I have been thinking about having a standing desk for a while.

At work, I am sit on a mesh chair and change my position frequently. I don’t write much, mostly read on the computer screen and work on MS Excel.

NY times posted an article about standing while worrying. It suggests that the body secretes less Lipoprotein Lipase (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/stand-up-while-you-read-this/) while sitting thereby reducing metabolism. I want to compensate for inactivity since I have stopped riding my bicycle to work for 8 months.

Talking with the folks at Obesity Panaecia, I discovered this other guy who created a standing desk for his iPad. See post here: http://dailymonthly.com/?p=386

I have converted my desk at home to a standing desk. I will be testing this out extensively over the next few weeks. In fact, I am writing this while standing. I will also be looking for more studies about standing while working over the next few weeks while standing at my new desk.

Before

After

Electronics have been moved from the shelf under the desk to a custom made unfinished wooden bench.

Negatives: My feet hurt a little after 15 mins of standing but I am getting used to it real quick

Positives: I have even more room in my already minimalist bedroom and gained a chair in my sparse living room. The large desk area was a collector of clutter. That is not a problem any more.

Update: links (thanks to Travis Saunders)

• Can sitting too long kill you?
• Too much TV reduces the benefit of physical activity
• Paper: Study showing sitting leads to increased health risk
• Paper: Role of Low Energy Expenditure and Sitting in Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease

I have a TV stand, a futon couch, a chair & ottoman, one large book shelf, two small book shelves, a dining table and a dresser. Oh, and a platform bed.

The TV stand will be given to a friend for free since my new apartment has a built-in cabinet in the living room. I had to buy some furniture (two Bekvam kitchen carts as counter tops and a Gorm basic shelving unit for the microwave) for basic cooking preparations since my new kitchen comes with nothing more than a spice cabinet.

I just finished dismantling the platform bed and started to wonder if a bed frame is needed at all. The more I thought about it the more it became apparent that It is purely a social pattern to use one. We people are conditioned to use one since we were kids. Moreover, people like to use a spring box with the mattress and I don’t.

I use a futon mattress resting on slats. The bed will be positioned in the corner of my new bedroom with walls on two adjoining sides.

Objective Reasoning on not owning a bed frame:

• The futon mattress on the hardwood floor will be more comfortable than the mattress on slats.
• I will have one less furniture to dust and clean.
• My dog likes to jump up on the bed. She is a large greyhound. Her jumping will not make the headboard and sides scratch the wall.
• I will lose under-the-bed-storage
• I will not be able to use a night stand

• It is a college look portraying an immature living condition (people actually told me this when I asked them)

• I will be more comfortable
• I will own one less furniture
• I will not need a night stand. The floor is my night stand.
• I wont get my walls scratched
• If I need under-bed storage, I probably have too much stuff
• If people judge my personality by my lack of bed-frame, they are probably not good friends

Is it worth it?

Can I make it stylish like the zen masters?

Can it be executed in a mature way?

Let me know on twitter @abhishek_m