Desk /Hi Fi Cabinet

[crispy5449]

Hello All, I'm a complete amatuer and have decided against my better judgement to build myself a fitted desk in my home office.

The room also needs to double as a games room for my X-Box etc, so I have decided to take up a complete wall (under the window so I can enjoy the views).

The desk top will span from wall to wall, with the left half being my actual desk, and under the right half will be a TV, stereo, DVD, XBOX etc.

I'll scan in a rough sketch later so you can get a better idea of my plans, but I'm looking for advice on the following:

Materials - for Desktop, shelving sections, box sections etc
How to plan
Any gotcha's I need to take into consideration.

Thanks

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo crispy

a few practical points
ive just built a large computer desk workstation for my brother

heres food for thought will get back later with more ideas

you will need acsess to the stack for wires

a cable run out of site but easily accsesed

on my brothers i used his wooden cd racks to cover a channel
9mm deep to take the wires from one end to the other
with a 4 inch gap behind for ods and sods
multi sockets [mains] aol box ect

big all

 

[crispy5449]

Thanks Big-All, I was just thinking about how to cable it all up - I was thinking that I would need a reasonably sized cable run mounted under the very back edge of the desk top, with a hole where the screen will be.

In terms of layout / socket position it will be as follows:

Elec Socket on wall | PC, Screen, KB and Mouse | Kneespace | Left Speaker | TV | Right Speaker | DVD, Amp, Xbox | Phone socket

Plus there will be a printer thrown in somewhere as well.

Based on this the cabling will need to run the length of the desktop in both directions (power, phone, speaker cabling), so it will need to be reasonably chunky and easily accessible for when I upgrade my kit!

 

[crispy5449]

OK here are some (very dodgy ) paint images to give you an idea of what I'm looking for / the room I'm working with.

The layout has changed slightly from this as the speakers are now going to be either side of the TV, but you will get the idea.

Also, as you can see the desk will be under a window and in front of a radiator - anything I need to be aware of?

The plan is to put a sofa on the wall opposite the TV / Hifi section to make a games / den type area for evenings and weekends.

 

[big-all]

the trouble with putting the cablerun underneath is when you
want to add remove remove a cable what holds the cables in

obvious points to keep in mind distance of all components
from the computer tower

the heat output from the radiator will effect any timber you use
as its so direct also would your computer stack be near it

have you got enough working hight under the window
needs to be at least 30inches
assuming your chairs got arms

 

[TexMex]

One little tip. When you put the divider in (beside the pc) it is worth NOT taking this right to the back. That way, you can attach things to it without having to pull it all the way out.

For the same purpose I have a light fitting BELOW the worktop, behind the PC. It's amazing how dark it gets under there.