Back in September, a photo of Gretchen Goldman, the research director at the Center for Science and Democracy, went viral. It captured her profile view while sitting for an interview with CNN, and the behind-the-camera shot showed a much different picture from what viewers saw on TV. Goldman sat on a dining room chair in a room sprinkled with kids’ toys, her laptop propped up on a matching chair itself on top of a coffee table. The photo epitomized how, when it comes to working from home, we’re all just trying our best.
A new solution from Amsterdam-based product design studio Waarmakers is meant to make your work-from-home space more flexible, comfortable, and, notably, custom-built for you. It’s called Ingrid, and it’s a built-to-measure seat and standing desk.
You can get the desk three ways. There’s a free, open-source blueprint for handy do-it-yourselfers with access to a laser cutter. Or you can provide Waarmakers with your elbow height seated and standing up, along with the height of your table, and they’ll precut pieces you assemble for about $200. Or you can buy Ingrid completely assembled to your custom specifications and ready for 9 to 5 for about $530.
I know this looks like an overpriced milk crate, but there’s more than meets the eye. Because it’s custom-built for your height and surroundings, it’s likely more ergonomical than your average work-from-home setup (see Gretchen Goldman’s example above). And sure, that $1,200 vintage desk might be the envy of your most design-savvy friends, but it can still give you carpal tunnel if you’ve commandeered one of your dining chairs to use it.
Remote work has become the new reality for office workers around the world. For those who hadn’t expected to be a remote worker for the long haul, this new way of working has been shown to test productivity, cause serious burnout, and, depending on what “office” solution you’ve MacGyvered, even physically hurt.