Let IKEA Help You Get Off Your Butt
You know a furniture concept has hit the big time when IKEA has co-opted it. Such is the case with the BEKANT standing desk. The Swedish furniture behemoth is offering the automatically adjustable table in their stores and online starting at $469. The table surface is a rectangle measuring 63 x 31 1/2″. It looks like there will be a corner shaped version as well, though we couldn’t find it on their website. Height is adjustable between 22″ and 48″–the former number being about 8″ below standard table height. We think the ability to sit or stand makes it more likely to be used. It comes in a variety of finishes and has available screens to close it off from invading colleagues. It also carries a ten year warranty on the motor.
There’s not much more to say about the table. It’s designed to be used at offices, so it’s not particularly attractive, thought it’d work as a dining table in a pinch.
But we’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, excessive sitting is a pretty serious health issue. Studies have shown that people who sit less than three hours a day live an extra two years (read more: “Statistics That Will Scare You Sit-Less“). At the end of the line, most of us will probably wish we had those two years and the price–i.e. standing, something we as a species did for millions of years–will have seemed like a bargain.