Furniture
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DESK
Purpose-built music studio desks often cost thousands of dollars, which was feeling a little steep for me. So, I decided to do my own take on the IKEA desk hack. What’s the IKEA desk hack, you ask? It’s simply the combination of an IKEA countertop, legs and/or some drawers, and whatever add-ons you desire.
Building your desk this way doesn’t require any advanced tools (just a drill), it’s completely customizable (so many counter-top finishes and leg options), and of course, it’s very affordable.
For my desk, I chose the 74” Karlby countertop in walnut, 3 Olov legs (2 legs + 1 support leg in the middle), and an Alex drawer unit in place of legs on the other side for some extra storage.
See the sections below for the add-ons I chose for my setup.
DESK: MIDI Keyboard Tray
I have always wanted an under-desk MIDI keyboard drawer, and adding this on to my IKEA desk build was surprisingly easy!
I picked up these 16” keyboard sliders which worked really well for my keyboard. Before you order, double-check that the height and depth of your MIDI keyboard will fit within the confines of the sliders.
For the tray, you’ll have to get creative. I found some baltic birch shelves for sale in my area and bought one of those, cut it down to size, and painted it black. I also installed a metal support to the back of the tray to prevent it from bending over time under the weight of the keyboard.
I left some extra space on my tray for a small MIDI controller next to my keyboard.
DESK: Risers
To give my desk a little bit of extra height to make up for the MIDI keyboard underneath, I got a set of 2” furniture risers to install in between the Alex drawers and the desk top. These brought the total height of my desk to just over 30”, which felt like the perfect height for me to have my arms level with the desktop without feeling like my legs were cramped underneath.
An added bonus of installing the risers in between the drawers and the desk top is that it provides a small cubby which you can use for storage (I use it to hide back-up drives cables). It’s also the perfect height to tuck an audio interface into!
Speaker Stands
Sturdy, even on carpet. Easy to assemble. Sleek design. Great customer support. What more could you ask for?
I grabbed these speaker stands from Wavebone, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the wood-tone option matched my walnut desk nicely! They also have a full-black option.
I was a bit nervous about having speaker stands on carpet without any carpet anchors, but these are incredibly sturdy. I also love that I can hide cable tails underneath the base.
Use code WBxRachelHardy at checkout for 5% off your order!
Desk Chair
Over the last 10 years, I’ve gone through about 5 chairs in search of one that could minimize back pain after hours of sitting, and the Hinomi H1 Pro is the best chair I’ve owned so far. The chair is highly customizable with 16 adjustable elements including lumbar support, a built-in leg rest, adaptive neck and arm support systems, and a foldable design for easy storage.
Because the arm rests can be fully folded away, this is also a great ergonomic chair option for music professionals.
Use code 9MO5KSWPQF at checkout for $20 off your order!