Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Custom Wire Management for Multi-Monitor Bliss [Featured Workspace]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/4zUs-LzVQis/custom-wire-management-for-multi+monitor-bliss

Brian Connolly was tired of cramped desks and messy wiring, so he built his own desk and wire management system to have the spacious and tidy spread he desired. Pics, and full-view video, below.

Connolly put a good deal of planning into his setup before he dropped the hardware on it. The desk is constructed of a piece of wood custom-cut to size, floated above the tops of the two file cabinets with rubber spacers to keep the desk surface from sliding and scratching up the cabinets. Brian attached pieces of pine to the backs of the file cabinets to act as sliding tracks for two sheets of peg board. Taking a cue from our pegboard-as-cable-management-solution playbook, Brian mounted all of his loose cables and adapters on the boards to keep them off the ground and out of site. The peg board combined with a wire baker's rack next to his desk ensure that all his wiring and peripherals stay neatly stashed off his floor and desktop.

To get the full picture of how Brian's desk works, check out the video he shot and cut to show it off:



The second monitor to the left is hooked up to an HDMI switch box, which can quickly trade his computer view to his Xbox 360 for taking a well-deserved break now and then. His favorite use of the Griffin Powermate, the large silver knob on his desk, is scrolling quickly through his RSS feeds in Google Reader and for video editing when he's not catching up on his feeds. For more pictures of his build process, check out the links below.

If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell pool. Include some details abou! t your s etup and why it works for you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.