🖥️ The Ultimate Streamer Desk

A fully custom-built height-adjustable desk combining home office, streaming, gaming, and conference workflows — all in one unified setup.

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Overview

This desk was designed and built from the ground up with a single goal: the perfect all-in-one workstation for work, streaming, gaming, and video conferencing. Every component is intentional — from the machined steel base to the modular aluminium extrusion monitor mount.

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Gallery

Front	Side

Top	Back

Base & Control Panel

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Features

Height-Adjustable Desk

The desk frame is fully motorized and height-adjustable via integrated buttons, supporting both seated and standing work positions throughout the day.

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Modular Aluminium Extrusion Mount (80×80)

The monitor arm and accessory system is built entirely from 80×80 aluminium extrusions — an open, modular system that can be extended infinitely with whatever you need:

• 3× 32″ Monitors — one center screen flanked by two side screens in a panoramic triple-display configuration
• Face Light — centered above the main screen, providing even, flattering front lighting for video calls and streaming
• Camera Mount — a dedicated arm for the conference/streaming camera, positioned at eye level above the center screen
• 2× LED Softboxes — mounted at the outer side screens for studio-quality diffused lighting
• Microphone — mounted below the center screen for an unobstructed, centered audio pickup position

The aluminium extrusion system means the entire rig is fully customizable and expandable — no drilling, no permanent modifications.

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Smart Control Base (Milled Steel)

The desk base is precision-milled from steel and houses a custom control panel with two smart buttons:

Button	Short Press	Long Press
Left — Work Mode	Sets Mac + all Apple devices to Focus: Work, adjusts lighting for productivity	Activates the full conference / streaming lighting setup
Right — Gaming Mode	Switches to gaming lighting preset	Turns on the coffee machine ☕

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Connectivity Panel

Built directly into the desk base — no cable adapters, no dongles:

4× USB-C Ports and 4× 3.5mm Audio Jacks (headphone + microphone), split across two independent systems:

Side	System
Left	Gaming setup
Right	Work / Mac setup

This allows both systems to coexist without any cable swapping — just reach down and plug in.

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Cable Management

All cables are routed internally through the aluminium extrusion channels and the desk base, keeping the surface completely clean and clutter-free.

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Firmware — ESP32 (ESPHome)

The two desk buttons are driven by an ESP32 Dev Board running ESPHome, integrated into Home Assistant. Each button fires events for both short and long presses; Home Assistant automations then orchestrate lights, Focus modes, and smart home devices in response.

The full configuration lives in esphome/esp32_buttons.yaml.

Event Map

Event	Trigger
esphome.button_work_short	Work button — short press
esphome.button_work_long	Work button — long press (≥ 500 ms)
esphome.button_gaming_short	Gaming button — short press
esphome.button_gaming_long	Gaming button — long press (≥ 500 ms)

Button LED States

Each button has a built-in LED whose state is controlled by Home Assistant via a select entity:

Value	Behaviour
OFF	LED off
ON	LED on solid
BLINK	LED blinks at 500 ms interval

Wiring

ESP32 Dev Board
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│  GPIO 12  ──  Button Work    │  (internal pull-up)
│  GPIO 13  ──  LED Work       │
│  GPIO 14  ──  Button Gaming  │  (internal pull-up)
│  GPIO 15  ──  LED Gaming     │
│  GND      ──  GND (all)      │
└──────────────────────────────┘

Button wiring (per button):
  GPIO pin ──┬── Button ── GND
             └── (pull-up to 3.3 V via firmware)

LED wiring (per LED):
  GPIO pin ── 330 Ω resistor ── LED anode
                                LED cathode ── GND

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macOS Menu Bar App

A lightweight macOS menu bar application (coming soon — see macos-tray-app/) keeps your Mac in sync with the desk:

• Automatically sets the correct Focus mode (Work / Gaming / Off) when a button is pressed
• Shows the current desk mode in the menu bar at a glance
• Allows manual mode override without touching the physical buttons

See macos-tray-app/README.md for the planned architecture and tech stack.

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Bill of Materials

Desk Structure

Qty	Component	Notes
1×	Worktop ~160 × 75 cm, 24 mm (wood, Swiss edge, oiled)	Custom
1×	Motorized desk legs (Desktronic Pro or similar)	Amazon
2×	Cable trunking / raceway	Amazon
1×	Cable guide	Amazon

Aluminium Extrusion System

Qty	Component	Notes
1×	Alu profile 80×80, 625 mm (threaded both ends)	Custom cut
2×	Alu profile 80×40, 320 mm (no threads)	Custom cut
1×	Alu profile 80×40, 673 mm (threaded both ends)	Custom cut
3×	WESA monitor mount
1×	T-Plate 80×160
2×	TC4 40×80 connector

CNC Plate & Hardware

Qty	Component	Notes
1×	Custom CNC plate (powder-coated, bespoke)	Custom fabrication
—	M8×45 screws, V2A black	Amazon
8×	Screws	eBay
—	Threaded inserts	eBay

Electronics (CNC Plate)

Qty	Component	Notes
4×	USB-C 3.1 panel connector	Amazon
4×	3.5 mm jack socket	Amazon
2×	Tactile push buttons (Work / Gaming)
1×	ESP32 Dev Board
—	Wiring, heat shrink, solder

Cables & Connections

Qty	Component	Notes
1×	Coiled USB-C cable	Amazon
2×	Audio patch cable	Amazon

Audio

Qty	Component	Notes
1×	GoXLR Mini audio interface	Amazon
1×	XLR cable	Amazon
1×	Microphone boom arm	Amazon
1×	t.bone EM 800 condenser microphone	Thomann

Lighting

Qty	Component	Notes
2×	Neewer NL660 LED panel (softbox)	Amazon
2×	Light stand / tripod	Amazon

Peripherals

Qty	Component	Notes
1×	Desk mat / mousepad	Amazon
1×	Keychron K5 Pro (Brown switches)	Amazon
1×	Logitech G502 gaming mouse	Amazon
1×	Apple Magic Mouse	Amazon
1×	Camera mount	Self-designed & 3D printed

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Philosophy

Most desks are built for one purpose. This one was built to switch between all of them instantly — a single button press changes the lighting, focuses your devices, and signals to everyone (and everything) what mode you're in.

The aluminium extrusion approach keeps the system open-ended: as technology changes, the desk changes with it.

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Files & Models

The CNC milling templates and 3D models for the steel base plate are available on Ko-Fi:

ko-fi.com/patrickstigler

This includes:

• CNC milling template for the steel base plate
• 3D models for the custom parts

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License

This project is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – ShareAlike 4.0 International).

You are free to:

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

• Attribution — You must give appropriate credit and link back to this project
• NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes or sell it
• ShareAlike — If you remix or adapt the material, you must distribute it under the same license