Now, Make it Pretty!

Note: After posting this, I bought a CumulusPRO Anti-Fatigue Mat, and the past couple days have been pure bliss for my feet and knees! This is supposed to be the tip-top of mats, and although it's a touch pricey, it has a ten-year warranty and is made from non-toxic materials. Now my standing creation is truly complete. :)

A while back, after I noticed that my 8-10 hour days of sitting on my tuckus were shaping a rather lovely but unwanted shovel-butt, I switched things up and started standing. I felt better after the initial novelty of being the only person in the office with a standing desk wore off; and the pain I felt previously in my hips vanished. The only thing that kept grating on my nerves was that my desk was so dang ugly with the computer stands I was using for my keyboard, and I had not taken the time to ensure my keyboard was ergonomically correct.

After weeks of silently wishing that my desk was more adorable, I went about Amazon to try to find a suitable alternative. A completely new desk was out, I didn't have the luxury of spending hundreds of dollars on a new setup, and to be quite honest, I didn't feel like moving the very heavy furniture out of my office. I found a couple pieces that served as adjustable laptop stands, but they were upwards of $300! No, thank you. I decided to utilize my crafty side to find a cheap alternative...

I visited my favorite craft store and picked up a large rectangle of styrofoam, rubber cement, a simple wooden lap desk ($8), some polka dot stationary paper (about 15 pieces totaling about $5), and a perfectly-sized small wooden stand ($11). I also grabbed some Mod Podge, but alas, it does not work well for me. Ever.

I traced the shape of the wooden stand (this is for my mouse pad), on the back of one piece of paper, and then cut this out and glued to the top and sides of the stand:

Next comes making the keyboard piece beautiful. I wanted this to be uneven polka dots, so I glued my pieces to the front first, then folded around back and covered the empty parts with black construction paper. The bottom doesn't need to look pretty, thank goodness!

The next day at the office, I went in extra-early so as not to be disturbed, and positioned the heavy-duty Styrofoam in front of my monitors. This would serve as my keyboard stand, and it was the perfect ergonomically-correct height.

At home that night, I used my other pieces of polka-dot paper to cover the Styrofoam, using my hot glue gun. Since it had the same pattern, the lines of the different pieces are not discernible. At first, I accented with oversized silver thumbtacks, but they kept popping out, so I just glued my paper to the Styrofoam, and called it done. One thing to note, this was a VERY MESSY project, Styrofoam got into everything! But at least it's pretty. :)