Featured workspaces cover a wide range of designs, budgets, and occupations. We've featured entire offices, individual offices, home offices, workspaces, work benches, and every possible configuration of places therein. Wherever you get things done, we love to see and hear about it.

The following are the 25 most popular workspaces of 2009. Each featured workspace includes additional photos and sometimes video of the workspace, so click on the name of the workspace to check out additional photos and information about it.

If you want to give your workspace a shot at fame in 2010, make sure to check out our guide to photographing your workspace for fame and fortune and then then post it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell pool!

Before and After: Barren Attic to Programmer's Paradise

One of the most popular workspaces we featured in 2009, Mitch's home office was a makeover to behold. He totally gutted his attic and rebuilt the entire thing as a programmer's paradise.

Floating Monitors and Hidden Peripherals

Lifehacker reader acflynn put together a home office with a lot of functional style. The small shelf beneath his monitors actually houses his network gear.

Office on the Forest's Edge

What can you say about reader Peter Frazier's office? It's awesome. It's built into a cliff with a scenic view. It's got grass growing on the roof!

Building The Ultimate Dorm Desk

When you're a DIYer with a desire to build an epic desk for your dorm room, it helps to have access to good tools and materials. One Lifehacker reader used great gear and forward-looking design to craft an ultimate dorm desk.

The Trap Door Desk

How do you maintain a completely uncluttered workspace, but also keep access to basic tools and peripherals? You build, as Lifehacker reader Roitsch did, a desk with a large storage compartment in the middle.

The Computer Cabinet Office

Lifehacker reader Steve Price had a two-fold problem. His previous desk was short on space for all his monitors and the noise and heat generated by having all his computers under the desk was unpleasant. By taking advantage of an alcove in his computer room he was able to cut down on the heat and noise substantially.

The Well-Planned Dorm Room

Just because you're in college doesn't mean that your room has to be a cluttered mess of schoolwork, piled with unwashed clothes, and overseen by John Belushi posters. Check out today's featured workspace to see a well planned room.

Custom Wire Management for Multi-Monitor Bliss

Brian Connolly was tired of cramped desks and messy wiring, so he built his own desk and wire management system to have the spacious and tidy spread he desired.

The Mac-tacular Lair

Lifehacker reader m2j2 has invested quite a bit of time, creativity, and cold, hard cash into his office setup. The result is an office that is not only visually appealing but packed with enough shiny tech toys to cover all sorts of work and play. His office is set up to handle just about anything he wants to throw at it, short of planning a zombie apocalypse resistance, although don't quote me on that—for all we know, the office is in an abandoned missile silo.

Unidentified Floating Desk

Brett wanted to get his monitor off his desk, but didn't want to waste money on an expensive mounting arm. With the addition of some lumber and LEDs, problem solved!

The Innovative Office

Lifehacker reader and architect Jeremy Levine has a spacious and well lit office that will likely be the envy of cubicle-dweller and telecommuter alike. Jeremy's office features a vaulted ceiling with exposed recycled wood beams and a combines clerestory and transom windows to bring in a huge amount of natural light and create an expansive work environment.

The Hidden Cable Workspace

Lifehacker reader Tomas Carrillo—responsible for sharing the handy chain sinnet method of cable tidying with us—has the kind of neat workspace you'd expect from a guy with that kind of cable wrangling knowledge.

The Triple-Monitor Haven

Combine dark colors, ample desk space, and an arc of viewing pleasure, and you've got a workspace dear to many a geek's heart. Throw in a few toys like an Ambient Orb and a break now and then to play some video games on a nearly wraparound display and the deal is sealed.

Handcrafted and Free Floating: The Wraparound Workspace

One of the best ways to cut down on cable clutter is to get all your equipment and cables right off the floor, so cables can never drape across the floor in the first place. Louis' workspace uses a system of shelves to keep everything in a position where the cords travel the shortest distance possible.

The Quad Monitor Alcove

Lifehacker reader Mandrake has assembled quite a setup for himself. From the custom ergonomic chair to the tilting work surface of the ergonomic desk, the workspace is geared for long term comfort.

The Serene Workspace

Lifehacker reader Schodts has been tweaking and tuning his workspace setup for some time. The current incarnation is a pleasing multi-monitor setup with plenty of space to work. Thanks to a wall mount for the TV and a repurposed glass table top turned monitor shelf the common desktop fixtures like monitor stands, phones, and pencil cups have been lifted off the desk freeing up more space.

Before and After: The Wire Loom Workspace

This featured workspace belongs to Lifehacker reader tehdik. He was pretty happy with this workspace, save for the enormous tangle of wires under his desk. Thanks to its sleek glass surface, he could see the mess not only across the room but every minute he was at his work station. Finally he'd had enough of the mess and ordered some supplies to make short work of it.

The Attic Playground

If we had to guess how Lifehacker reader edgefactor627 came about the idea of having such a pile of goodies in his attic, we'd have to go with him having a strong desire to serve as a beacon of fun for the whole neighborhood, drawn to the signal of condensed awesomeness in the highest room in his house.

The Floating Shelves and Hidden Cables Workspace

Lifehacker reader msweston took some basic building blocks from IKEA and assembled them into a sleek workspace with well manged cables and a tidy layout.

Before and After: The Loft Workstation

Lifehacker reader aloftindenver lives, shockingly enough, in a a loft in Denver. They've been cataloging their adventures in furnishing the loft-largely by creating their own designs and furniture-at their blog A Loft In Denver. While we'd highly recommend reading over the entire blog, especially if you're into loft living and modern design, what really caught our eye is the amazingly sleek workspace they built from scratch.

The Mac Lover's Bedroom

This featured workspace pulls off the office-as-bedroom tact without introducing clutter or bulk into the bedroom. Tucked neatly in the corner and with dual monitors to boot, reader ryopang can get work done in style in his bedroom office

Before and After: The Benefits of Basic Tidying and Cable Management

It doesn't float, spin, flash, or appear to contain glowing alien spore, but today's featured workspace gets the job done in a very practical and tidy way. Lifehacker reader Dani Cela just needed to tame the mess of cables at his feet and tidy up.

White Space and LEDs

This featured workspace is an example of how you don't have to spend a fortune to have a fun and functional workspace with a solid dose of style. Obviously Apple products don't come cheap, so we'll discount the presence of a gorgeous and pricey Apple screen as part of the total cost of the space. The rest of the space is composed of simple and inexpensive items, like $89 IKEA Vika Gruvan desktop and a comically large clothespin for temporally stashing important papers.

Land of the Colorful Cubes

Cubes are the antithesis of individuality. Tiny, colorless combs in the hive of industry, right? Not if you work at The Balcom Agency in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Media Mecca

What do you do when you and your roommate are media-loving computer geeks? Why, turn your mutual living room into a mecca of computing and media magic, of course!

Also, if you hate the gallery format as much as you hate your boss, smash on your mouse or trackpad here.

For the Annoying Culture Vulture Boss:
The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition: OK, you get your boss the American version of The Office and he gets the joke. He's a dolt, just like Michael Scott! Ha ha ha. But by giving your boss the British version of the seminal workplace sitcom and likening him to David Brent, you're sending a much more cutting message: while he may achieve some measure of success in his work and might occasionally amuse his employees, he is, deep down, a sad, contemptible man. $19 [Amazon]

For The Cutting Edge Technologist Boss:
Invitation to Google Wave: For the boss who demands that his employees stay on the web's cutting edge, nothing could be more frustrating than getting an invite to Google Wave. He'll love being privy to Google's exclusive, featured-packed new service, until he finds out after hours of frustrated clicking that he has no idea how to use it. Little does he know, no one does. $0 [Google]

For The Boss Who Thinks It's Your Job To Make His Coffee:
Nescafe Dolce Gusto: If your boss thinks personal coffee assistant is part of your job description, there's no better gift to give her than a Nescafe single-serving Dolce Gusto coffee machine. They will openly appreciate the thoughtful gesture, as well as the machine's undeniably appealing design, and you will quietly appreciate the fact that you have condemned them to drinking miserable Nescafe coffee for the next calendar year. $149 [Nescafe]

For The Materialistic Boss:
Contribute to Charity in His or Her Name: No one can outwardly express dissatisfaction with a donation to charity. So while your boss thanks you for the thoughtful donation in his name, you can take pleasure in knowing that under the surface he is seething with anger that he got a child in a developing country his or her first pair of shoes instead of receiving a new tie for his collection. Any amount [Charity Watch]

For The Boss Who Is Obsessed With Twitter:
Tweet Peek: DO NOT BUY. As much as you might despise your boss, and as fun as it might be to saddle him with a gadget that has the sole purpose of sending Tweets, we really can't justify suggesting spending your money on this ridiculous thing. [TwitterPeak]

For the Boss Who Can't Stand Being Late:
Fossil Palindrome Too Watch: On the surface, you're giving your boss the generous gift of a stylish new designer watch from well-known watchmaker Fossil. In reality, you're ensuring his infinite frustration as he is late yet again for his meeting with head office because he couldn't figure out whether he was supposed to be reading from the "tick" or the "x" on the left or the right dial. $150 [Fossil]

For the Boozehound Boss Who Can't Just Have One:
Pernod Absinthe Kit: One surefire way to get that slave driving boss off your back is to get a few drinks in him, and for that there is no better gift than a Pernod absinthe kit. By inviting the Green Fairy to the office you are sure to minimize productivity while maximizing potential boss embarrassment. $65 [Pernod]

For the Hipster Boss Who Loves Music and Fashion Equally:
Sonic Fabric Necktie: In a way, by giving your boss the Sonic Fabric Necktie, a playable tie recycled from old cassettes, you're giving them two gifts: that of music and that of fashion. But in another way you're giving them no gifts: playback is only possible via a modified tape player and the tie itself is bound to unravel after the first Windsor. $120 [Supermarket]

Ever slight a boss with a gift? Ever get slighted? Share your story in the comments

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

Create Your Own Sun Jar: Lifehacker Edition

Inspired by a tutorial we posted last year, we decided to make our own DIY sun jars. The trendy summer time lighting accessory retails for $30+ but we were able to make ours for around $10 each. The sun jars proved to be our most popular non-computer DIY of the entire year and readers shared their own creations with us.

The First-Timer's Guide to Building a Computer from Scratch

Building your own computer is a great way to get exactly what you want, the way you want it, without being constrained by the limits and high-prices of mass produced computers. We showed you how to build a computer from start to finish and have fun doing it.

Turn a Sharpie into a Liquid Fueled Rocket

What's standing between you and some office mayhem? Certainly not a lack of Sharpie markers and keyboard dusting spray. Combine the two with this fun DIY project and you've got one of the most awesome pieces of office-machinery we've ever featured.

Properly Erase Your Physical Media

You need to be properly erasing your physical media: all the time, every time. Our guide will show you how to get the job done and done right whether you use software to scrub your disks or you send them to the great data mine in the sky with a 21-gun salute.

Turn an Old Laptop into a Wall-Mounted Computer

Why settle for a digital picture frame when, in the same wall space, you could mount an entirely functional computer/slideshow player/TV tuner? One Lifehacker reader turned an old laptop into a super-charged digital frame.

$8 DIY Aluminum Laptop Stand

We've always been keen on DIY laptop stands, but reader Aaron Kravitz—inspired by an attractive $50 stand—went above and beyond, creating one of the most attractive DIY laptop stands we've featured to date.

Build an IKEA NAS On the Cheap

If the Hive Five on best home server software got you excited about setting up a home server but you're not keen on another unsightly PC in your home, check out this DIY IKEA NAS.

Build a DIY Portable Air Conditioner

We've shown you how to make an air conditioner (even for as low as $30), but what if you wanted something you can put in your car and take with you? While it's no substitute for a fully-charged and factory-fresh AC system, it'll keep you cool.

Turn a Bookshelf into a Secret Passage

Who hasn't dreamed of having a mystery-story-style secret passageway? While a trick bookshelf is pretty awesome in itself, this secret passage hides a home office with clever style. One industrious Lifehacker reader and his girlfriend had grown tired of seeing their office from their living space, so they hid it behind a wall of books.

Wire Your House with Ethernet Cable

You've ripped a movie on your laptop, and now want it on that fancy new home theater PC next to your TV. If you've got the time, wiring your house with Cat-5e cable could make transfer times a distant memory.

Rain Gutters as Cable Management Tools

We're all about creative cable management here at Lifehacker, so we were instantly drawn to reader Seandavid010's rain-gutter cable management setup. He was awesome enough to send detailed photos and step by step instructions to help other readers recreate his setup.

Build Your Own DTV Antenna

The lights went out on analog television this year and we were there with a guide to help you build a great DIY antenna for boosting your reception and getting that crisp digital picture you crave.

DIY Laptop Rack Hack Turns Your Monitor into an iMac

Lifehacker reader Matt Lumpkin saw our monitor stand from door stoppers post and thought we might like his laptop rack hack as another space-saving desktop solution for laptop-lovers. He was right.

Build Your Own Pizza Oven

Suppose you were inspired by the cheap DIY home pizza oven—but weren't so sure your home insurance would cover oven modifications. It's time to build a safer, more eye-pleasing oven, and we've got a thorough guide.

Crack a Master Combination Padlock Redux

Two years ago we highlighted how to crack a Master combination padlock for those of you who may have lost the combination to your bulletproof lock; now designer Mark Campos has turned the tried-and-true instructions into an easier-to-follow visual guide.

DIY Invisible Floating Bookshelves

We've covered the invisible floating bookshelf once or twice before, but if you liked the idea but weren't keen on ruining a book in the process, weblog May December Home's got you covered.

DIY Inverted Bookshelf

Instead of storing your books upright on top of the shelf, the inverted bookshelf holds all of your books in place using elastic webbing so you can hang them below the shelf—all the while allowing you to still take them out and put them back on as needed.

Build an Under-the-Cabinet Kitchen PC from an Old Laptop

Inspired by our guide to giving an old laptop new life with cheap or free projects, Lifehacker reader Brian turned his aging Dell laptop into an incredible under-the-cabinet kitchen PC.

Turn Storage Containers into Self Watering Tomato Planters

If you'd like to have delicious home-grown tomatoes but lack a garden to grow them in, you'll definitely want to check out this ingenious and inexpensive self-watering system.

Deter Thieves by Uglifying Your Camera

A few years ago, blogger Jimmie Rodgers's camera was stolen while volunteering in an impoverished Brazilian community, so he did what any sane person would do: He bought a new camera and made it ugly. With his uglified camera, Rodgers was able to snap pictures freely during the rest of his trip without worrying too much that his ostensibly crappy camera would end up stolen.

DIY TV or Monitor Stand from Door Stoppers

Nothing adds space to a desk or home theater setup like a simple monitor or TV stand, and weblog IKEA Hacker details how to build your own stand on-the-cheap with a few inexpensive items from IKEA.

Repurpose Your Analog Television

You don't need to run out and buy a new TV because of the DTV switchover. If you did anyways, Make Magazine has put together quite a guide to giving old TVs new life.

Use Ping-Pong Balls to Create Diffused Party Lights

If you need some cheap and novel ambient lighting for your next party, you're only a box of ping-pong balls and a string of lights away from solving your lighting worries.

Build a Custom-Made BoxeeBox

DeviceGuru blogger Rick Lehrbaum, inspired by the cheaper set-top boxes, made his own higher-powered "BoxeeBox" for the free, open-source media center. He posted all the parts, the how-to details, and lots of pictures.

Build a Sturdy Cardboard Laptop Stand

You already shelled out your hard earned cash for a swanky laptop, why drop more cash on an overpriced laptop stand? Cardboard alone can do the trick, as detailed in this step-by-step tutorial.

Install Snow Leopard on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required

Earlier this year we put together a wildly popular guide to building a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard, start to finish, and then followed it up with an even easier guide to install Snow Leopard on your Hackintosh PC, no hacking required. Computers + DIY is all sorts of geeky fun waiting to happen.

Have a favorite DIY from 2009 that wasn't highlighted here? Sound off in the comments with a link to your favorite project. Want to see more popular DIY guides courtesy of the ghost of Lifehacker past? Check out our huge DIY guide roundup from 2008.

For those familiar with the classic Bic pen's true function—not as a lackluster writing implement but as the ideal barrel for a middle school-era rubber band shooter—Mini Weapons is the Holy Grail: a beautifully illustrated guide for making all manner of miniature munitions, from slingshots and catapults to mines and bazookas, with supplies that can be found in any household, office, or classroom. You can start turning implements of work into instruments of war by picking up John Austin's Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction on Amazon and can find more information at JohnAustinBooks.com.

Supplies:

• Pen - 1
• Pencil - 4
  
• Rubber Band - 7
  
• Tape - 1
• Wooden Skew (ammo) 1+

Step 1:
Using four thin rubber bands, rubber bands, assemble two pairs of unsharpened wooden pencils. Both sets should be identical and tightly secured.

Step 2:
Crisscross the two sets of pencils. Center one of the pencils frames on top of the other towards a selected end. This end will ultimately be the front of your #2 Crossbow. While holding the pairs in place, use one or two rubber bands to fasten the frames into place.

Step 3:
Disassemble the plastic ballpoint pen. You may need a pocketknife or pliers when removing the rear pen cap. The hollowed-out pen housing will be used for your crossbow barrel. Discard all the other pen contents.

Step 4:
Position the pen housing on top of the pencils, as shown, then secure with tape. It is important that the pen housing sits on top of the rubber bands and that the barrel is not obstructed by them.

Step 5:
Slide two wide rubber bands between the tightly secured pencils ends. The pencils should lock the bands into place, but if they don't add an additional thin rubber bands on the ends. The wider will ultimately provide you with your elastic firepower.

Step 6:
Bring both ends of the rubber bands together and attach them using strong tape. As you secure the bands, try to create a small ammunition pouch with the tape. It is possible you may need several pieces of tape to fasten the bands together securely. Pull the assembly back a few times with your fingers to test.

Step 7:
Your #2 Crossbow is now complete! Slide one wooden skewer (used for cooking) or a 3/16 dowel into the pen housing. Gripping the wood arrow and the rubber bands, pull back and aim your crossbow launcher. Release and watch it fly!

Always operate your crossbow safely. Watch out for spectators and never aim the shooter at anyone. Wooden skewers usually have pointed tips, which can make them very dangerous. Styrofoam targets are ideal; but you should never place them in front of a breakable backdrop just in case you miss your target. Do not use the #2 Crossbow if any of its rubber bands show signs of wear.

Start turning implements of work into instruments of war by picking up John Austin's Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction on Amazon. Then, check out JohnAustinBooks.com for printable zombie targets you can use to test out your mini weapons.

As a refresher, Office 2010 will come in Starter, Home and Student, Home and Business, Standard, Professional and Professional Plus flavors. This means that we don't have all the box images just yet and that there's maybe hope for a different color scheme.

[Centrum XP via Neowin]

We'll get to choose between Starter, Home and Student, Home and Business, Standard, Professional and Professional Plus flavors. There'll also be a free version which includes Word, Excel, some ads and only comes with new computers. I think that's more choices than I need, but after seeing the beta, I'll be getting out some darts and preparing to select an edition. [Neowin]

There's a lot new about Office 2010: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook all come with evolved UIs, taking cues from Office 2007's "ribbon" UI by using tabs instead of traditional menus. Word offers the new "backstage view," which replaces the old File menu with a sort of visual representation of it: You'll get a sidebar with live previews, which could come in handy for things like print preview. Besides that, Word (along with PowerPoint and Excel) also adds minor photo and video editing tools like color adjustment, cropping and trimming. PowerPoint brings the new "broadcast slideshow" feature, allowing you to beam a presentation to any connected PC with a one-click interface; and Excel adds some smart enhancements like automatically shading the highest numbers in a given chart, and Sparklines, which are word-sized graphs that can be added inside charts.

There are a boatload of minor changes in Office 2010, and we won't go into them all. The biggest change, and the one that's most exciting to us, has been around for awhile in some form or another: SkyDrive, Microsoft's online storage, now includes what's essentially the Office take on Google Docs. With any version of Office 2010, you get 25GB of storage space. That storage gives you the ability to create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the fly, with simultaneous group editing, just like in Google Docs.

There are two main versions of Office 2010: The full version, the price of which has not yet been announced, and the Starter version, which offers limited-feature (we might say crippled) versions of the three main programs in the suite, and will come free with many new PCs. With either option, you'll get the 25GB of storage space and access to SkyDrive. Office 2010 will be released sometime in the first half of 2010.

Right now, it's just technically available for Technet and MSDN subscribers, but you should be able to get a copy in another way, if you know what we mean. [Microsoft]

Essentially, AWE is a programmable wall with varied displays that can switch between six configurations just by activating a proximity sensor. For example, when the wall is hanging overhead like a ceiling, the act of standing up triggers the sensor and instructs the wall to move out of the way. The project is in it's infancy, but it is easy to see how future applications could lead to a whole range of dynamic, multi-functional furniture that automatically reacts to its environment. [AWE Project via IEEE Spectrum via BotJunkie]

I'm told that a fellow was led into this retro cubicle the day he started work at a new company. No ideas about which company it was and whether they ever brought him back into this decade. [Imgur —Thanks, Matt!]

I always wanted to have a Vespa. *Buys* [Born Rich]

We missed these yesterday in the snoozing promotional videos in the Office page. They are not that bad, actually. Definitely usable. And if that column on the right serves any purpose, I guess they are fine, and I stand corrected. Would you be able to live with these? [Thanks León]

As part of Office 2010 software that will be pre-loaded by the PC manufacturers on their PCs, we're introducing Microsoft Office Starter 2010. Office Starter 2010 is a reduced-functionality, advertising-supported version of Office 2010, available exclusively on new PCs. Office Starter 2010 will provide new PC owners with immediate exposure to the Office 2010 experience on new PCs right out of the box.

We don't know yet how the ads will work. Maybe they won't be obtrusive. But even in theory, this pisses me off. Office has historically been a model of software bloat, and just when we thought they couldn't—because of competition with Google docs—get any heavier, here they are pushing ads.

I really wonder how many people will settle for that version living in their desktop. Would you? [Technet]

That's because this steamer trunk has a secret—it doubles as a portable office worthy of the Titanic. That said, don't let it sink because it costs almost four grand. [Mayfair via Boing Boing]

First, the place you go to with the homeless guy is not a library, and second, the Ruckstuhl Acoustic Panel looks like a better fit for a couple of desks in open office or a home office. This, in fact, looks exactly like my home office, with two iMac 24s facing each other (except the Macs don't run Windows here):

The Ruckstuhl Acoustic Panel is made of 100% wool felt, and comes in various colors. It even comes with a magnet holder accessory, so you can put things on it. [Ruckstuhl via Unplggd]

Warning: Pictures in the gallery contain NSFW illustrations with nudity

According to its creators—the Centennial Society—the pamphlet is really designed to strike back against junk mail companies:

This small, sixteen-page pamphlet is produced to put inside the postage-paid, business-reply envelopes that come with junk mail offers. Every envelope collected is stuffed with the pamphlet and mailed back to its original company.

Whatever. Here's my idea: Let's all follow the instructions and start a new world order. One in which I can go naked outside my office hours too. [Centennial Society via Boing Boing]

[Brando via Foolish Gadgets]

He imagines environments like campuses and airports offering the vehicle, because it lets folks stay productive at a desk, in privacy, without walking. He says by limiting the speed, users should feel a sense of calm at being able to max out the throttle, something we don't always get to do in cars.

Personally, being boxed makes me feel pretty far from calm. Fail. Check out the vid and decide for yourself. [Jurgen Bey via Mocoloco]