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So check me out I've got a new job within the same company and I've submitted a formal request to work flexibly from home as I'm sick of the wishy washy no guidance or definites. I think it'll be highly likely that it gets granted in light of my personal circumstances and the fact that the role is non student facing, literally staring at a computer all day. So therefore we'll be buying a new home together and one of the bedrooms will need to become a home office.
I'd like to see some decor and setup inspiration please!? (Not temporary I'm hiding in a garage, proper home office room setups)
If someone can tell me the easiest way to host pics so I can share them here, I'll show you my tiny space
I could show you my vast desk set up in what is officially the dining room that I share only with our two leopard geckos but as above bored of loading photos and failing.
Plus its already been done, so try the search function....
You want to see a camping desk with various monitors and laptops balanced on boxes and such like in a prefab garage I share with an engine hoist and a zwift set up ?
Desk cost me £90 (but not very recently)
Upload photo, copy “hot link for forum”, paste into post
Edit
LOL, that doesn’t seem to have uploaded, next!!!!
Yeahh I already spent time searching and even used google to site search but didn't find anything with any decent photos. But possibly searching for 'home office' was too vague?!
I like the print and the plant!
Hehe currently on day 3 of the decoration of my new (to me) office room in the roof.
Had a pretty important meeting last week with about 10 others and I realised I’m the only one that was in their bedroom. Not very pro! This has spurred me into action.
It really needs plastering but the whole lot is due to be ripped out later in the year so I’m bodging it with lining paper and offensive amounts of caulk.
I’ll share the results if I get it done before we are all back in the real office 😂😂
Get a proper monitor if you don't have one already. I worked for ages just off a laptop. It was shite.
Desk lower pulls out for working, tucked away when not in use.
Shelves wot I made myself. Sofa for lounging about (also doubles as a bed for guests). Cat bed.
My eldest is studying from home and spending hours in his chair. We got him a reconditioned’steelcase’ chair after a thread on here.
It’s made such a difference, no bad back even after ten hours or so.
I've been meaning to post this thread for months. I'll take a pic next time I'm up.
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Looking forward to it. I've got a good friend from Spain and we communicate via that medium.
I'm thinking having a sofa in the same room for guests may be a good idea for moments away from the desk actually. Currently running one screen and laptop screen but thinking I may sort an ultrawide screen n just run the one.
Shelf still needs to go up and ceiling painting - pic from last summer
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50150998632_d3e1bef02a_5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50150998632_d3e1bef02a_5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jpEYEd ]2020-07-25_11-14-38[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85252658@N05/ ]davetheblade[/url], on Flickr
I'll second the chair comment. After months sitting at the kitchen table with matching chair I've just started using a proper chair similar to my one at the office. My back, legs and neck are grateful.
Good god no, it's a shit tip.
Been doing it for about 12 years now though, recommend getting a nice big desk and using mouse, monitor and keyboard rather than just laptop.
I think STR is winning thus far.
But yes. Get a good chair. It's the 'bed' argument again, I'm sitting here for like a third of my life. I thought I had a good one but it was like fifteen years old, it's astonishing how many aches and pains went away when I replaced it.
My setup is near identical to ashat's with a crucial (to my wellbeing) difference - it looks out of a huge loft window to a lovely far reaching view. Not sure what your options are OP but loft rooms can be a great space for an office/spare bedroom/kids den...
Ooooooo pretty screens, they look a bit high up though but I guess he or she could be pretty tall and it could be the angle. Will definitely be going for a separate mouse and keyboard as already do.
So far liking the idea of a reclaimed wood desk in a darker finish and maybe a deep shade of blue as a wall either behind the screens or behind me.
I'm sure we have people on here who 'make stuff out of wood' judging by the 'what you last made' thread. Maybe I'll trawl through and see if anybody does it for a living.
@jolmes Your "friend" says it's an office, that look suspiciously like a fancy gaming rig! 😃
@GolfChick kayak23 is your man if you're close to the middle of the country. His Flickr feed is a thing of aspiration for my wood-butchery skills.
No photos, but I do have some recommendations... Get a good, comfortable chair that makes you sit properly and make sure the desk you get works with it to give you a comfortable position for working.
Ikea does various sizes of height adjustable desks and they are reasonably cheap and good if you fancy spending part of the day standing.
If you are doing meetings and your office space is not in direct light, consider buying a diffuse lamp for in front of you that you can use to put light on your face.
Also if you are doing lots of videosamtal, consider getting a bunch of musical instruments and pretentious books for the bookshelf behind you. playing/reading them is not a priority, but making sure that people can see that you have a dozen guitars and the collected works of Stephen King and Dan Brown is essential.
So therefore we’ll be buying a new home together and one of the bedrooms will need to become a home office.
Handy when working from home to be able to see comings/goings outside.
My 'office' is on our mezzanine, and gives me a view of the drive, gates and road outside - plus the Cheviots about 30 miles in the distance 🙂
I’m sure we have people on here who ‘make stuff out of wood’ judging by the ‘what you last made’ thread. Maybe I’ll trawl through and see if anybody does it for a living.
Go look at Sussex timber and have a peek at Matt estlea’s YouTube channel..
(Or don’t, if you don’t want to spend an obscene amount of money on a live edged wooden desktop - but they look awesome )
@Sandwich - he is an avid gamer yes and also a very decent photographer.
Some suggestions:
L-shaped desk (with no support in the inner angle bit to hit your knees on), means one side for the PC and the other you can swivel easily to for writing notes etc.
No filing cabinet under the desk (again to avoid hitting your knees on :p ) keep it to the side of the desk if you have one
You can never have enough screen estate (either via multiple monitors or an ultra-wide, or better yet multiple ultra-wides :p )
Have a proper mouse and keyboard is using a laptop (get a port replicator for it)
Get a decent chair (a Herman Miller Aeron or Embody if you can afford it or a decent gaming/office chair if you can't - you generally get what you pay for though).
Some nice set ups about.
I'm tucked away upstairs, all the furniture is second hand and a few years old. Have to share it with Abigales bikes that arnt allowed to stored with the real ones in the garage 😉
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I prefer working in the office, cant wait to get back in
I've been WFH for 12 months now - we had a one day "business continuity" test where we all worked from home for one day "just in case"
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the day after that I ate something dodgy, spent the weekend in bed / the bathroom then did some time working from home "just in case", and then the office shut and I've been WFH since. The one day test was a good idea as it did highlight a few issues that needed to be sorted like working on a single 17" 4*3 monitor is not great when you're used to 2 * 21" widescreen monitors.
I've been into the office three time to pick things up for myself and for friends / colleagues who live close to me, and likewise people did deliver things for me. I'm also very lucky that my employer allowed us to claim back expenses of up to £350 for purchases related to WFH - having borrowed a 21" widescreen monitor from my desk (well from a colleague's desk but shh), this allowed me to buy a 25" widescreen to replace my old 17" 4*3 and to buy a motorised sit-stand desk.
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I'm still using my own old chair which I do need to replace, but the sit-stand things allows me to move around and has helped a lot. I've also been given a kneeling chair, it's not got as much use as I thought it might but it's good to have the option
As an aside, I'd recommend checking out the spec of your PC / laptop. I was ok working with what I had (albeit I did double the ram from 4 to 8GB and swap in an SSD) but I recently bought somehting newer and it's like night and day, I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner given the amount of time I spend using this machine. I've also picked up a cheap webcam from amazon (It was anout £12) as we did fairly regular video calls and I personally find it good so see who I'm speaking to. it's a little frustrating that some of my colleagues never turn video on. Other people may prefer the "no video" approcah though.
I've got the monitors mounted on an arm, I popped into the office when it was last open intending just to pick up some old monitor stands as they were all bering replaced by arms but was lucky ebough to get the arms, they'd been over ordered and were sitting unused. I might well have to return the arms and the monitor I've borrowed but that's a small thing - I suspect though I'll be told I can keep them as I think that WFH will be a thing from now on.
What else? I was originally in a much smaller box room where I'd have struggled to fit this bigger desk so I've moved rooms and now I don't have a view as I'm in a rearranged bed room with voile curtains. A view makes a big difference so try to arrnge it so you have one if possible - I'm considering moving again to the back bedroom where I can have a view, and where we have a sofa bed, but that gets used as a second lounge where Mrs NBT does jigsaws. We also have the turbo trainer set up for the view out of the rear window, and I'm not sure I can fit the desk in there with the turbo in a usable position.
Getting a bigger desk was good move
A sit-stand desk is a bonus, it's unlikely I'll go back to the office full time but if I did a desk like this would be top of the wish list
A second monitor (or one LARGE monitor as you say) is a good idea, mounted at the right height - try to make sure you're no looking down at your monitors
As also mentioned a small diffuse light source for the desk or for highlighting when on videa - I picked up a little USB LED strip light from ebay for £3.99
Mine when it is tidy (once so far)
I have a switch thing that allows me to use the main keyboard, mouse, camera and microphone for which ever machine I am using. I can also direct all of the machines to the big central screen. This means when having video conferences I am always looking straight ahead regardless if they are personal, work or client calls.
I can also work on any machine individually so I can be on a call on one machine while working on another and by having two main screens close together it is not immediately obvious to viewers on the camera if I am looking at their interesting PPT of playing mah-jong on the other computer.
This thread is like the "multiple monitor" version of flag-shagging. Just like the most patriotic MPs have multiple flags hanging in their home offices, the more monitors you have on your desk the better 😀 😀
Bonus points for laptop AND a desktop, more bonuses for multiple laptops, multiple desktop PCs gives you a megaball frenzy
5 Screens and 3 laptops but only the 1 desktop. I do have an iPad and a paper shredder though, can I get a megaball frenzy-lite?
We had to submit pictures to HR to show we had suitable WFH facilities which is why I have a photo like that.
At the moment it's three-way between @RobHilton, @Cougar and @WorldClassAccident
Christ that's an image I didn't need at this time in the morning
As it looks right now.
Wine bottles in the bin from quiz night, toilet roll from mopping up spilt wine(honest), coffee cup and water glass to hand, a rats next of cables in the middle, a bin bag with the boxes for the Marchal spot lights I need to take off the car this weekend and various part done art stuff. STW on the screen and no work computer turned on yet.
For those in the north, that is SUNSHINE you can see lighting the garden. It is like rain but warmer and less wet.
Had a bit of a change around since this. Put a much larger Velux in so desk is now under the window enjoying the views of local trails. Wall of photos remains though.