Power Hutch

Tired of whimpy office furniture?

I built a hutch with adjustable shelves for my secondary workstation at home. It is shown here holding about 500lbs of computer equipment.

I now have two of these now, one on each computer desk. It is made from a sheet of plywood cut into three sections, each four feet wide. The back is about 5 feet wide and the sides are about 18" deep. Four 2x4s run vertically. One in each corner and two near the middle. The corner ones reinforce the corners as well as supporting two of the vertical standards. The center ones just support the other two standards. The 2" thickness of the 2x4's provides a gap for cables in the back and for connectors which stick out the back of machines (a typical machine is about the same depth as the shelf itself). The standards/brackets used are the heavy duty double row models (spur/closetmaid), not the wimpy single row models. I have tested the brackets by standing on them. I used the closetmaid ventilated shelf and corresponding brackets. I think it was the 16" deep variety. If I recall correctly the brackets were on the following spacing:

         3" |     24"      | 6" |         24"      | 3"

As I recall, the cost was around $150 each:

• 1 sheet plywood, cut. I think I used 5/8". This was around $20.
• 2 12' sections ventilated shelving, each cut into 2 wide (58") and 1 narrow 28" section (each section is a multiple of 30" minus 1" on each side for clearance). About 2 x $14.
• 20 16" ventilated shelving brackets @ $5" (you may not need quite this many since you may not need all the shelves. The unit pictured did not use all the shelves from two 12' lengths of ventilated shelving so it only needed 14).
• Four 4' standards at around $6 each

If you are not cursed with low flying sealings, then, by all means, reach for the sky. Make sure your desk is strong enough to support the intended weight or make the hutch walls go all the way to the floor surrounding the desk. If it is on top of the desk, it is a good idea to anchor it to the desk so it doesn't slide off the edge. A small piece of wood or metal can be used as a joint plate straddling the seam between hutch and desk.