r/desksetup

seeking suggestions

I’ve got around £2,000 available to improve my workstation setup and would love advice before I start buying things.

Current setup:

• MacBook Pro
• Single 23-inch monitor
• Desk depth: 78 cm
• Standard seated setup
• Standing desk

What I actually do most of the day:

• Read and annotate large numbers of PDFs (academic papers)
• Write in Word
• Data analysis and coding in R
• Usually have multiple windows open at once (PDF + Word + R + browser)

What I’m considering:

• Moving to a Mac mini setup
• One large 40-inch monitor instead of multiple smaller monitors

My priorities:

• Productivity for research and writing
• Ergonomics / avoiding neck strain and poor posture
• Good text clarity for long reading sessions
• Enough screen real estate to comfortably view multiple documents at once
• Clean and relatively simple setup

Any setups from people who spend most of their time reading/writing rather than gaming?Open to completely changing direction if there’s a better approach.

Still deciding what to do with the wall behind the desk but overall I’m happy with it

Been wanting to get into 3D printing for a long time, mainly because I enjoy building and experimenting with small DIY projects at home. After watching tutorials and seeing what people were creating, I finally decided to set up a small dedicated corner for it instead of trying to squeeze everything onto my regular desk.

One thing I realized pretty quickly was that 3D printing setups can get messy fast between the printer itself along with the tools and spare parts and cables. I wanted something sturdy with enough space to organize everything properly while also letting me adjust the height depending on whether I’m working on prints, assembling parts, or just monitoring long print sessions. Ended up getting a standing desk from Vernal and so far it is holding up well and my setup looks nice.

Still very early this, but honestly looking forward to learning more and hopefully printing stuff soon.

This Setup is in the making since the beginning of the year, always waited for good deals (or birthday money ^^). The Tabletop and Deskshelf are diy from a raw elm-plate from the hardwarestore. The ergonomic edge was a challenge but it is completely worth it!

Desktop and Laptop both connect to a KVM switch hidden in the cabletray, to control the switch I have a button on the front left of the desk you can kinda see ont he third picture. I am a student in biomedtec and work parttime so I need to switch devices regularly.

Whats planned next:

• fixing the position of the mounted pc
• accustic panels at the wall - waiting for a sale for the ones I want so I can afford them
• probably gonna change out the chair (Ikea - Bästboll) as i am to big for it (183cm 90kg / 6" 198p)
• storage under the deskshelf to tidy up the space
• sometime in the future a new gigabyte-oled monitor - appart from the visual upgrade I am hoping that gigabyte has the same hight for the vesa mount wich is currently driving me crazy with the samsung secondary screen...

What I could use some suggestions for:

• Laptop riser / stand that also holds my Ipad when not in use
• charging / docking options for my mobile devices (phone, tablet, watch and earbuds)

Feel free to ask me anything about the desk!

Here's some views of my workspace, any suggestions on improvements are welcome.

I'm including a photo of my reading/TV watching chair (there is a TV in my office), and a view to what's around my desk. Because of the room layout, the back of my desk faces into the room, so I've had to be extra careful with cable management, so I'm showing what that looks like too.

I prioritize productivity over aesthetics, with a view to minimize clutter, especially on my desk. What works for me (and I acknowledge it wouldn't work for everyone):

• Smaller monitor is for distraction apps, so they are accessible quickly, but do not clutter up where I'm doing my focus work (i.e. the large screen):
  • Email
  • Messaging Apps (Messages, WhatsApp, Slack)
  • Spotify
• Larger monitor is for focused work, since those other apps aren't there, I avoid the temptation to check those apps while I'm deep in work.
• I store things based upon frequency of use:
  • Frequently used items are stored on my desk or in my Setup Cockpit
  • Occasionally used items are on the pegboard
  • Rarely used items are stored in cabinets/drawers

Planned updates:

• New desk mat, one that better fits the aesthetic of my keyboard
• Artwork of some kind to put above the pegboard
• New desk chair to replace my 12 year old Steelcase (Father's Day gift, yay!)
• Pomodoro timer so I can stop using an app on my phone

Looking for recommendations on desk type and placement for my office room. Photo attached for reference.

Room layout:

• Photo taken standing near the French double doors
• Left side = built-in white shelves
• Right side = large 3-pane window wall
• Front wall = baby blue accent wall

Option 1: Long straight sit-to-stand desk

I initially planned to place a long sit-to-stand desk parallel and near to the shelves wall, facing the windows.

Concerns:

• visible monitor wires/cables from behind
• desk would “float” in the room
• worried items could fall off the back side
• not sure how clean it would look

Option 2: L-shaped sit-to-stand desk

Second idea is an L-shaped desk in the corner where the blue wall meets the window wall.

Pros:

• more usable desk space
• easier cable management
• cleaner setup overall

Issue:

• windows are west-facing
• room gets hot from ~1 PM to 5 PM even with sheer curtains

My setup:

• 3 x 24” monitors
• 3 closed laptops (office/client/personal)
• wireless keyboard/mouse
• iPad
• iPhone/AirPods charger

Main priorities:

• clean look
• minimal visible wires
• comfortable for long workdays
• good lighting without getting roasted in sunlight

Would appreciate suggestions on:

• best desk placement
• straight vs L-shaped desk
• desk size recommendations
• handling heat/glare from west-facing windows
• cable management ideas

Powered by a 2012 mac mini it gets the job done, a 21.5 inch viotek monitor as my vertical and a 24 inch hp monitor as my main. Mx anywhere 2 as my mouse and a discontinued havit mechanical keyboard.

Brothers I need help to make my desk set-up little pleasing to the eye and my focus is to use it for productivity and content creation. Big desk is for productivity and the other desk is for product B-Roll shots and gaming setup.

As the picture shows, Suggest me
1. What to do with the lighting? I can only buy one more source or ambient light. Also I have another studio light with big softbox
2. How to position the lights?
3. What else?

Keyboard: keychron K2 HE.

Desk: beech butcher block sealed with matte polyurethane on top of topsky dual motor standing desk legs

I already wanted to make the environment much more cozy and productive with wires, cables, controls, everything within easy reach to use, but not on display to avoid visual clutter.

I recently ran out of money to make some changes I had planned, but on the other hand, it's actually good because I can think about the changes better together with you guys :D

First of all, I should mention that my apartment is rented, so it's difficult for me to get permission to drill into the wall. Some wall alterations could look great if they involve sticking/adhesive decals.

My suggestions for change:

- Replace the television with a slightly smaller 144Hz monitor (the television can be quite tiring for the eyes, and its refresh rate is 60fps, which is inferior to the laptop screen for gaming)

- You can also buy an articulated arm stand for your laptop so you can position it suspended next to the monitor

- Replace the entirely black table with a lighter-colored tabletop and add drawers for side support, creating a table

- Create a cozy and comfortable atmosphere with reading light or a yellow-toned lamp placed beside the desk

- Perhaps a larger mousepad that also covers the keyboard?

There are many ideas, but I would like to hear other opinions and ideas...

If you'd like to create an AI-based predictive model of how your setup changes would look, these photos are completely free to use for that purpose. I'd be happy to see all the photos

:)))

I recently finished setting up my new studio. The focus was on maximizing space as I need to work with several devices and still want space for my illustration work.

Hey there, what's up? I just cleaned my setup and while I love it, I do think it lacks something, I just have no idea what it is! If there's anything that you think I could switch up or add, please do tell. I'm also having issues with cable managment, though this is the best my cable setup has ever looked lol (I have got no idea why some of the pictures are colored so weird, sorry.)

Details

Laptop - a Dell Inspiron 15 I got in 2021 , still works fine specifically for work and study purposes Desk - Ikea Dark walnut countertop with 2 black Alex drawers Monitor - MSI 255XF Keyboard and wrist rest - Keychron K12 Pro with keychron wrist rest Mouse - Master 3S Headphones - Sony 1000XM6 Desk mat - Keychron desk mat Chair - Also from a local store, pretty fine for what I paid. Google nest hub gen 2 - got it as a gift, use it mainly as a digital clock and reminders and Google calendar time table Light bar - Baseus IWOK 3 Monitor arm - North Bayou F80 Headphone holder, Phone holder and Cup holder also from a local online store here on Sri Lanka Soundbar - Fantech beatbar- use it casually for YouTube or movies when I don't feel to use headphones

Personally looking to upgrade,

• Mainly the laptop,it's been 6 years using this and freaking love it since I got a lot of work done from it. Eying the Zephyrus G14, that's my dream 14 inch portable beast, gotto save a bit more for that tho.
• and the Chair - Saving up to get a Herman Miller embody, tried that in a store and absolutely loved it so yeah gotto save up more for that too. Got this whole setup working part time myself and took about 6 months to get it done. Got a lot of inspo from here, Pinterest and YouTube.

Would love to know any good recommendations, also cable management is a mess behind there gotto sort that out 😅