Custom Desk Ideas?

[CostcoSamples]

Guys, I need ideas.  I have a medium size room in my basement that I want to turn into an office/gaming/theater room.  The room is about 14'x19'.  So far my plan is to build a custom desk that covers an entire wall (14 feet wide).  It will be built into the wall, with plenty of cable management, built in speakers, book shelves, room for an extra computer, and a space for home theater stuff (receiver, tv box, etc).   I'll have a pull-down projector screen on the ceiling.  There is plenty of budget to make this really nice.

 

Has anyone seen anything like this before?  I need ideas to make it look good!

[Yok]

In what material do you want to build it? Do you have a set budget in mind? 

 

Pinterest might be a good place to start looking for inspiration, if you search for "gaming desks" you'll see a lot of different designs!

[RustyHamrLickr]

With everything you listed, going custom made is the best answer I think. As far as what you wan to put in it, the closest to this I have seen is this one:

But with 14 feet wide, I think you can easily put everything in it.

[RedWulf]

If you do alot of hardware work, a catch tray is always helpful to hold screws, small parts, screw drivers etc 

I'd say a nice long power strip to charge devices and plug in various things without crawling under the desk. A ups as well

headphone holders,cup holder, the list goes on; pinterest and life hacker are great for these things

[Alice in game]

this build can give some ideas 

Personally, what I do not like of any pc desk is that the desk itself become super tick. I like to slide the harm of my chair under the desk and that would be impossible with those desk, and it also make less space for legs (so crossing you legs can become challenging). So that's a thing to keep in mind, how you like to sit might impact the build.

 

First thing, what it the total size of your desk space ? 14 feet large but how deeep ? It should be at least 1.5 feet for the receivers and other things, My personal desk is 3 feets deep and my screen is one feet from the wall, so I would say that 2 feet deep would allow enough space and the screen could even end up wall mounted. Tha'ts really a matter of how far on your desk you like your screen to be.

 

For the base, I would personally build two storing spaces on both sides of the place you will be sitting. As my desk is 4 feet large (and it's more than plenty), you can for example plan two 5 feet large shelves, as high as you want the desk top to be. In these shelves, you can place speakers, shelf, file cabinet.. anything. After that, i would pile up all the receivers and sound system stuff and build the computer space on top of that, righ next to space for sitting. You can have a custom window on the top, but not the inconvenience of having the computer under your keyboard.

 

On top of the two bookshelf, you put a long board that will be the desk top.

 

On top of the cabinet, you can build a one feet deep bookshelf (depending on how much stuff you have).

 

You should make a quick sketch up drawing to get an idea of what you want to do, it could also help giving better advices or ideas.

[RustyHamrLickr]

If you plan on putting the pc in the desk (not in a case), putting it offset from where you'll seat should allow you to have a thin desk to allow for moreleg space.Given how long it will be, that souldn't be a problem.

As Alice said, making a sketchup is an easy way to plan everything. If you're not skilled with CAD, just make simple rectangles to the dimensions of the desk and your objects, and place them to imagine the space it will take and get a better idea for a layout.

[CostcoSamples]

2 hours ago, Yok said:

In what material do you want to build it? Do you have a set budget in mind? 

 

Pinterest might be a good place to start looking for inspiration, if you search for "gaming desks" you'll see a lot of different designs!

I don't have a set budget, but I suppose under $1k would be nice.  It's all a business write-off anyway.  I'll do the work myself, so that would just be the cost of materials.

 

Plywood with a hardwood veneer is likely the material of choice as I can get it in maple for a good price.  But that is not set in stone, I am open to ideas.

[CostcoSamples]

48 minutes ago, RustyHamrLickr said:

If you plan on putting the pc in the desk (not in a case), putting it offset from where you'll seat should allow you to have a thin desk to allow for moreleg space.Given how long it will be, that souldn't be a problem.

As Alice said, making a sketchup is an easy way to plan everything. If you're not skilled with CAD, just make simple rectangles to the dimensions of the desk and your objects, and place them to imagine the space it will take and get a better idea for a layout.

Yes good idea, I think I will make a sketchup plan.

 

I don't want to put the PC in the desk.  I prefer a thin desk that I can slide my chair under and have plenty of leg room.

 

I'll post a concept sketch once I'm done!

[CostcoSamples]

I did some measuring, the wall is only 12' 6" wide, not 14.  This was previously a small home theatre room.  Now it's an office/kids room, and I'm using an unfinished desk I whipped up in a hurry last fall.  The wall with the projector screen is where I'll build my new desk.  This is what it looks like right now: