My friend’s home setup has me thinking about my own space

[warrenettie]

A friend of mine recently sorted out her home office and it honestly made such a difference to her place. It’s not even a big room but somehow it looks twice the size now. She just organised things better and picked furniture that actually fits the space.
It made me look around my own house and realise how messy and cramped my work area has become. I usually just work at the kitchen table, which means papers and cables everywhere. I’d love to make a proper little corner for myself but I don’t want to spend a lot.It’s funny how a few small changes can actually make a big difference when you’re short on room.

I've recently done the same in my home office and the difference is astounding ... didn't even get new furniture, just rearranged what I had.

It's good to look at things with fresh eyes sometimes.

Could you get a desk like this.. if you have a spare bit of wall? And take a dining chair to it when in use

Storage that fits makes a massive difference I think. If there is somewhere to put everything then not only do things get put away but you can also find them quickly when needed. What about an Ikea Billy bookcases with a built in desk that slides out. They have lots of storage boxes that fit on the shelves and look attractive, that way you can quickly put all your stuff out of sight and get it back out to work on.

This is the one I'm thinking of. https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/billy-bookcase-with-desk-and-drawer-white-s39563942/

That Billy seems very good, especially as it could be painted the same colour as the wall.
I haven't got a lot of spare wall, so I used a davenport desk for working at home, as it fit better with the rest of my dark academia aesthetic and has good storage. Something like this:

I didn't know those existed, that's perfect for my home admin set up (I hoard paperwork).

Sorry to be Mrs H&S bore, but you really will damage your back & you risk RSI if you don't set up your DSE properly.

Get yourself a decent chair and a desk with enough space to support your arms as a minimum.

Some of these space saving things are awful for your health.

No suggestions with the desk but something I did recently was take a look at my cabling and how many sockets, usbs etc I needed and where. I got some cable ties, a cable storage box and a extension lead with the right number of sockets plus usb sockets which could then replace the giant one I had previously and everything is looking a bit neater

I have looked at those and they do seem handy, although I do wonder how much weight they can actually take. I have quite a lot of heavy things such as magazines and folders, and I am not sure if a wall mounted desk would handle that without feeling a bit flimsy.

Thanks, my only worry is whether it would be sturdy enough for the heavier things I use. I have quite a lot of magazines and paperwork, so I am not sure how well the pull out part would cope with that. It is definitely something I will look into though.

I think there would be ways to reinforce that folding desk, to take more weight, for example, extra detachable legs.
Probably a heavy duty version of the same thing would be quite expensive, but I would think that a good joiner could copy the design in a sturdier version.

I have got this Billy Bookcase and desk and it’s great. It does need to be secured to the wall as it does move a bit when pulling the desk out if you don’t. It feels nice and sturdy to use but if you are going to be pulling it in and out often then you would need to have heavy things off of the desk when you are sliding it in and out. Only had them a few weeks but so far I really rate them.

Thanks, that’s actually really helpful. The bit about it moving when you pull the desk out is exactly what I was worried about. Good to know it feels sturdy once it’s fixed properly though.