How I Made a Computer Monitor Stand for Free

Do you bend your neck to look down at your computer monitor? If so, you are unnecessarily straining your neck muscles. You could buy a fancy monitor stand to raise it to the proper height. Or you can be cheap like me and make one for free.

If you aren't concerned about ergonomics, you should be. Think about how much stress you put on your neck on a daily basis bending down to look at your phone. And if you use a laptop computer, like I do, you are hunching then too. My neck and shoulders were beginning to bother me, so I knew I wanted to hook up my laptop to the external monitor we had for the desktop. The problem was it was still too low.

According to SpineUniverse.com

When seated comfortably, the user's eyes should be in line with a point on the screen about 2-3 inches below the top of the monitor casing.

The biggest problem to a monitor stand, of course, is my inner Frugalista. In the past I have used an inverted plastic letter inbox tray like this one on Amazon (affiliate link). But, I wanted something a little nicer this time around.

In my scrap wood pile I found the perfect pieces to use that were leftover from the TV stand to bookshelf remodel. All I needed were wood screws and paint and I was in business.

The other reason I liked using the letter tray, was I could slide papers underneath that I accessed frequently but didn't want cluttering up my desk. I could have grabbed the tape measure to verify it was at least 12 inches wide, but my son's drawing pad was nearby.

I never did measure the wood, but the sides are about 3 inches high and the two top boards are about 13" wide by 11" deep when put together. You don't need yours that big. I was lazy and didn't want to cut the wood.

If your wood does not have lovely little holes already in it like mine, you will want to pre-drill the top board before screwing the top and sides together.