Computer Desk

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My computer has been at the center of my life ever since ALS began affecting my mobility.  I practically live at my desk, and my computer center has undergone several changes over the years as my strength deteriorated.  None of the available computer desks seemed to work -- too low to get my wheelchair under, too small a tray to rest my arms on, etc.  After adding blocks to raise it, and trying various trays for keyboard and mouse, bringing in stray pieces of furniture to put peripherals on, I finally had a computer center that worked.  But ... it looked just like the make-do conglomeration of parts that it was.  

When I got my power chair, we needed to raise the desk to accommodate it and I decided it was a good time to redo the desk with more attention to looks.   After a lot of measuring, planning, and shopping, I decided to use Sauder assemble-it-yourself furniture and a little bit of ingenuity to create the computer center I wanted.  Convincing my husband that my ideas would work (especially the part about sawing a bookshelf in half!) took a bit, but he did it and I finally have a set-up that I consider ideal!  Not only is it functional for me, but it is also attractive.   With the desk located in the family room, I am not isolated from household goings on, and I can look out a bay window or watch TV from my desk. The basic desk project itself was fairly inexpensive, but we ended up liking it so well that we bought a matching TV/entertainment center and file cabinet!

To use the desk, I pull up to it about arm's length away. With my arms resting on the armrests of my wheelchair, I can reach the edges of the pull-out tray and pull it toward me or have someone do it for me.






The tray is cut to wrap around me so that my elbows rest on it and my arms are fully supported. That has made it possible for me to use the mouse and keyboard even though I cannot lift my arms.








The end cabinet is just the lower part of the second bookshelf.  It contains the printer and scanner. Since I cannot manage either one by myself, there was no need to have the cabinet opening along side me.

Parts

2 Bookshelves (or 1 bookshelf and one cabinet)
Any 30" wide bookshelf will work for the bookshelf end of the desk.  I chose one with doors on the bottom to hide clutter.  These are generally 16" deep.   If the overall length of the desk needs to be minimized, look for a plain bookshelf about 6 or8" deep.

I could not find a matching cabinet the right dimensions for the printer cabinet end.  All were either too low, or several inches wider that the desktop.  It was just as economical to buy a second bookshelf and cut it off at the right height. Again, if the overall length of the desk needs to be minimized, a shallow bookshelf will work to support the desktop, but probably won't be deep enough to serve as a printer cabinet.






Desktop: 30"x70" sheet of 3/4" plywood.
The length can be adjusted to fit the available space,  but must remain long enough to accommodate the oversized keyboard tray and its brackets in the knee hole between the bookshelf and cabinet.

Selecting birch or oak plywood will make it easier to stain the desktop to match the bookshelves. We added 3/4" quarter-round molding to finish the raw edges.

The desktop is notched on one end to fit inside the bookshelf.



Keyboard tray  30"x32" sheet of 1/2" plywood.
The keyboard tray was cut to allow it to wrap around me. Use a large piece of cardboard to make a pattern. Make sure that the "armrest" section is long enough to completely support your elbows, not just your forearm.

The depth of the tray must be 30 inches: any less and you won't have room to work. Any more and it won't slide all the way under the desk which it has to be able to do if you use a power chair: You need to pull into your parking space, and then pull the tray out over your arm rests. You won't have enough toggle clearance to drive under an extended tray. I find I have to park, turn my chair control toggle a bit sideways so the toggle is lower than the armrest, then pull the tray out.

The width of the tray should be as wide as space allows.  It will be your working surface and the more room you have for mouse, keyboard, papers, call button, phone, a drink, etc., the better.

Assembly

We assembled the first bookshelf according to the directions. Next we measured the height needed for the desktop. This took a little calculating.

First we measured the distance from the floor to top of my wheelchair armrests. This is the height needed for the pull-out tray so that it rests on the armrests. Next we added 5 more inches for depth of the tray and the space between the tray and the desktop. It needs to be high enough for the keyboard to fit easily under the desk when the tray is pushed in. (If the keyboard gets squeezed, Windows opens the Help menu over and over and over again!)

Now we laid out the pieces for the second bookshelf, cut the sides at the height we wanted the desktop, and assembled the cabinet.

The desktop and tray were cut from the sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. The length of the desktop can be adjusted to fit the available space but needs to be long enough to allow for adequate knee hole space.

Before going further, we set the pieces up to make sure they fit together and in the available space. We added a piece of 2x4 to the underside of the notched end of the desktop where it sat on the shelf of the bookcase to level it. (This shelf was not an adjustable one. An adjustable shelf would need to be securely attached.)

After marking the underside of the desktop where the slide out tray was to go, we started on the tray mounts. Because we couldn't find metal drawer slides long enough for the big tray, we had to settle for wood runners. Dresser drawers made this way are terrible -- they stick and don't close evenly. However we were relieved to find that for a simple pull out tray this worked just fine. To make the tray runners we mounted 1x6 boards to the underside of the desktop with L brackets. Then we screwed 1x2's at right angles to that to make the edges the tray would sit on. To keep the tray level, we added a strip of 1x1 above the 1x2's to form a slot for the tray. We spaced them about 1 inch above the 1x2's to give the 3/4" tray plenty of room to slide without binding yet keep the tray fairly level as it was pulled out. We also waxed the sliding surfaces with an old candle to make the tray slide even more easily.

Finally we added the quarter round to the edges of the desktop and stained the desktop and tray to match the bookshelf.