Working from home

[callmemaybee]

Posting for traffic - hope you don’t mind

If you work from home, can you share which desk/chair/monitor you use please?

I may be full time working from home after mainly being in the office during the pandemic (backwards I know!) so need to invest in a proper space.

Chairs: ones I bought cheap on eBay or someone was giving away. adjustable back rest, adjustable seat height, no arms.

Desk: like picture, probably fake wood stuff, on wheels, no drawers or cabinet parts, but yes pull out keyboard shelf. DH got it 2nd hand for teen DS yrs ago, & came in handy when WFH forced on me.

monitors ; Hiyama? From work. One is broken & other is ok but not so big. Actually I mostly use the fantastic large screen that adult DS keeps here, very high resolution. it fills the entire space at top of the desk.

Do you have a budget? Obviously mine was low.

Can your company supply these for you?

Chair is my office one. When we were sent to wfh March 2020 I was allowed to take my chair. My desk is a folding desk from Amazon and normal monitor I think dell but DP got an allowance from work for it. He also wfh and uses and uses an ikea desk and chair and already had a monitor from our normal pc. He has the 'proper' desk as he uses the pc more than me anyway. Work should give you an allowance towards some of this stuff. Well maybe, mine didn't but DP's did

My office supply our desks and chairs through our dse assessments, might be worth asking them?

Desk chair this one

Desk this one

DH has the same desk but his doesn’t have the pull out bit, instead he has a cupboard and a drawer. DH also has the leather IKEA chair. Both his desk and chair we already prior to Covid. I upgraded my desk chair recently as when I bought my first desk chair when shops reopened last year, IKEA didn’t have much in so I had to just get whatever. Desk chair one was a bucket, swivel chair which was marginally better for my back than the dining room chair.

Monitors - whatever was on offer on Amazon about 3 weeks into working from home and DH’s is an old monitor that he had at uni (11 years ago) for his PlayStation.

If working on a laptop, you might also want to consider a laptop stand if you’re planning on doing dual monitors.

Oh brilliant. Thank you all so so much, was scared no one would reply! I’m going to excitedly examine all your ideas now.

@HollowTalk luckily my work is making a small contribution (£200) towards this so I won’t have to put much towards it myself.

We are allowed to purchase what we want in terms of chair and desk, within a limit. I think it’s £175 for a chair at the moment.

All IT equipment including one or two monitors, laptops, keyboards, tablet and tablet pen, risers, cartridges, mobile phone etc are ordered through supplier.

Our daughter received a £500 office set up allowance when she started her graduate scheme. That didn’t include IT hardware, just chair, desk, lamp etc.

I bought a second hand Herman Miller chair after I got sick of cheap ones giving me aches and pains

@lljkk Your set up is very practical! Luckily I don’t need a keyboard cubby but that’s so handy! I can definitely relate to wanting to sort this on a budget.

@InTheNightWeWillWish thanks for sharing that chair. I may very well snap it up! Do you find it to be supportive?

@LemonRoses damn your employers are very generous! Unfortunately I work in the public sector, I think my budget is £80 for a chair as they’re broke !

I work public sector too!
We worked from home long before Covid, so we’re already set up with broadband lines etc. They’ve reduced it a bit as money has become tighter, but yes, generous compared to many.

What do you think of a desk like this? It’s an IKEA hack so relatively affordable, but suits my home. I would rest the table top on top of the drawers though, and only keep it as long as a regular desk.

Second hand can be good for chairs. A large monitor is super useful, I use a laptop but with separate monitor, keyboard and mouse which is more comfortable. I have a second hand computer desk with pullout keyboard tray but I do find it a bit awkward.

@callmemaybee it’s not overly adjustable in terms of adjusting where the arms are or adjusting the angle of the back. However, I do find it supportive. I occasionally swap desks with DH and he finds it supportive too. We’re quite different heights - I’m 5’ 4” and he’s 6’ 2”. My chair and desk are in the living room, so DH will sometimes grab my chair to play his PlayStation on. My only gripe with that chair is not being able to move the arms, I can’t quite get the height of the chair right for my legs or my arms with the desk. That’s not uncommon with me (I’ve got short legs and a longer torso). At some point when I have some spare money I’ll buy some ergonomic arm supports for the desk which should help balance that out a bit. The chair is great for my back, legs and shoulders though, it’s just my forearms.

@InTheNightWeWillWish thank you very much for the detailed information, it’s particularly helpful as we’re the same height with seemingly the same short legs! It seems like a great option and I’m considering ordering it! 🙂

@callmemaybee

Posting for traffic - hope you don’t mind

If you work from home, can you share which desk/chair/monitor you use please?

I may be full time working from home after mainly being in the office during the pandemic (backwards I know!) so need to invest in a proper space.

If your company want you to work from home ask them to provide the desk, char, computer, monitor, work mobile etc

Maybe my employer is stingy. They provided a laptop and calls are supposed to be made through teams so no work phone. I think people with a glasses prescription get a free monitor as a reasonable adjustment, but that doesn’t apply to me.

Google secondhand office furniture suppliers in your area
I fitted out my entire office suite pre Covid for a few thousand - 12 desks and chairs plus consoles - shelving - cupboards - extra tables for board room etc
When we went into lockdown I bought desk, 2 chairs (DS and I) table for printer etc from same supplier for under £250
All my staff who home work can choose a desk and chair suitable for the space they have within similar budget

@DynamoKev

I bought a second hand Herman Miller chair after I got sick of cheap ones giving me aches and pains

My son has just bought one off eBay for half price. It was still £450! He is away at the moment and it's in my hallway as I can't move it. Is it really comfortable then?

Oh wow Herman Miller is expensive! Their products must be more comfortable than they look

I bought an operators chair with arms, I think it was a staples one, I got it cheaper on eBay, around £60.
I'm working from my kitchen table but I will get a desk, probably from IKEA.
My monitors and keyboard are from scan computers.

Varidesk with two monitors supplied by the company.

www.vari.com/

I have a kallax connected to a desk top, like this. It's a legitimate ikea combo so they do actually sell the fittings to do it. My partner and I both had desks for gaming pcs before anyway - I've now got a gaming laptop instead. Fortunately only one of us works from home, as otherwise we'd have move one of the desks somewhere else.

Chair is from work, I had a chair but going from a couple of hours to a full working day meant I needed a proper computer chair.

I have a work laptop, but bought a stand from amazon.

Technically I have a screen from work, but its not actually used, as I've recently upgraded to a 27inch acer, its technically a gaming screen. So work has provided a reasonable one, just I wanted better and something for personal use.

Mouse and keyboard came through work, and they also provided a dock for the laptop - I think they were planning an upgrade way before covid hit, so everyone was going to a laptop + Dock set up.

Oh and I bought a lamp for early winter mornings. There is also a Google home mini tucked on top of my dock and under my screen. Plus a foot rest under my desk.

Work also provided I think a £250 allowance to claim from, but I never did. The only stuff I 'needed' was little things like lamps and footrests, and tbh couldn't be asked with the faff.

I was keen to make it a work space - but also wanted to be able to make a reasonably quick transition to personal one. So in theory all my work notebooks, mouse and keyboard get tucked into the kallax cubby, and the laptop is already propped out the way.

I am self employed, so everything comes out of my budget!

The key things that make a difference;

• Posture. Ensure your chair is height adjustable, so your feet are flat in the floor and your back is straight. I have an ergonomic rocking chair, so I can't slump. You can easily get a second-hand office chair; a lot are going cheap at the moment through refurbishment sites. It's also worth checking Facebook marketplace.

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/how-to-sit-correctly/

• Adjust the height of your monitor using books or a display stand, so it sits at the correct eye level. A few pounds off Amazon.

• Pay attention to your wrists. Get a wrist rest for your keyboard and mouse, if necessary or else go for a trackball mouse. I was getting carpel tunnel with the standard equipment.

My desk is an old wooden IKEA dinning table! I just needed it to be sturdy and have sufficient width to space out my monitor and keyboard. Having said that, there are some nice (and cheap) options on Wayfair.