comfy too...NOT |
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| Buying local: Not always advantageous. |
While I was still planning to write my thesis (news flash: I am no longer writing a thesis...I just want to be done. But that's a rant for another day), I decided I needed a better and more ergonomically friendly work space to save my back and my sanity. I remembered my bedroom door when I was a kid, saddened that it was no longer used or appreciated (it came from my grandparent's house where everything was much smaller than it is today). My uncle had painted it with the Union Jack when he was a kid, so the painting itself is 50+ years old. Then I was struck with a most wonderful idea: instead of buying yet another crappy, chipboard desk that was manufactured by some MNC I despise and slapped together by someone making $1 a day, I will reclaim the door and it's wonderful artwork as my desk! Win-win!
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| Note its small size compared to the current door...but isn't it pretty!? |
My father graciously delivered the door to me (shout out to Miles, the schlepper of all things mine), so now construction (or in my case, destruction) can commence! I priced plexiglass for the top of the desk (as there are many grooves and other holes not conducive to writing or anything desk-related), and was horrified by the quotes: $232 for a sheet of 1/4" plexiglass!? These people are crazy. Luckily, my mother is as frugal as I am (wonder where I got it from?...), and advised me to check Wal-Mart for poster frames. For $40, I now have a lovely translucent covering for my desk to prominently display my uncle's art and allow me to actually use it for work. Great!
My next task is to find a suitable chair and legs for the desk. I would prefer to do something really weird, like mannequin legs, but I have a feeling that a) they would be expensive, and b) they would be hard to find, and c) it would be a bit too high on the creepy meter for most people (including my girlfriend who would have to live with it). I plan to check out XS Cargo this weekend for a chair (haven't been? You must see it! It's filled with wonderful useless shit in a warehouse format in Bayer's Lake. You can find stuff there for half the price you would pay elsewhere). After that, I'll harass some employees at Home Depot or Kent to assist me in the leg-making process. Stay tuned!
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