Suggestions for a home office

[Out of Steam]

Our daughter has moved out and my wife and I have reclaimed our good-sized second bedroom for a home office, moving the guest bed to the third bedroom where our daughter had her office.

Right now, it is something of a mishmash of old computer hardware, non-matching tables (not really desks), a cheap dented file cabinet, etc. We'd like to have a pair of matching desks that don't rise above the work surface, a wood filing cabinet, and a drop-in document scanner (not flatbed).

My wife has a decent computer setup since she does some paid work from home, I have two aging computers and a dated, narrow LED monitor. I plan to replace my 10 year old plus Windows desktop with a laptop and docking station. I'm just not efficient with real work on my Mac laptop.

I will be president of a volunteer organization next year and will need a reasonably efficient workspace, and, as we all know, managing retirement accounts is not simple.

Budget is about $2500, not including the laptop itself.

What has worked for you, especially for the document scanner and the type of desk? What am I missing?

 

[Out of Steam]

First thing that comes to mind for the scanner is this.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-...ocument-scanner-black/5705397.p?skuId=5705397

 

[Aerides]

When I did my home office, I used a lot of pieces from the Pottery Barn Printer's collection, as you can customize and add pieces later - they've had this line for years and I don't see it going anywhere.

I put my desk under the window so I could face out.

So I'd recommend you map out the room as you both want to use it, the make a list of all the things you'll want, and price ranges, and go from there.

 

[Out of Steam]

When I did my home office, I used a lot of pieces from the Pottery Barn Printer's collection, as you can customize and add pieces later - they've had this line for years and I don't see it going anywhere.

I put my desk under the window so I could face out.

So I'd recommend you map out the room as you both want to use it, the make a list of all the things you'll want, and price ranges, and go from there.

I like the idea of using a coordinated collection. Nothing matches anything else right now.

We have a general idea, my wife has a craft table with butcher block top that she wants in front of one window, and my desk will go in front of the other. Hence the reason for desks without shelving above them.

 

[Luvtoride]

I'm not sure if you're looking for ideas to completely renovate your office space or just to add to what you have. We converted an unused bedroom (my younger daughter's former small bedroom) into a home office using The Container Store ELFA design services. You meet with a designer in the store bringing your room dimensions and layout and they will design a custom office set up to fit your space. The designs are very Flexible and pricing can fit your budget. They come and install the desks, drawers, shelves, filing cabinets, etc. It is awesome and is exactly what my wife needed for her consulting business.

As for a printer/ scanner, try this one- Brother MFC-L2710DW. We use this and its feeder scanning capabilities are easy and can handle multiple pages.

 

[MC Rider]

We have a 3 bedroom house which means 1 bedroom, 1 office for DW, and 1 office for me. Got my desk for free in an office move circa 25 years ago. It was old then, but is a sturdy wooden beast and does the job just fine. All our office furniture is at least a few years old. The things you most need to keep updated to a degree, are the computers and other tech stuff. Imho.

A 50 yo desk may still be great. A 50 yo computer? LMAO, no.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I like the clean look of IKEA office furniture. There are a lot of styles and colors and most are components that you put together to get your overall set. I built out a nice L-shaped desk with a 2-drawer filing cabinet under it. I went with a black surface, but have used walnut in the past. Paid for A very nice, high quality office chair from Staples. For a printer I use a WiFi multi-function (printer, scanner, copier, fax (not hooked up)) from HP. It has a document feeder on top for scanning and copying multiple pages at a time.

 

[RobbieB]

I built this desk from 25" x 50" butcher block maple, inch and a half thick. It's screwed to the wall and offset by another BB maple 5 inched deep which just covers the wall mount monitor and the sound bar, so working area is 25x50.

Brick house, I'll hide under it during the next quake -

 

[Souschef]

We have 2 corner desks with enough room for our chairs. I have a Brother printer under the desk and an A/B switch for the 2 computer interface.
We each have a little monitor stand that has 2 small drawers and 2 cubbyholes
This is a nicer one. We got ours 15 years ago

YMMV, but this works for us.

 

[ivinsfan]

Pottery barn is nice but a little pricey we redid our office/entry way with Ikea...but we do have an IKEA 90 miles away.



I agree with P Pirate. You can custom fit the entire room we have a tight space and wall mounted the office heavy storage cubes sideways at eye level and used frosted glass and metal doors. If your DW actually uses the table/desk for crafts the cabinets would be great extra storage. After 10 years it's all still looking good. I particularly like the wide range of desks widths and lengths that they offer..wall mount your monitor on a swivel if you want a narrower leaner desk look.


You might even have enough room for a convertible day bed ..IMO most standard office furniture is really bulky.

 

[ivinsfan]

We have 2 corner desks with enough room for our chairs. I have a Brother printer under the desk and an A/B switch for the 2 computer interface.
We each have a little monitor stand that has 2 small drawers and 2 cubbyholes


YMMV, but this works for us.

I have never been able to find a good use for those tiny drawers and slots or whatever you call them.

 

[Bamaman]

In my working years, our office closed and consolidated operations in some godawful city in the tundra where no one chose to transfer to.

I had an office in our bonus room complete with big desk, couch and shelving units. My laptop fit into a big docking station and I had a big computer monitor.

But I was most comfortable working on a laptop while I was in a hotel 500 miles from home working on company business.

Although I've been retired 12 years, I still feel more comfortable working from bed. Of course now my work is trolling the internet and looking at things I want to look at. My filing cabinets are a in a chest of drawers so I can keep things organized and out of sight.

 

[Ronstar]

I did a BTD several years ago and had a desk and back cabinets built for my home office. The back cabinets house my computer, monitor, printer and scanner.

I like my scanner - Fujitsu Scansnap S1500M.

 

[Scuba]

The office spaces in our homes have always been small or irregularly shaped, so we had someone come in and custom design and build it for us. This approach would not meet your budgetary requirements, but you would get exactly what you want and everything would coordinate/match.

 

[Jerry1]

We have a 3 bedroom house which means 1 bedroom, 1 office for DW, and 1 office for me.

Same here. Not sure I’d want to co-habitate an office with DW, or anyone for that matter. I share my desk with DW a day or so per month because she handles the bookkeeping - Quicken and the financial documents are on my computer/in my office.

I like a big desk. Mine is very simple. It is a teak desk from a place I think is no longer in business (House of Denmark). Got it for $100 off Craigslist in great shape. No drawers, just a large wide and deep desk with nothing under or over it. I also have a nice leather executive chair. I like a chair that supports my entire back and neck.

I think one of the most important things, that frankly I don’t have perfected, is good lighting. The overhead light of a bedroom doesn’t cut it and the lamp I have only helps a little. Not sure of the solution, but definitely give lighting some thought. Best light is during the day through the window, but obviously that doesn’t work all the time that I use the office.

 

[DrRoy]

Not really a fit for you, but we just had our home study paneled in oak. More of a BTD thing. Now waiting to get it stained.

 

[Out of Steam]

I'm not sure if you're looking for ideas to completely renovate your office space or just to add to what you have.

We're planning to carry over two pieces, a butcher block craft table and a small Ikea drawer/shelving unit, though the second could get sold if we like something else better.

Their light pine or maple tone on these is not in style and seems difficult to match from Ikea's current offerings.

From some suggestions in past posts, we will probably buy a separate scanner with a document feeder.

 

[Out of Steam]

I have never been able to find a good use for those tiny drawers and slots or whatever you call them.

I've had that problem with past desks at work.

 

[Out of Steam]

I think one of the most important things, that frankly I don’t have perfected, is good lighting. The overhead light of a bedroom doesn’t cut it and the lamp I have only helps a little. Not sure of the solution, but definitely give lighting some thought. Best light is during the day through the window, but obviously that doesn’t work all the time that I use the office.

For now, lighting will be task or upward lighting from lamps, since a ceiling fan has become an essential feature of any room where my wife spends significant time.

On lighting, I have a plan for about 15 can lights to go into the living room, kitchen, and family room once we can have workers in for nonessential projects. I could always add a few for the office.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I know this is weird, but DS switched from an old desk to a gaming desk 6 months ago, for work and play. If you are going to primarily use it for computer stuff, this gaming desk has the entire desk as a mouse pad, a cup holder and a headphone holder. His work from home space is a lot more open with this type of desk. It has cut outs for cords. The desk looks and feels sturdy.

This is the desk he got:

https://www.amazon.com/BOJOY-Gaming...words=bojoy+gaming+desk&qid=1630502515&sr=8-5

You may want to check out Bojoy brand on Amazon for some minimalist ideas. Having less heavy furniture can open up the room and make it feel less crowded.

 

[YakGrl]

I am planning to set up a desk area for home use too. What I would like to add is two to three monitors as I had in the office.

 

[pacergal]

My space is a simple desk built in to our dining room cabinetry, and our printer is in another area around the corner. It works for us.

OP--I would suggest you and DW go look at some office furniture at IKEA, Office Depot, local furniture store, just to see what types of configurations are available and prices that may fit both of your needs/desires.

 

[OldShooter]

You might want to visit one or two used office furniture stores and look at modular cubicle pieces. My home offices utilize Herman Miller modular components that all hang from tracks on the wall. Two six-foot real oak veneer work surfaces in the city and one corner work surface at the lake home. File drawers and overhead flipper shelving finish up. This is their "Action Office" line which is very old -- 60s and 70s. Certainly there is newer stuff and from other manufacturers available. This is far, far, above the quality that you will find in consumer products.

This type of furniture is very heavy, so you do not want to ship it. It doesn't seem to bring much, especially small lots, on the used market.

 

[Out of Steam]

You might want to visit one or two used office furniture stores and look at modular cubicle pieces.

There is one of these places about 3 miles away. I'll have a look, especially since I don't like my current desk chair.

 

[Out of Steam]

I am planning to set up a desk area for home use too. What I would like to add is two to three monitors as I had in the office.

My wife has a double width monitor, and I'm inclined to match it. Want to preserve my window view as much as I can.