I have been using a laptop on a tray on my lap for the past 13 years, after my left leg was damaged by a DVT. (The leg no longer felt comfortable when I was sitting on my old office chair at my old desk.)
My new Macbook is 0.5 kg heavier than the Windows laptop that it has replaced and to my surprise that small extra weight is noticeable and does not feel great resting on my bad leg.
I decided that I would try to make a desk arrangement that I can work with!
Something occurred to me a few days ago... I was fed up of looking at a pile of old boxes in the corner of my lounge and I had a broken drop-leaf table that looked like it was a good size to fit in there between the chimney breast and the wall. That was confirmed when I took a few measurements, so I set about making a desk from the table this afternoon.
When I tried the table in the space I quickly realised that I had not allowed for the thickness of two pieces of skirting board, but the table
did fit once I removed the piece at the side of the chimney breast.
I removed the rear leaf and used its hinges to secure the rest of the table to the wall. (I did not want any chance of the rest of the desk/table tilting towards me and dumping the laptop on the floor!)
I removed the redundant hinged wooden prop from the rear of the desk/table, turned it vertically through 90 degrees and used its hinges to attach it to the base to make a frame for a sloping footrest. That will be what I use to (hopefully!) elevate my bad leg enough to take the pressure off the damaged vein. I had a spare chipboard shelf from an old bookcase and attached that to the frame to complete the footrest.
The second leaf of the old table forms the top of the new desk. I decided that I would be most comfortable using the laptop with its keyboard sloping slightly down towards me so I removed the second drop-leaf prop and experimented with different desktop angles using the prop loose, as shown in the photo below. After that I separated the prop frame into its four pieces of timber and will screw one or two of those to the wall(s) tomorrow for the desktop to rest on.
I cut a surplus length from the mat under my turbo trainer and will use that as a nonslip surface for the laptop to rest on.
The room looks a lot better without the clutter in the corner. I really hope that my leg will be able to cope with me sat at this desk for hours at a time. I will initially sit on a piano stool. If I need to sit on something more comfortable then I will need to move my TV and hifi speakers back to make more space for a comfy chair. I could gain about 75 cm by doing that.
It wasn't bike fettling, but I aim to be typing my CycleChat waffles and planning my bike routes sat at that desk so I should get away with this report!
