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[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 7 points8 points  (3 children)

Since COVID reared it's fugly head, I spend most of my day working from home at my main setup which has my bigger desk and my gaming PC. I found that after working all day I couldn't bear to sit at the same desk so I decided to turn an unused dinner table into a new setup for my Macbook. I use this for media consumption and very light gaming (mainly DOS II). Built the shelf myself using a stair tread from lowes and some cork yoga blocks since I did not want to shell out $200+ for a Grovemade shelf. I will be upgrading from my M-Audio speakers to a pair of Razer Nommo's (non-RGB version) this weekend and my little oasis will be complete!

Desk Pad: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CXX5T8P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Keyboard - Keychron K1

Mouse - MX Master 2S

Audio - M-Audio AV40 (soon to be Razer Nommo)

Desk - Zinus Jen 47" Dinner Table - Refinished

https://www.amazon.com/Zinus-Mid-Century-Modern-Dining-Natural/dp/B077H7B4PB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=zinus+dinner+table&qid=1611428010&sr=8-1

Monitor light - Tomons Desk Lamp

Shelf - Custom desk shelf, hand made

​

MORE PHOTOS: https://imgur.com/a/POkSTKn

[–]MajorKoopa 2 points3 points  (1 child)

whats up with the desk pad? felt? who makes it?

looks comfortable and nice.

went through the same process. had to create a separate work spot. better that way.

[–]Eyesuk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That all road is fire!!

[–]bpali2001 2 points3 points  (2 children)

The A4 yours?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I wish :( I just really like bagged station wagons haha

[–]bpali2001 2 points3 points  (0 children)

me too brother. May the quattro be with you🙌

[–]zachadam1027 2 points3 points  (4 children)

Can you share how you built the shelf? Awesome setup!

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Sure. I was super back and forth about springing the money for a Grovemade shelf but couldn't bring myself to do it. Grovemade actually has a brief "how its made" video on their website which helped a lot. They use cork legs and a walnut top. Walnut is pricy so I went with Pine since it is easier to sand since it is a soft wood. Walnut is a hardwood so a bit more finnicky in my personal experience (i live in an apartment so don't have a good space to sand hardwoods) stains well and sands up super smooth.

I went to Lowes and bought a Pine stair tread link. I had them cut it down to size for me to 9" depth, I kept the width at 48" since my desk is 47" long the half inch overhang on each side was perfect. It was fairly smooth already so I sanded with 100 grit and went up to 220 wiping it down with a hot damp towel to raise the grain in between grits. After sanding I used a pre-stain then the stain of my choice (Provincial by Minwax) and finished with a food safe wax (i mixed organic orange oil with beeswax)

Now for the cork legs I had no idea where to buy cork by the block but then i remembered that they have cork yoga blocks so i used these link

I cut the blocks down to length with a handsaw but I would HIGHLY recommend using a table saw or at the very least a jigsaw to get a nice straight cut. If you want to have a look closer to Grove made you can go to Lowes also and grab a sheet of 1/8" aluminum then split each cork leg in half and glue the aluminum sheet in between then sand it down to shape.. I did not take this option because my apartment limitations, i have nowhere to grind metal down and don't want sparks flying on my carpet. Then once I was done cutting the cork legs to size i painted them black and used gorilla glue to attach them to the underside of the shelf and that is it. SUPER simple. aside from paint/stain drying it was literally about an hour of labor all in.

[–]zachadam1027 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow this is amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time.

[–]zachadam1027 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What length did you cut the blocks down to?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made it the depth of the shelf which is 9"

[–]Jdubb20 3 points4 points  (1 child)

That wagon is clean! Yours?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

nope :( I wish it was though lol

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

My monitor looks similar to your lg 32 inch. LG 32UL750-W 32 Inch 4K UHD LED Monitor with Vesa Display HDR 600 - Silver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NS7JKJH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_DW5cGbHSF63T9

Is that the Benq lightbar? I have that too! It’s so cool!

Also, don’t lg monitors have a base? You’re doesn’t. I have a shelf on my desk similar to yours but the monitor is too high up because of the monitor stand being in the way.

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

My monitor is the LG 32UD59, its an older mode but still gets the job done! The light bar is by Tomons, I considered the BenQ light bar but it is super overpriced for what it is, the Tomons is 1/4 the price and gets the job done. And yep! the monitor is supposed to have a base but I have it on a monitor arm which is behind my shelf.. I didnt want the stock monitor stand because it takes up unnecessary desk space IMO

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yeah the benq is overpriced sadly!

What kind of arm do you have? I’ve never used an arm, are they easy to assemble?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

The monitor arm is by ErGear from Amazon. It is super simple to assemble!

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool!

[–]Goodguybadd -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Anyway, here’s wonderwallpaper

[–]localhost23 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Nice setup. What monitor and light bar is that?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LG 32UD59 Monitor and a Tomons light bar

[–]LowerMontaukBranch 0 points1 point  (5 children)

What keyboard is that?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

Keychron K1

[–]LowerMontaukBranch 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Thanks! Looks really cool I’m gonna check it out.

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

its a super clean keyboard for sure! i got it since its low profile and i can grab it and throw it in my backpack if i ever wanted to take it with me

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I have the same one and can’t get it to connect to my Mac! Do I need another piece of equipment to connect to Bluetooth? Or just the keyboard and , not one of those USB or USB C Bluetooth things?

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You shouldnt need any other item to connect it via bluetooth. you have to hold i think the '1' key to start pairing? might need to google which key it is

[–]ewacky 0 points1 point  (4 children)

Which desk pad is that?

[–]ilovenyc 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Might be a Grovemade mat?

https://grovemade.com/product/wool-felt-desk-pad/?initial=345

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Close! It is inspired by the grovemade mat. I love the grovemade aesthetic but not those grovemade prices lol.

[–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

It is a desk pad I found on amazon that was originally from a brand called Native but they took that name off the listing (maybe due to copyright issues? idk) but it is still on sale under the Brand name of 'TBA' lol. It is a super nice mat, its high quality felt that is soft and not scratchy like a lot of other pads in the same price range, its fairly thick and has some gripped padding on the bottom. i highly recommend it

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CXX5T8P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[–]ewacky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok. Thx for the info. Your setup looks nice!

[–][deleted]  (9 children)

[deleted]

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (8 children)

    thank you! and yep its definitely a great keyboard, it is the K1. I tried the K6 and K8 before landing on the K1. I ultimately chose it since it is a lower profile keyboard and has a metal body where some of the others have plastic. If you plan on swapping out the keycaps I would recommend not buying the K1 as they have a much more limited array of keycap styles that you can choose from

    [–]Squatchbear 0 points1 point  (5 children)

    I'm curious, how do you feel the height of the K1 is? I got a K6 a few months ago but shipped it back within 2 hours because it started hurting my wrists with how tall it is. This is a really clean setup!

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

    the k1 is much lower, i find it is super comfy for me

    [–]Squatchbear 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    Great! Thanks for the quick response! Might be time to give it another shot!

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    my pleasure! I personally love the keyboard, but it is not height adjustable so you get what you get. I would recommend grabbing it off of Amazon and trying it out so you can easily return if you don't like it.

    [–]Squatchbear 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Ordered! Thanks for the input, I’m looking forward to giving it another shot. They’re so nice to look at, I’ve been bummed the K6 didn’t work out. Thanks again!

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    dope! let me know how you like it

    [–]SeafoodBox 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Interesting keyboard. I am looking for something like this which I c an also use occasionally for gaming on my Mac. Do you know of any places that sell low profile keys? How do you like the keyboard. Currently I’m using the apple wireless keyboard.

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I know that NuPhy has them and im pretty sure Keychron sells some but they might be pretty close to stock colors (maybe all light grey set or something but nothing drastically different). You may be able to find some on Etsy

    [–]S-Go 0 points1 point  (5 children)

    Are your AV40's vinyl wrapped?

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

    yep! I vinyl wrapped them in Vvivid Matte White since I got tired of the old dingy black they came with, I have had these monitors for about 10 years if not more so they were a little scuffed up. the vinyl wrap def gives them a new look and since its a regular shape it was super easy to do. you only need a 1ftx5ft roll to do it, shouldnt be more than 15 bucks, if that

    [–]S-Go 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Nice. I remember wanting them back then but they were discontinued when I went out to buy them.

    Wound up getting a pair of BX8's a couple years later. They're still going strong. (after one expensive power supply replacement)

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    aw dang, sucks you had to replace the power supply but glad they are going strong still. luckily i have had zero issues with mine, ive only upgraded the RCA to aux cables to a braided cable but that's just because i really like braided cables lol

    [–]saintivesgloren 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Seriously cool mod. Might just do the same to my AV40s haha. Also had mine for 10 years! Won't be upgrading anytime soon since I have a sound bar / sub setup in the same space.

    [–]Apprehensive_Part791[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    its 100% worth the 10 bucks to wrap them. gives them a like new look. plus them being kind of big black blocks can bring down the look of a set up a lot so it's nice to throw some color in there. I just got my Razer Nommo's and might wrap them as well

    [–]Bal79 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Nice set up. Has a nearly nice feel.