Share your HOME WORKING workstation environment - pics

[rdj001]

Hi,

have squeezed two desks into a summer-house (shed) in the garden. The one that's finished (cheap electric standing desk with nice worktop) is for worky stuff and the second desk (ikea manual standing desk) is going to be for gaming / tinkering. Also a fan of the Ikea wallboard.

Using Secret Labs chairs which I think are great.






[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/Vyj14Nhg[/url]

Edited by rdj001 on Wednesday 3rd January 12:01

[Herbs]

alock said:

Herbs said:

This looks great and exactly what I need to do in the new year, where did buy the worktop from please?

Sorry it's a bit late, but I bought this worktop:
https://www.topworktops.co.uk/walnut-worktop-4m-62...

Amazing thank you

[maccas99]

Thanks to everyone that shared their experiences of sit stand desks - it wasn’t too late as not ordered it yet.

I don’t have a desktop/tower to worry about just 2 x laptops and I need to use the webcam on the work one regularly for calls but I think an external webcam is the answer here.

I like the cable organisers that someone shared so will get some of those as well.

I’m planning on a revamp of the garden office this year to make it more habitable (improve the insulation, add A/C) so will be doing it all as part of that.

Wanted to say thanks to all of you for some great inspiring ideas

[donkmeister]

What do you reckon you will go for, a sit-stand desk or a yo-yo riser?

As someone who went from taking a fair bit of time off with a back injury (aggravated by sitting) to zero time off after my employer got electric sit-stand desks, I can't rate them highly enough. Wish they'd always had them, I reckon the cost would be more than offset by reduced sickness and slightly fitter employees.

I even bought one for my home office when I went to home working.

[maccas99]

donkmeister said:

What do you reckon you will go for, a sit-stand desk or a yo-yo riser?

As someone who went from taking a fair bit of time off with a back injury (aggravated by sitting) to zero time off after my employer got electric sit-stand desks, I can't rate them highly enough. Wish they'd always had them, I reckon the cost would be more than offset by reduced sickness and slightly fitter employees.

I even bought one for my home office when I went to home working.

I'd quite like a full sit-stand but can't justify the price of a new one and the fact my old corner desk will be surplus to requirements if I got one.
I had a hip replacement in the summer which is the main reason, but I was thinking about getting one before that anyway.
I'm home based with trips into the office in London about twice a month.

Based on the above, I will go for a riser and see how I get on, it's on 50% off at the moment so down to £174. If I don't get on with it I can move it on and get a full new sit-stand desk.

[dxg]

I went for a full desk. I don't use it that much for full-blown standing, but I use it a lot for changing my posture through the day, and just raising the desk a few inches will do that.

A platform is just a very small desk on another desk. Not much use if you need to refer to paperwork - and if you don't, why was the original desk size needed?

For a full desk, I would avoid the "cheap" ones. I was running a £300 desk off amazon for a couple of years, but it wobbled. Following the rule of buying cheap and buying twice, I upgraded to the IKEA IDÅSEN after reading a lot of reviews this summer. It is rock solid - and I have a *lot* of kit on it. Utterly fantastic. Just not the best looking thing. It's made by a supplier known for good quality kit.

[maccas99]

dxg said:

I went for a full desk. I don't use it that much for full-blown standing, but I use it a lot for changing my posture through the day, and just raising the desk a few inches will do that.

A platform is just a very small desk on another desk. Not much use if you need to refer to paperwork - and if you don't, why was the original desk size needed?

For a full desk, I would avoid the "cheap" ones. I was running a £300 desk off amazon for a couple of years, but it wobbled. Following the rule of buying cheap and buying twice, I upgraded to the IKEA IDÅSEN after reading a lot of reviews this summer. It is rock solid - and I have a *lot* of kit on it. Utterly fantastic. Just not the best looking thing. It's made by a supplier known for good quality kit.

OK, good to know about the Ikea desk - it does look solid.
I don't really refer/use paperwork but the original desk size was selected based on the space it needed to fill in the office but I might change all that anyway with the revamp to Garden Office 2.0 in a few months.

[cg360]

maccas99 said:

I'd quite like a full sit-stand but can't justify the price of a new one and the fact my old corner desk will be surplus to requirements if I got one.
I had a hip replacement in the summer which is the main reason, but I was thinking about getting one before that anyway.
I'm home based with trips into the office in London about twice a month.

Based on the above, I will go for a riser and see how I get on, it's on 50% off at the moment so down to £174. If I don't get on with it I can move it on and get a full new sit-stand desk.

I got a Flexispot electric frame and sheap worktop for less than that. Sometimes I work in the house using a yoyo riser, sometimes in my shed usinf the sit/stand and I would always use the sit/stand desk if I could because I find the ergonomics of the smaller space on the riser to be worse, and it's less relaxomng than the full sturdy desk surface. ymmv, of course, but if you only have once location to cater for that's what I would do, having experience of both.

[dxg]

maccas99 said:

dxg said:

I went for a full desk. I don't use it that much for full-blown standing, but I use it a lot for changing my posture through the day, and just raising the desk a few inches will do that.

A platform is just a very small desk on another desk. Not much use if you need to refer to paperwork - and if you don't, why was the original desk size needed?

For a full desk, I would avoid the "cheap" ones. I was running a £300 desk off amazon for a couple of years, but it wobbled. Following the rule of buying cheap and buying twice, I upgraded to the IKEA IDÅSEN after reading a lot of reviews this summer. It is rock solid - and I have a *lot* of kit on it. Utterly fantastic. Just not the best looking thing. It's made by a supplier known for good quality kit.

OK, good to know about the Ikea desk - it does look solid.
I don't really refer/use paperwork but the original desk size was selected based on the space it needed to fill in the office but I might change all that anyway with the revamp to Garden Office 2.0 in a few months.

Another quick comment:

Avoid the IDASEN table top because it's hollow core. I went for a white oak BEKANT 160 x 80 desktop, which is "solid" particle board laminate and it looks much better as well.

[jimmyjimjim]

Same here, BEKANT with the BEKANT motorised legs. Had it several years without issue.

[maccas99]

jimmyjimjim said:

Same here, BEKANT with the BEKANT motorised legs. Had it several years without issue.

Thanks Chaps - the BEKANT is looking like a solid option right now! Just a shame Ikea don't deliver it where I live!

[Jambo85]

cg360 said:

maccas99 said:

I'd quite like a full sit-stand but can't justify the price of a new one and the fact my old corner desk will be surplus to requirements if I got one.
I had a hip replacement in the summer which is the main reason, but I was thinking about getting one before that anyway.
I'm home based with trips into the office in London about twice a month.

Based on the above, I will go for a riser and see how I get on, it's on 50% off at the moment so down to £174. If I don't get on with it I can move it on and get a full new sit-stand desk.

I got a Flexispot electric frame and sheap worktop for less than that. Sometimes I work in the house using a yoyo riser, sometimes in my shed usinf the sit/stand and I would always use the sit/stand desk if I could because I find the ergonomics of the smaller space on the riser to be worse, and it's less relaxomng than the full sturdy desk surface. ymmv, of course, but if you only have once location to cater for that's what I would do, having experience of both.

Another vote for Flexispot, think I bought mine in 2021 and no issues yet.

[donkmeister]

Me too. I bought a Flexispot frame in 2020 or 2021, it's a dual motor one, one or two up from their cheapest one (so probably £200ish, can't remember but I would if it had been silly money).

I've got a 1.6m length of oak butcher block worktop as the surface, a 49" ultra wide on a clamp, a desk shelf that I made from oak offcuts, plus a few accoutrements and it sounds like the motors barely register it. IIRC it's rated for something like 150kg, so unless someone has a very specific use case (optical workbench for displaying big pieces of lead?) then it's unlikely to see anywhere near that.

I'd also recommend getting a thick rubber "anti fatigue " mat for any long duration stand up working. They are surprisingly expensive for a large sheet of thick rubber but do work. I think mine was about £40 for a no name one at Bezos' Bazaar.

[p1stonhead]

donkmeister said:

Me too. I bought a Flexispot frame in 2020 or 2021, it's a dual motor one, one or two up from their cheapest one (so probably £200ish, can't remember but I would if it had been silly money).

I've got a 1.6m length of oak butcher block worktop as the surface, a 49" ultra wide on a clamp, a desk shelf that I made from oak offcuts, plus a few accoutrements and it sounds like the motors barely register it. IIRC it's rated for something like 150kg, so unless someone has a very specific use case (optical workbench for displaying big pieces of lead?) then it's unlikely to see anywhere near that.

I'd also recommend getting a thick rubber "anti fatigue " mat for any long duration stand up working. They are surprisingly expensive for a large sheet of thick rubber but do work. I think mine was about £40 for a no name one at Bezos' Bazaar.

I have a walking treadmill I sometimes use with my stand up desk. On a fairly slow speed (say 3mph) it’s like standing still in terms of concentrating and body movement when using the computer, but I can easily do 10k a day on it. Kinda silly looking but is the only exercise I get some days!

[h0b0]

here is my standing desk from 2021.. The monitors are 34" ultrawide and the desktop is full size. The wood is 6ftx 39in walnut Butcher block. The legs are from amazon. The butcher block has gone up $100 but the legs have gone down $80 since I bought them. It has transformed the way I work as I do 100% of meetings stood up. It sets my mind to "meeting mode" and I pay more attention.

[Jambo85]

p1stonhead said:

I have a walking treadmill I sometimes use with my stand up desk. On a fairly slow speed (say 3mph) it’s like standing still in terms of concentrating and body movement when using the computer, but I can easily do 10k a day on it. Kinda silly looking but is the only exercise I get some days!

I’ve often wondered about something like this - 10k a day would be transformational for many of us! Any recommended products?

[p1stonhead]

Jambo85 said:

p1stonhead said:

I have a walking treadmill I sometimes use with my stand up desk. On a fairly slow speed (say 3mph) it’s like standing still in terms of concentrating and body movement when using the computer, but I can easily do 10k a day on it. Kinda silly looking but is the only exercise I get some days!

I’ve often wondered about something like this - 10k a day would be transformational for many of us! Any recommended products?

It’s saved my body from constant desk life I think!

I honestly just bought one on Amazon following a search for walking treadmill. They basically just don’t have sides.

Amazon is a bit of a Chinese ste minefield these days but mine I don’t think even has a brand. Read a few reviews and then choose but I’d imagine they’re all basically identical.

One thing to make sure you can do is have the desk high enough. I have to have mine at absolute max height (125cm) as the treadmill adds maybe 15cm to the floor level. I’m 6ft 1 and it just about works. But some desks don’t go as high as mine does.

[Buffalo]

James6112 said:

The Northern European Operations Centre (thanks Covid, used to commute 30 miles 4 days a week, now twice a month!)
Used to have big monitors, but now prefer the flow of smaller, secondary for Teams etc, laptop for ‘work’, rely on laptop keyboard to save space. Jabra speaker for a few years for the calls. Sounds fine. ipad for Tv. Alexa speaker for radio.
It’s a hard life…

Edited by James6112 on Monday 20th November 20:52

I have done that too, reduced to one single screen, as I found it helped me focus on one task at a time. It started when as head of department I was forever getting taken away from the task I was trying to work on. I later read a study on the brain that explained some science behind it, related to our actual inability to multi-task. Multiscreen set ups look cool but aren't always efficient.

[xeny]

Buffalo said:

Multiscreen set ups look cool but aren't always efficient.

This is a really good point.

I find I have some tasks which are essentially combining information from multiple sources to produce a summary or reach a conclusion derived from information in all of them. They are a great fit for lots of screen space or multiple screens.

I have others (e.g. replying to correspondence, writing process documents, taking online compliance courses) which are well suited to a single, often not huge window. I'll typically try to arrange things so I do these on a laptop on a stand simply to force me to look at the one screen and with less scope for distraction.

I have one (extremely impressive and capable) colleague who seems to only have one programme other than email, be it a programing environment or a web browser open at a time. She is very smart, but I suspect aware how easily she can be distracted and this is her strategy for avoiding it.

Edited by xeny on Saturday 6th January 20:00

[Peanut Gallery]

Talking of excersise whilst at the desk, I bought one of those large bouncy excersise balls, i then balance that on a box to get my seat height correct, but after 10 min I am worn out, the constant movement to hold your body still, the thought of being on the ball pills my shoulders back and makes me sit up, etc. Highly recommend!

In other news, SWMBO might be taking my desk in the spare room, potential garage storeroom conversion coming up.