Working from home or telecommuting is becoming more common every year. However, whether you’re stuck in the office or working from your living room, sitting down for eight to 10 hours a day in front of a computer is bad for your health. A study by the American Cancer Society found that sitting for more than six hours a day made you 19% more likely to die an early death — even if you exercise regularly.

One way to avoid this possible death sentence is to work at a standing desk, but adding one of these to your home office can be expensive. Thankfully, if you’re handy, you can build one yourself with a bit of elbow grease and some lumber. Here are some easy-to-follow steps to help you create a standing desk for your home office.

Image: Simplified Building

Assess Your Home Office Space

First, take a look at your home office space. Are you dedicating an entire room to your work-from-home exploits, or are you relegated to one tiny corner of your living room, trying to take up as little space as possible?

The amount of space you have to work with will determine the designs you can use and the kind of desk you end up choosing. Do you want to stand up all the time, or alternate between standing and sitting throughout the day? Do you want to keep your existing desk for its storage options, or do you want to replace it entirely with a standing desk?

Once you have an idea of the space you’ll have to work with, you can move on to the next step.

Design Your Desk

Step two is arguably the most fun — designing your new desk. You don’t have to be an architect or an engineer to create something functional and aesthetically pleasing.

You’ve got two options, depending on what you decided during step one — a full standing desk, or an adapter you can use to adjust the height of your current one. Both have their pros and cons, but ultimately, your design will depend on what you are looking for.

Once you have decided on a design, move on to step three.

Gather Your Supplies

Before you start cutting and assembling, you want to make sure you have all the supplies you’re going to need to complete the job. No one wants to make a trip to the hardware store mid-project! Collect your lumber or the materials you’re going to use to build your desk, as well as any tools you’ll need.

Don’t skimp when you’re choosing fasteners. It might sound like an unimportant detail, but keep in mind that you’re going to be stacking hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of equipment on these desks. Don’t risk your computer and the rest of your supplies by choosing the cheapest fasteners possible. You’ll end up regretting it, and it could cost you a lot of money in repairs or replacements.

Assemble Your Standing Desk

Once you’ve got everything together, the last thing you need to do is assemble your desk. We can’t give you any specific suggestions here because the details will depend on the design you chose. However, we can offer one piece of advice you should always live by when you’re DIYing anything: measure twice, cut once. Be careful with your measurements so you end up with a safe and stable standing desk that will support your equipment for years to come.

Reap the Health Benefits

Whether you’re working from home or the office, there are undeniable health benefits to standing up more during the day. A standing desk makes that easier. If you don’t have the budget to buy one, DIY is always a great cost-effective option.