Introduction
I used to have a basic home desk made of large planks with fixed desk legs.
This worked fine for years, but I wanted the possibility to stand behind my desk as well.
Because I had a spare room I could start from scratch to design a cool new home office!
On this page you can read how I created the idea, selected my items for the room design and which hardware I use now. Enjoy reading my story.
I started this new project to rebuild my home office from scratch.
- I first created a mood board with example offices and materials that inspires me.
- I created a virtual room design of the room with AI.
- Find the best matching materials to decorate the room.
- Go for the basic hardware for my desk setup.
- And at least add accessories for the finishing touch!
- There is always room for future improvements
Table of Contents
The idea
The idea started with a digital mood-board, a Pinterest board where I first stored photos of offices and office accessories which looked cool to me. After a few months filling this board, I could see a pattern of colors and materials of what I wanted. Dark (walnut), with dark green and acoustic panels was the common factor.
Pinterest mood board
Virtual room design
To make my idea more realistic, I created a virtual design by used Gemini AI to convert a photo of the old room situation to how this room could look like based on my mood board. I uploaded the photo and entered prompts like this:
- “Remove all the items from the room”
- “Add a walnut floor”
- “Make the back wall dark green”
- “Add walnut acoustic panels to the wall”
- “Add a full room width desk with a walnut top and place a wide screen monitor with keyboard on it”
- “Add two floating planks to the back wall and put small plants on it”
It generated a photo how it could like:
Use AI to convert a real room photo to how it could look like. That’s a big difference!
You can fine tune your prompt by switching wall design or ask to add more details. Or upload photos from your mood board and ask to apply elements from these photos to your photo. Or ask for a few alternative designs to get more examples of how it could look like when you realize your idea.
For AI, it’s sometimes hard to scale elements, on the generated photo, to the right sizes. It’s good to measure yourself also if they fit correct and match reality.
The result
The desk setup is never finished. Always looking for improvements or changing accessories, but the main part is finished, and if I compare it to my mood board, I see it’s eventually really similar!
Home office desk result
If you like products which I use for my setup, I created a list with the products and where you can get them yourself.
NOTE: Links on this page are hardware I also bought myself. Links can be affiliate links, you pay the normal price AND also support my blog.
Office room decoration
I redecorated the full room. I added an acoustic sound panel wall, painted all other walls and the ceiling for a new fresh look!
Check the office room decoration page for the materials I used to decorate my room.
Basic hardware
This chapter is about the basic hardware, the hardware I need to work with. Like a desk, computer, keyboard, mouse and screen. The rest of the items are in the accessories chapter.
Desk
My wishlist for my new desk was clear:
- Walnut top
- 180 - 200 cm wide
- 80 cm deep
- Electric standing/sit desk
- 2 programmable preset heights
- Black legs
- Minimal wires visible
It took some time to find the perfect desk.
There are so many companies who sell such desks.
I was eventually choosing between:
- The
Flexispot E7 Pro this one has good reviews but didn’t have the full 200 cm width desk top. - The YOUP02-Z-CW-128 Electric desk black Cognac Walnut matched all criteria but less reviews.
I eventually bought the YOUP02 from www.goedkoopinrichten.nl:
If you’re looking for more info about desk choices, you can take a look also at Reddit - StandingDesk.
Laptop
The laptop I use is a powerful MacBook M4 Pro 16 inch.
Laptop charger
I use a Xiaomi 120W USB-c charger to charge my laptop.
Laptop stand
To make the desk clean, I have my laptop upright with a black vertical laptop stand. This way I can also easily detach it and replace it with my personal laptop.
Alternative solutions:
- Walnut stand upright - AliExpress
- Laptop mount under desk - AliExpress
- Laptop side desk mount - AliExpress
Laptop case
To avoid outside light reflections and distractions from the silver laptop on my desk I put a black case around my laptop. I choose to have all items below my monitor and on my desk to be black.
Monitor
The monitor is a Philips 49” curved screen with a resolution of 5120 x 1440. With an aspect ratio of 32:9 and curving of 1800R. It’s the size of two 27” next to each other.
This is one of my best purchases ever! I still love it every day. The big advanced compare to two separated 27” screens is that you can split your application windows as you like for the current moment. Sometimes this into three equal app windows, or one big window in the middle and small on the sides.
The model I have is the Philips P Line 498P9Z/00 (model from 2021). It’s now replaced with even better screens with the same sizes.
Alternative:
- Philips 49” curved monitor - 49B2U5900C - Amazon NL
- Philips 49” curved monitor - 49B2U5900C - Amazon US
Monitor cable
The Philips monitor has a single DisplayPort 1.4 and 3x HDMI 2.0 ports.
To get the maximum resolution of 5120 x 1440 with 165 Hz, I use a single DisplayPort cable.
Monitor arm
To make a clean desk, I was looking for a monitor arm which should hold the screen stable, not wobbly and is attached to the desk. Now the monitor “float” above the desk. It should also hold easily the weight of the 12 kg 49” screen. Hide the wires and doesn’t stick out on the back, otherwise I had to set the desk away from the wall and loose space. I can easily pull and push the screen back- and forward.
I end up with the ACT AC8340 It’s made of strong metal and can hold up to 20 kg, match all my requirements and cost not too much.
Keyboard
For a keyboard, I want a wireless, silent, smooth typing, with big shift and return button, volume buttons and a numpad.
The Logitech MX Keys S (Qwerty) was a logical choice, it’s much more than what’s on my wishlist. It can easily switch between three devices, it lights up when you come closer, charging via USB-C.
YouTube product video about the Logitech MX Keys
Chair
The chair I use is an old model from Ikea but still sits pretty comfortable.
Alternative:
Mouse
The mouse I use is a basic wireless soft-click and scroll one. Simple but perfect for years! Works with a single AA battery.
Desk pad
I use a very large mouse pad underneath my keyboard and mouse. The top material is soft with a smooth surface for the perfect sliding with the mouse. The bottom material is made of rubber to keep it on its place.
I use a full black one without any art distractions on it.
The size of my pad is 400 x 900 x 3 mm. They are available in many different sizes and with different border colors. I have the all-black version.
Alternative:
Camera
I choose a basic camera (years back) for the features:
- HD USB camera with a lens cover
- 30 fps
- Light correction
- Good sound and microphone quality (now I use a separated microphone)
- A mount with contra weight to place on top of a monitor
Back in the days, the Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam was a perfect match for me, and it still works fine. But it can be upgraded to a newer one with a 4K resolution with auto follow feature. I’m open for any good suggestions!
Microphone
For an affordable basic microphone, I’ve chosen for the Razer Seiren Mini black - USB condensator microphone.
ANC over ear headset
For my new office I looked for a newer and improved over ear headset. The development of ANC is improving every year and my daily used three-year-old headset could get an upgrade. I want to go for the overall best option, the Sony WH, but the price is very high for a headset. This keeps me looking further. I heard and read good stories about the QCY H3 and when I found out the improved 2026 version H3S was released, I went for this one! In the past I had already good experience with the QCY in-earbuds for on-the-go.
- Dual device connect - possibility to connect at the same time to two devices (laptop and phone)
- Soft top - no hard plastic pressure on your head
- QCY app - to set custom sound settings and the level of noice cancellation
- Bluetooth 6 - long battery life
- Physic buttons - to control ANC/sound/calls
- 5 modes Adaptive ANC Noise cancellation (Adaptive/Crowded/Commute/Indoor/Anti-Wind)
- Foldable headset with a hard case for traveling
Just read the reviews!
Available in Black/White/Gray:
Alternative:
I’m also a fan of the Sony WH range, but the price is 10x the price of the QCY, but it isn’t 10x better.
For now, I stick to the QCY.
Headphone stand
A basic plastic headphone stand.
Alternative:
Future improvements
Clock
I’m still looking for a matching wall clock. This is the kind of clock I want, very minimalistic, without numbers or gold and in the walnut color.
- https://amzn.to/3O178xU
Retractable USB charger
I’m also still looking for a clean solution for USB charging cables. Not everything can be charged wireless. Sometimes you need a charging cable to charge a headphone or keyboard. Most of the time you don’t need such cable and keep it out of sight. But when you need it, you don’t want to dive under the table to connect one.
A nice solution is retractable USB charging cables. You can pull them out when you need it, and it automatically rolls in when you’re done.
I found these and the fit almost perfect with my other wood elements. But I don’t like the orange color (I can paint it black, of course). And the shipping price makes it very expensive.
Alternative:
Camera
An newer 4K camera with auto zoom and auto follow feature should be a nice upgrade. Then everybody can see me sharp and sparkly!
Do you have good suggestions for my office desk? Please create an issue or share it as comment on my posts.