If you don’t want to spend the extra money that you’d need to spend on a desk, but you’re in desperate need of some space to do your work, you may be wondering whether you can turn your spare tv stand into a desk.
TV stands can come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so different stands are more suited to this purpose than others.
If you are looking to turn a TV stand into a desk, we’d advise that you look for these features in your TV stand:
A Hole for Wires to Run Through
Some TV stands feature holes for wires to run through, or have specialized systems for managing cables that you may find desirable if you’d rather have all of those pesky wires neatly packed away.
A Sturdy Top
If you want to use a TV stand as a desk, one of the most important features of this is that the TV stand is able to support your weight, and the weight of whatever you might be placing on it as well, such as your laptop or your study/work supplies.
Some Tv stands are glass-topped, so leaning on them or placing pressure on them may cause them to break or crack, which is definitely the opposite of what anyone wants. To avoid this, we would advise that you use a TV stand with a wooden or metal material as your desk.
Materials
To go further into the materials – if you have a metal TV stand, you may also want to steer away from using this as your desk. Depending on how well-built it is, it might be more squeaky, as metal TV stands are not designed to be moved around on or leaned on, which can cause different components of the stand to rock back and forth, causing a squeaking noise that some may find annoying – especially on a regular basis.
We’d advise using a wooden TV stand where you can, as this will avoid the squeaking that can come with metal stands.
We’d also advise against using a glass TV stand for the fact that you may leave fingerprints (as well as potentially break it) on its surface, causing it to look dirtier a lot faster than a metal or wooden TV stand might.
Price
If your TV stand cost you a lot of money, you may want to save the stand for your TV. This is because using your TV stand as a desk may lead to scratching and general wear and tear over time that could ruin the aesthetic of your TV stand and prevent you from using it for its originally intended purpose in the future.
The General Look of the TV Stand
You may also want to consider the appearance of your TV stand. If you are using your desk for professional purposes, or if you are particularly proud of your home and regularly entertain guests in the area your desk will be, you may want to decide against using your TV stand for this purpose. This is because TV stands may look out of place as a desk, due to the fact that they are often built to hold large TVs at viewing height, instead of being used for a study space.
Extra Compartments
Your TV stand may include extra compartments to hold devices or remotes. It’s worth taking these extra slots into consideration, as they could either work in your favor and help you to organize your study space, or they might prevent you from getting any work done by hindering you and limiting the space that you have to work with.
If your TV stand has drawers or cupboard compartments, it’s worth thinking about how the mechanics of opening these compartments work; if the cupboards are at your legs and open outwards, you may want to decide against using this TV stand. This is because opening cupboards at knee height can either cause you to continuously bash your knee against the door or handle which can be painful, or force you to completely move your charge out of the way each time you need to get something out of it.
This largely differs from overhead cupboards or cupboards at desk height. IIn these instances, you may want to consider whether these cupboards will hinder the use of your study materials, and whether or not opening them will take up any additional space (to avoid you moving all of your supplies each time you open it).
The positions of any drawers are also worth noting, as you may accidentally open the drawer into your stomach or shut your fingers in it when rummaging around for something.
The Height and Width of the TV Stand
This is a big one to think about, as the height of the TV stand will drastically affect your comfortability when using it as a desk. What height do you find the most comfortable to work at? Before moving your entire house around, grab your desk chair and place it next to your TV stand if possible.
Sit in the chair, mime writing on a sheet of paper, and stretch your legs out. Ask yourself whether you would be able to work well with this as your main study area. This should help you to make your decision.
You should also pay attention to how big the top of your TV stand is – will you have plenty of space to work and place all of the items you will need? Can you stay organized with this space? These factors will affect how well your TV stand will work as a desk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Material Should my TV Stand Be to Use it as a Desk?
If you want to use your TV stand as a desk, it’s definitely worth ensuring that your Tv stand is made from a suitable material. Whilst wood and metal are probably both suitable candidates, we would advise using a wooden TV stand where possible as a metal one may squeak and mark your floor from movement.
What Height Should my TV Stand be if I want to Use it as a Desk?
We’d advise that you try to use a Tv stand with plenty of legroom, at a height that you can comfortably study at. We explain how to make sure that your TV stand is the right height for you in the article above.
Is it Okay to Use a TV Stand as a Desk?
It’s definitely okay to use a TV stand as a desk, provided that you make sure that the material it is made from won’t break if you lean on it, it won’t mark the floor, and it’s comfortable for you to work at. You might also want to think about the way it looks – if there is potential that other people will see your desk, you might want to make sure that it looks smart and fit for purpose.
