On work, I got a new office several months ago. My company understood, that it isn't easy to work with several other people around. The drawback: They gave me a nice room on short notice. The chair is great, but the desk is a dining table taken from break rooms. Not optimal, and clearly not ergonomic.
At my home the situation isn't better. The chair is a MARKUS from IKEA and it is okay, especially for the price. The desk is still from my childhood room. Usually a corner desk, but in the current flat we removed the corner part and made two desks out of it. Thin lacquered chipboard, half-height back wall at the back, continuous sides. Neither beautiful nor particularly practical. And certainly not ergonomic.
Keyboard, mouse and screen I have and are also very good. Currently plugged into my gaming PC.
The plan was clear: New chair, new table and somehow connect the work notebook with my existing peripherals.
The desk
If a new desk, then ergonomic and more beautiful. Two criteria are important for ergonomics, the first: the tabletop must be larger. 140x60cm allows too little work surface in width, in depth my screen is too close. So the new table should have 160x80cm, a classic desk format. The second criterion: height adjustability. Sitting all the time is not good for the body. A height adjustment helps to change the posture regularly.
In terms of appearance, a real wood top is important to me. It simply looks warmer and more elegant. Unless, of course, the cables are hanging all over the place. So there has to be a cable management system. Cables clearly bundled and guided, if possible completely hidden. Then the table looks modern and tidy.
However, one problem then became apparent during the search: Height-adjustable desks with wooden tops are damn expensive. IKEA has a nice table on offer. But costs are 600 euros for it and the height adjustment can not store heights. On the Internet a similar picture, either expensive or cheaply made. Only racks without a plate are available at acceptable prices.
In the end, I decided on the frame Flexispot EB2W*. It was just on sale for 250 €, looked quite stable and is well rated. Only the black caps on the white frame do not look so great. Building was quite simple after delivery. If you have a table top. That is currently still the lacking part.
I would like a real wood top, glued is okay. 150cm long, 80cm deep. Three centimeters high. In addition still rounded corners. The starting point is of course the hardware store. Plates are there from 150 €, glued oak with a length of 200cm. Unfortunately, they are not able to round the corners. So I have first built the small plate from my old table, better than nothing.
I'll probably just buy a plate, have it shortened and round the corners myself. Somewhere I still have such a multitool in the basement, I think. Just no workshop... Balcony or sidewalk?
The cable management
A height adjustable table is now in my office. On it my Razer Ornata keyboard*, the Razer Basilisk mouse* and the 34 inch Xiaomi Mi Curved 21:9 monitor*. Below that, my gaming PC. Two cable channels from PAMO* keep things tidy. Not quite optimal is the length of the cables. The PC currently does not travel with me and the cables are just long enough - possibly too short with a larger tabletop.
But I also have a company notebook, which I want to use with keyboard, mouse and monitor. Monitor is easy, second cable on it and done. But keyboard and mouse? A USB Switch* was the solution. With remote control, so the switch can disappear under the table. At the push of a button, the devices switch from one PC to another.
Everything is not yet optimal, but the final tabletop is still missing. Then it will be rewired and optimized.
The chair
Even though I can stand at my desk now, I like to sit at it too. Chairs are always an issue though. The current one from IKEA is okay, but nothing more. At work I have a proper office chair and you can tell the difference. For home, though, an office chair is pretty boring.
In the end, I'm a gamer and of course I'm into gamer stuff too. But gaming chairs look cheap very quickly and are usually more expensive than office chairs, with less ergonomics. A quandary. Until I came across the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022.
The chair seems to offer exactly what I am looking for. Ergonomics and yet it is a gamer chair. But it doesn't look cheap either. Is it also not with 570 € plus shipping. Test sitting is also not possible, Secretlab has no stores or is sold anywhere, exclusively online. At the price awkward, especially since the return if not satisfied must also be paid.
I haven't bought the chair yet and would love to test sit it in advance. But it is firmly on my shopping list.
Finish?
Yes, this would finish off my office. Even though I use equipment for gamers, which of course also glows in RGB, I like a tidy workplace. Keyboard, mouse, screen - done. Okay, and the Stream Deck, which fits right under the screen, though.
No roll container, no compartments, no pen holder. Pens are in the drawer in the cabinet. Paper, too. Whereas I actually hardly ever write anything on paper anymore.