From the Floor to a Flippable Desk: My Honest Musso AnyDesk D5 Review

For years, I painted on the floor. It's how I learned, it's how I love to work, surrounded by paper, water, pigment, sitting cross-legged for hours without noticing the time pass. There's something about being low down, close to the paper, that has always felt right for me.

But recently my body asked me to slow down and listen. A knee injury made it painful to sit the way I always have, and for the first time in a long time, I had to stop and ask myself: is there a different way to work, one that's more supportive, more sustainable, one that doesn't ask my body to pay a price for my creativity?

That question led me to "the ugly table."

I found it on the street here in London, one of those quiet neighbourhood gifts, people leaving furniture out for anyone who needs it. It's adjustable, a bit rough around the edges, definitely not photogenic, but it turned out to be exactly what I needed in that moment. It let me raise my work off the floor without losing the intimacy of how I like to paint. Imperfect and free, it did its job.

Around the same time, the team at Musso got in touch and kindly sent me their AnyDesk D5 flippable mobile standing desk in exchange for a reel. I said yes partly out of curiosity, and partly because the timing felt right, I was already rethinking my setup, and here was a desk built around exactly the kind of flexibility I was craving.

I filmed an unboxing for YouTube, if you want to see it arrive and get set up in real time:

A few things stood out once I had it in the studio. The height adjusts anywhere from 68 to 108cm, so I can bring it down low when I want to sit near the paper the way I'm used to, or raise it up when my knee needs me standing instead. The work surface tilts, which I didn't expect to care about but genuinely do, it means I can angle my paper toward me rather than hunching over it. There's a small support bar that catches books or a tablet when the surface is tilted, which has quietly become useful for propping up reference photos while I paint. And because it's mounted on lockable casters, I can wheel it to wherever the light is best that day, then lock it in place and have it stay completely solid, no wobble, even mid-brushstroke.

Standing at the new Musso AnyDesk D5 in my studio.

Some days, the garden bench still wins.

It's a strange thing, going from a table I found abandoned on a London pavement to one that arrived in a box with a manual. But both taught me the same thing: that adapting your workspace isn't a defeat, it's part of taking care of yourself as an artist. The ugly table got me through the hardest part. This one is helping me build something more lasting.

I don't know yet what my studio will look like in a year. Maybe I'll be back on the floor some days, maybe not. But I'm learning to let my body have a say in that, instead of overriding it in the name of the work. If you've ever had to rethink how you create because of an injury, a season of life, or just needing something different, I'd love to hear how you adapted.

This post includes a desk gifted to me by Musso in exchange for content. All thoughts, ugly tables, and knees are entirely my own.