02.24.2016

0800

Materials:

• One 2″ x 4″ lumber piece, long enough to reach across the width of the table
• Sandpaper
• Shoelace

Tools:

• Mitre saw
• Drill and drill bits

When I sit at my desk, I tend to prefer to rest my feet on something. Part of the reason for this is because of the height of my seat (I sit on my hope chest). If I don’t rest my feet on something, then my hips are higher than my knees and it’s uncomfortable for me. I used to use my art supplies box as a foot rest, but it became an extra piece of furniture that I had to constantly move when I swept.

I needed a solution that would solve this issue but not sit directly on the floor. I went to a lumber yard to look for a scrap 2×4 piece of wood, long enough to fit the width of my desk. I took the 2×4 piece of wood, trimmed it to the appropriate length, drilled two holes on each end and strapped it onto the frame of my desk with extra rope I had saved. This way, the surface area isn’t too wide, which means it wouldn’t gather too much dust, and it is still off of the floor.

I had tested it out with double sided carpet tape, but the glue was not as reliable. In any situation when pressure or movement is applied to the object, the likelihood, is that the object will not stay in place over time.  I could have used another piece of 2×4 in order to make the foot rest surface wider, but I didn’t want the foot rest wide enough so that it would gather more dust on its own. The option of pushing my foot rest up against the front legs was also an option, but I needed the 2×4 to be directly under the location of where my knees would rest whist in a seated position, in order for the my body to be comfortable.

For those of you who may have this issue, I hope this solution helps. So happy drilling and keep a lookout for 2×4 pieces of wood at scrap yard locations, or at your local lumber mill.