Home Office Makeover
A new look for the new journey ahead.
My home office has been an amazing place to work in. Over the past few years, I've been progressively updating it (2019) (2020), based on my changing needs as a creative professional. Recently, big changes have happened. I quit my job, and have gone on my own. Because of that, I thought it would be nice to refresh my space, for the new endeavors ahead.
Watch the video below to see the entire process, start to finish, of remodeling my home office. Then scroll down to see more photos and links to everything featured in the space.
Quick note: Some of the links provided below are affiliate links, which I receive a small commission for at no extra cost to you. Shopping through those links is the easiest way to support my content. Thank you.
The Paint
I already had white oak throughout my space, so I wanted to pair it with colors that would compliment it and make the office feel open, warm, and inviting.
I was fortunate enough to have Benjamin Moore sponsor the video above, so I had the chance to finally give their paints a try. I absolutely loved it. It’s the best paint I’ve ever used in terms of coverage, color, and quality. For my accent wall, I used “Platinum Gray” HC-179 and to match my existing white color in the space for touch-ups, I used “Icicle” OC-60 . You can discover more about Benjamin Moore here, and if you need painting tips, I highly recommend watching the video below from my friends Becki and Chris.
The Desk Setup
The central part of my new setup is my Sway Desk, by Ergonofis, in white oak. desk. This is a motorized sit-stand desk, which gives me plenty of room to work on at 72x30". And has 2 programmable settings for standing and sitting. I like to switch between the two throughout the day, to keep my energy flowing. Underneath the desk is a Neat Filing Cabinet to help me organize my important documents, as well as my chair and footrest.
Mounted under my desk are a few things to maximize my space keep the desktop looking free of clutter. On the back of the desk is a Cable Management Solution to route my cables on. Below the desk are some 3D-printed brackets to hold and hide my laptop and hub.
Cable Management System
On the top of my desk, I installed a white monitor arm by Ergotron, which is heavy-duty for large displays and is minimal in design. Mounted on that is my ASUS ProArt 34" monitor, which is color calibrated for all of my video work. With this arm, the monitor can be moved in a wide range of directions and be rotated and tilted to your preference.
Video Conference Setup
Jump to 4:00 to see my new video conference setup.
High-quality video is important for the business I do, so behind my monitor I have a compact video conferencing setup, that can easily by revealed and hidden, simply by moving my monitor down. That way I have beautiful setup without it being always visible on my desk. I chose a Fujifilm setup because it was lightweight, compact, and has a plug and play application so you can use some of their cameras as a webcam, without the need of an additional adapter.
Desktop Accessories
For my keyboard and mouse, I'm still using the same MX set from Logitech. Which have held up with time, and are still as comfortable to use as the day I got them. These sit on top of a light grey felt mat from Grovemade, which I've been using for years.
Next is my new favorite productivity tool, Analog by Ugmonk. This is my to-do list which I fill up each week, and knock out every day. It's simple, beautiful, and just works because I see it every time I sit down at my desk. I've found that it's the perfect compliment to my digital project management tools.
Analog To Do System (save 10% when you use my link)
Next to that is an old Echo spot which I use to set timers for my focus sprints throughout the day, and to give voice commands to control my smart lighting. Above that is a minimal desk lamp that’s dimmable and can change color temperatures from warm to cool. Behind are my cables to charge my devices, which are held up by a cable clip, and powered by a Ravpower charger.
On the other side of my desk is my iPhone charging dock by Nomad, as well as a notepad, and my favorite pen by Grovemade. Lastly on my desk is a set of Audioengine A2+ speakers. I chose these because they were white, have a small footprint, and deliver a clear sound for monitoring.
I created a dedicated video to some of my favorite desk accessories. Watch this to hear more about why I chose what I did and how I use them on a daily basis.
Storage
For my storage, I have a set of custom Besta units from IKEA. The overhead wall-mounted unit holds my camera gear, and above that are a few books and magazine holders. The Besta unit below holds my office supplies, organization accessories, and archived drives and notebooks.
On the Wall
On the wall, I use a flexible pegboard system to host my commonly used items. Like batteries, adapters, and writing materials. I also mounted wooden dowels to hold my backpacks and anything else I might want to hang here in the future.
I also installed a set of white steel shelves, as well as wood floating shelves in my alcove. Here I store my favorite headphones, and a few books, which are held up by magnetic wood pegs by The Artifox. I also have a small catch-all tray by Oakywood, which holds a few tools I use consistently throughout the day.
One thing I added to my office which had a huge impact, is a diffuser. Smell is often a factor of our space that we tend to overlook, but the right scent can create a specific atmosphere in our environments. The scent I like to use is “Boost” by Vitruvi because it makes it feel so fresh and inviting to come to work in my office every morning.
Bookshelves
As you might have seen from a previous video, I created a set of bookshelves to host my collectibles, and display my books. I’ve since incorporated these into the rest of my office to look and feel more cohesive with the rest of the updates. You can learn more about what’s on my shelves below.
Learn about what kind of books and collectibles I have in my office.
Lighting
One thing I added a few months ago was this motorized double roller shade which helps me control the natural light coming in. One shade allows 50% filtered light to come through, while the second one is a blackout shade. This prevents most of the outside sun from leaking in when I want full control of my lighting conditions.
Roller Shade
(message the seller if you want to have dual motorized rollers)
Since I'm already in the Phillips Hue ecosystem, I added a few more lights to brighten up the space and highlight some dim areas. Like behind my monitor, and underneath my shelves.
The set of lights on top of my Besta unit were a bit challenging to install. First I had to run power through my walls so that I had an outlet overhead. I used a TV cable kit for this, but it was much harder to do than anticipated. Watch the video below to see how.
Then I had to figure out how to install the light strip so it was inset and leveled with this surface. I cut some pieces of MDF and a metal track to host the light strip. Then fixed them into place with a few wood screws. After all that hard work, I now had power and soft lighting overhead. As well as the ability to store extra objects in this space.
Finally, I installed a hanging pendant lamp, which I customized by spray painting it orange, to match the accent color throughout the space.
Hanging Pendant Lamp (painted orange)
Original Artwork
To tie everything together, I knew I wanted a minimal piece to go over my desk, but I couldn’t find anything. So I designed one myself and got it printed. Because several people asked, I’ve now made the art available to purchase through my Inprnt account.
Original Artwork “Sunset Haze”
DIY Modern Closet
The last big project of my home office renovation was to rip out my old sliding door closet and rebuild it from scratch to host my gear and tech, and be incorporated with the look of the room. After a few weeks of design, and some unexpected adventures in the process, I came up with this modern white oak storage solution.
Closing Thoughts
You can watch a complete home office tour which includes my custom DIY closet and DIY DJ Desk. You can also watch the entire home office update series on this YouTube playlist.
Redoing my office was not something I needed to do, but designing spaces has become such a fun hobby of mine. Some guys have their classic cars to work on, and I have my home office.
It's interesting how simply changing colors and the orientation of your space can have such a huge impact on your mood and energy. Ever since I transformed my office, I've had a surge of motivation and momentum on my projects.
If you enjoyed this setup, check out my transforming desk setup.
Thanks for reading, and leave me a comment if you have any questions.