Putting together my dream office
I’m a programmer. A passion, borderline obsession. My office has become that getaway island where I spend most my time, dreaming, thinking and coding. Creating the ultimate work space has become a priority. I want to feel energized and inspired when I sit down. Earlier this year I tweeted several images of setups I really liked, and at some point we all collected nerd points with an ‘ultimate screen-setup’ fight-off. If I remember correctly Rachel won?
I’m not done with my work space yet, and somewhat restricted financially (saving up for an apartment) I’ve had to get creative. Also, since I just have to have it my way I’ve built things myself. I wanted to share the progress so far, and please do share ideas that you might have.
Here is the current setup:
I took a shot including parts of the living room as it was important for me that the office blends in well with my apartment. The table/bar to the left is a part of my kitchen (also mostly in white). I have blackout curtains and prefer programming in the dark, so the lights are meant for a dark room. The photos are taken during the day.
The TV is permanently hooked up to a laptop as I don’t watch TV, I subscribe to video feeds from Channel 9 etc. instead and in the bathroom a Bluetooth speaker runs my favorite podcasts when I’m getting ready for the day.
Let me give you a tour.
To the left there is a custom standing laptop stand that can fit 3-4 laptops (I have several, and switch between them). I made it after being inspired by the Mac standing dock. I have plans to create a dock, but for now I’ve minimized the amount of cables to a USB and a screen cable as the screens are daisy chained. All other USB units are connected through a USB hub connected to the monitor, the hub allows me to easily unplug as I bring the keyboard and mouse with me when I travel. The hub is partly inside the cable box (that opens vertically) as it is powered, and the hubs are exposed on the side.
The iPad on the wall is used for my build server or other VMs, and when not in use loops scubadiving or water videos as I love scubadiving. The second iPad that I built into the table I use for managing the music connected to the surround system in the ceiling, and also for my Kanban board and notifications. (by the entrance door there is an Android tablet for managing the apartment lights and also for network channel monitoring since there is a lot of interference).
Currently I only have three monitors, the aim is six,- but I’ll need an external graphic card for that so I’ll wait. I’ve wrapped the cables in white so they will blend better (ignore the mess in the picture, I had to adjust some things). The square in the middle of the table is a 1TB external disk that I also built into the table with led lights for effects. I also added some led lights at the table line, I have some NFC tags along the line and the cable acts as a guide,- and yes I need a longer led cable. The light box above the desk has to purposes, the first being a light indicating the status of my build server (however I haven’t set that up quite yet with my pie), and second I can set it to white and get even light exposure for videos and video calls. The HD camera is resting on the middle monitor, connected to a screen hub. The table is standing only, but I have a tall chair. It’s actually really comfy, but I need a foot rest. The foot rest is going to have pedals so I can run some macros with pedal combinations (probably for video and audio editing and recording). The mouse mat is also going to get leds, as well as the keyboard. Between the second and third monitor a travel pro mic is resting, my Rode podcaster (usually on an extended arm above the middle monitor) is not in the picture as I just got it back yesterday from a friend. I prefer to use it instead of the other mic or the camera mic for recording and calls. To the left of the mouse mat I have my tablet and pen for drawing (when I’m not using the surface). I wanted to build it in, but after some calculations I came to the conclusion that the table would be too weakened to hold three more monitors without reinforcement and spreading the weight.
I’m going to add some more lights and have more even lights, each connected to different servers. I also want to order a better chair for sit/standing (hairdresser one) with wheels.
So yup. That’s it. Bring on some more ideas, and I would love to see your setup and hear what you love about it,- as well as what you would love to add/change.
Comments
Hey Iris.... Nice setup. I'm mostly curious about how good that stool is for guitar?
Your apartment is way more geeky than mine. But I've got a Channel 9 Guy. Can you spot it? :) http://1drv.ms/1Qry7db
Great setup! I also have 3 monitors now (one laptop screen in the middle and two on yhe sides), and I constantly find myself dragging every window I work in to the central monitor. I think my ideal setup would include a central big sceen and one smaller screen to the right. By the way, do you know any good software that would remember which screen to use for particular application? For example, opening IM apps on the side screen, openning VS on two other screens and resizing appropriately.
I wish my monitors supported daisy chaining properly, so I could reduce cables. BTW, have you considered using portrait mode for your monitors? PS, the guitar is a nice touch, I could use one in my office.
Nice set up! Especially important that you keep that Strat nearby as part of the office tools. Play much? I've got a Strat, Gibson Les Paul Custom, and an assortment of others (acoustic, electric, and a pair of Basses.
...nice, and what about your speakers??
Looking good so far - I've got triple monitors at the moment and want to put some lighting in behind those, or possibly along the back of the desk. I sometimes use my Surface Pro 3 for my Kanban board when I'm using my desktop, but thinking of getting a fourth monitor top centre to dedicate purely to that, rather than using a tablet
If you really wanna have a bad-ass office works-pace, check out the world-renown guru: http://www.stefandidak.com/office/
This is a ridiculously awesome setup. Waiting for the day that I can get mine together... soon I hope! Shane
I'd say this is an awesome womancave, but that sounds wrong.
Last modified on 2015-09-10