Say Goodbye To Neck Pain With This Dollar Tree Monitor DIY Project

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Spending several hours per day sitting in front of a computer monitor may not sound like a lot of wear and tear on your body, but it doesn't take much strain to cause what healthcare professionals refer to as tech neck. Needing to look down or lean forward to see a screen that's placed too low is a leading cause of chronic neck and shoulder pain, but one of the quickest fixes is to simply raise your monitor up a few inches.

Not everyone has hundreds of dollars to throw at a brand-new desk or monitor mounting system, but one savvy YouTuber figured out a cost-effective DIY solution. Bertina Inspires put together a complete monitor/TV stand for only $6.25, using a hanging shelf, a collection of tumbling blocks, and two small wooden crates, all of which were purchased at Dollar Tree.

We priced all the hardware out ourselves on Dollar Tree's site, and it appears Bertina's $6.25 claim is valid, but doesn't account for shipping or taxes. It also doesn't look like the creator accounted for the cost of wood glue, which added another $4 or so to our total. If you want to paint your riser, you'll have to add that cost to your project budget, too.

If you've been looking for budget-friendly gifts for the remote workers in your life, this homegrown riser is an easy and affordable undertaking. Are you ready to make a monitor or laptop booster seat all your own? Here are the products and tools you'll need: 

• 1 x hanging shelf
• 2 x small wooden crates
• A box of tumbling blocks
• Wood glue
• Measuring tape or ruler

And here's a step-by-step guide for putting the DIY monitor stand together:

1. Measure the distance between both monitor feet to figure out how wide the stand should be.
2. Lay the shelf down on a flat surface, then start placing tumbling blocks horizontally around the perimeter of the shelf until you've built out enough width and depth to accommodate your monitor's feet.
3. Use the wood glue to affix the tumbler blocks to the shelf, as well as to each other.
4. Glue the small wooden crates (upright) to both ends of your expanded shelf.
5. Paint if you feel like it. Otherwise, you're done.

Assembling a DIY monitor riser for less than $12 (sans paint) is a win in our book. It pays to be crafty with these types of hardware modifications, because investing in the "real thing" could set you back $20 or more — especially if you have a large monitor to contend with. Gadgets that make working from home easier are more abundant and popular than ever before, but a comfy office chair can only do so much for a cramped neck. Fortunately, all it takes is a little height boost for your computer to help say goodbye to neck pain. 

And for those of us primarily working with a laptop, the finished riser should have enough space underneath to store an external keyboard or portable charger — two of the best laptop accessories for productivity. Even a little bit of extra room can quickly turn into valuable desk real estate, helping you keep your workspace cleaner and more tidy. Better yet, a little added structure can encourage healthier posture habits, making long workdays more manageable.