It often goes often overlooked, but the height of your desk might be one of its most important features. If you’re working long hours at your desk, you may significantly benefit from having it adjusted to the right height. In terms of ergonomics, the height of our desks carries just as much importance as the chair we sit on to avoid posture problems.
This is why we’ll talk about how to make desks taller in our post today.
Before we get into our tips on how to make your desk taller, let’s first define the right height for a desk and what the deciding factors are.
What’s the Correct Height for My Desk?
When we sit in a desk chair, the height of our table affects other things as well. That’s why you should decide how tall your desk should be depending on a few different factors such as:
- What type of equipment will be used on the desk,
- How tall you are,
- Your monitor’s dimensions, and
- What kind of tasks you’ll be performing at your desk.
Usually, standard desks can be anywhere between 71 to 80 cm (28-31 inches) tall, and your height matters the most in your decision. If you’re between 170-178 cm (66-70 inches) tall, a desk that’s 71-73 cm (27-28 inches) in height should be a fitting choice. If you’re taller, however, you may want to look for a taller desk.
Another factor is the height of your computer screen, which should be positioned at eye level when sitting down. If you want to find out more about adjusting your desk equipment to your height, you can check out our tips in our recent post on how to avoid neck pain from computer work.
If you’re using pen and paper to write instead of a keyboard, you may benefit from a taller desk as well., A desk that’s a little lower than your elbows should feel more comfortable if you’re mostly going to be performing manual tasks.
If you think that your desk isn’t at a sufficient height according to these factors, here are some tips on how to make your desk taller.
How to Make a Desk Taller
To be clear, you don’t have much choice other than swapping the legs of the desk if you want to raise its height. However, if you’re on a budget, you can D.I.Y. a variety of solutions that can do the trick.
Here are all the ways you can raise the height of your desk, along with our cost-effective D.I.Y solutions and other recommendations.
How to Make Desk Legs Taller?
It doesn’t take much to figure this out, but the best way to make your desk taller is to simply replace the legs with longer ones.
If it’s possible to get replacement legs that can fit on your table, swapping the legs is as simple as using an Allen key or a screwdriver. However, keep in mind that compared to the other fixes we have listed, this is a permanent solution, and you need to swap the legs once more if you want to revert back to the old height, which can damage the desk if done frequently.
However, once you’re at it, you can choose to go all the way and install adjustable legs on your desk, which is also a permanent solution, but you’ll have the option to adjust your desk’s height to your liking at all times, which is pretty neat.
If you want to replace your desk anyway, you can also get an adjustable desk, which is designed to be used in a wide height range, and you can use it as a standing desk as well. Standing desks can have many benefits, which we have explored in one of our previous posts.
How to Make a Computer Desk Taller?
Desktop risers are another way you can extend the height of your desk. Risers come in the form of a board with foldable and adjustable legs that you can prop up on your desktop. Some models even have a separate platform to keep your monitor higher, while others are as simple looking as bed tray tables.
Risers come in different heights, but you should look for an adjustable one. You can’t really go wrong with an adjustable riser as they give you the option to change the height to your liking.
This is a very convenient solution as you can remove the riser off your desk whenever you like and go back to your old desk in seconds. You can take your riser home after work to use it anytime you like.
If you’re on a budget or looking for an easy and quick fix, you can achieve the same result by propping a phone book or a wide wooden plank under your laptop or your monitor. Basically, anything that’s sturdy, level, and wide enough can be used as a D.I.Y. desk riser.
How to Make a Wooden Desk Taller?
Here’s a solution for how to make a short desk tall in the easiest way possible: use wooden planks or pieces of wood under each leg of your desk! If you want to make it sturdier, or if you want to make it considerably taller and want to avoid wobbling, you can also screw them in place.
To do this, just drill holes under each leg of the desk. You can place t-nuts inside the holes and screw the planks in. If you want a more cohesive look, you can even cut the wood pieces to the shape of the desk leg and paint them to the desk’s color, which should make the extensions almost unnoticeable.
You can also place pieces of felt under desk legs. Felt pieces may be soft and less sturdy than pieces of wood, but they prevent scratching and protect your floors. However, you can only achieve a small height difference if you’re planning on using felt.
How to Make a Desk Taller DIY?
Similar to the wooden pieces we just mentioned, using bun feet is another simple and common D.I.Y solution to make desk legs taller.
You may already be familiar with bun feet as they’re very common items. Essentially, they are small extensions that usually have a round shape, and they can also include a screwable top that fits on the bottom of desk or table legs. They usually come in 7-10 cm (3-4 inch) pieces, and they can be installed and removed easily.
If your bun feet have a screwable piece, you can secure them in place by screwing them in under the legs of your desk. If there aren’t any holes on the legs, you can drill a hole under the desk legs.
Adjusting the Height of Your Chair
If all else fails, simply adjusting the height of your chair can temporarily solve your problem. Sure, it may not be pleasant to sit closer to the ground, especially if you’re a taller person with long legs, but it’s better than nothing. In the meantime, you may want to check out our tips on how to make a chair more comfortable to ease your discomfort until you find a permanent fix.
Conclusion
There are several ways you can adjust the height of your desk, including swapping its legs.If you’re not interested in swapping the legs of your current desk, we’ve also covered a variety of other simple solutions that can be applied at home.
These solutions include using wood or felt pieces under the legs of the desk and using bun feet, which serve the same purpose. Additionally, you can use a desktop riser, which are platforms that sit on top of your desk. Depending on the model, desk risers can be height-adjustable as well.
Hopefully, we helped you understand how to raise your desk height, and you’re ready to adjust the height of your table.
You can also permanently solve your problem by getting a height-adjustable desk. These desks can be used as standing desks as well, and you can pick a standing desk chair to go with it, which should make your desk more versatile than ever!
