The owner of today's featured workspace had a peculiar cable-management problem. Where do you tuck the cables away if your desk doesn't have a back to hide the cables behind?Lifehacker reader Co.mons has a really cool desk with a bookshelf and glass display cases in the front. It's a great design except it leaves you without many options for tucking your cables out of sight. Nonetheless, he's done an admirable job hiding cables and keeping the workspace tidy. Read on for additional photos and his workspace notes.
My view from behind the desk ~_^ The monitors are slightly raised (1cm?) off the desktop with simple custom-built shelves.
The shelves are Aspen with a walnut stain and coated in oil-based polyurethane. They're raised on little metal dowels I stole from my TV stand. The dowels have little rubber covers on them. They aren't really for raising the monitors, but rather hiding the mess of cables under them.
The desk pad is a brown Rhinolin I got at Staples for ~$20. It works really well to protect the wood from nicks and scratches, but the color is wearing away where I use my mouse.
Whenever I get the funds, I'm replacing that ugly CRT with an LCD, probably a Dell Studio or Samsung SyncMaster. If possible, I'll replace the Acer too, even though there's nothing wrong with it. Compared to the CRT, the text and details are super sharp on it.
The shelves are Aspen with a walnut stain and coated in oil-based polyurethane. They're raised on little metal dowels I stole from my TV stand. The dowels have little rubber covers on them. They aren't really for raising the monitors, but rather hiding the mess of cables under them.
The desk pad is a brown Rhinolin I got at Staples for ~$20. It works really well to protect the wood from nicks and scratches, but the color is wearing away where I use my mouse.
Whenever I get the funds, I'm replacing that ugly CRT with an LCD, probably a Dell Studio or Samsung SyncMaster. If possible, I'll replace the Acer too, even though there's nothing wrong with it. Compared to the CRT, the text and details are super sharp on it.
Cable ties are your friends. Always. I want a tube to cover this junk up, but nobody sells them around here.
Darn you South Dakota!
The lights are two halogen puck lights I picked up from the local hardware store. They work well to light it up when I'm connecting cables inside the computer and junk like that.
Compared to what I used to have, this cable management thing is eons ahead. I used to have a mess of cables everywhere. I tried a cable divider made from an old credit card (idea from Lifehacker), but I just move the computer too much. The cables constantly came out or just looked messy despite.
I like this setup though. The top looks a lot better in actuality; I was on the ground in this picture, but you don't really see those top cables that make the bundle look "frayed" in real life.
Darn you South Dakota!
The lights are two halogen puck lights I picked up from the local hardware store. They work well to light it up when I'm connecting cables inside the computer and junk like that.
Compared to what I used to have, this cable management thing is eons ahead. I used to have a mess of cables everywhere. I tried a cable divider made from an old credit card (idea from Lifehacker), but I just move the computer too much. The cables constantly came out or just looked messy despite.
I like this setup though. The top looks a lot better in actuality; I was on the ground in this picture, but you don't really see those top cables that make the bundle look "frayed" in real life.
If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool. Include some details about your setup and why it works for you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.
Custom Monitor Stands and Cable Wrangling [Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool]
