As we ushered in 2021, it brought with it the global pandemic and, of course, the work from home culture. As this new year finally begins, working from home is now the norm. And, as saturated as it can get at times, I’ve realized sometimes a clean desk really can help! I truly believe a clean desk means a clean mind. So, here are a few impressive work from home investments for you to gain inspiration from, and finally declutter and set up your desk the way you really want to. Given the modularity of the design and its minimal aesthetics, these are sure to match your home interiors!
Michael Soledad’s desk has ample space for all his gadgets whether it’s his PC, laptop, or his iPad. Don’t miss out on the nifty little headphone holder, as well as the laptop stand. Clean, minimal, and wooden, it’s got everything we love in a good desk! It’s a desk setup that we can easily imitate and incorporate in our home office, encouraging productivity and efficiency, and motivating us to gear up for a fulfilling workday!
Meet the ‘Chaise Renversée’ – a desk that can also transform into a long chair by the famous French architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier. The literal translation of Chaise Renversée is ‘chair overturned’, I love how simply the French put everything. Since we are all cooped up in our homes, we are constantly finding ways to optimize space. Especially if you live in a city, you are likely to have everyday objects that are modular so that you have a functional space. Our current situation and the need to be flexible within a small space is exactly what inspired Gerlier to design the Chaise Renversée. It is the perfect blend of work from home and Netflix from home into one piece of modern furniture, it provides a stable table area to work and can then transform into the ‘Chaise Lounge’ when you want to relax.
You can cater the Standsome stand to your needs as it comes with a customizable profile for people of any height. Not only that it can work equally well for sitting positions when you don’t have a table and want to work while sitting on the floor. The possibilities are endless – you can even set it up on a low height table for a long day’s work, sans any strained muscles or pains. The height-adjustable stable laptop stand crafted in Germany from FSC-certified birch wood is consciously shipped in plastic-free material, and every unit sold means a tree is planted in the Philippine rainforest. To set it up, you just have to insert the foot piece into the intended cut-out and insert the provided split pin.
The Soul Seat helps you sit in a neutral posture that is effortless and comfortable. The springs on the elevated perch tilt the pelvis forward, open the hips and help align the spine. You can sit in several positions if crossing legs isn’t comfortable for you, the chair enables you to switch between multiple positions frequently keeping your body engaged and blood flowing. For some, this may also alleviate neck and back pain! The height of both levels can be adjusted to suit your workspace setup. I know there were many comments from our Instagram audience about it missing a backrest and while I don’t think it causes harm if you sit without one (people meditate and work in this very posture for hours in Asian countries), I do think having an option of a detachable backrest can help those who are just starting to work on their posture ease into it. It is about having that choice which opens up many more people to use the Soul Seat, however, there are countless reviews that mention it being comfortable as it is so it is a great design but it does come down to personal preference.
While Terrarium Desk by Jake Round was initially designed in order to help mitigate the mental stressors that come along with both the colder seasons and working from home in the year 2020, the desk’s compact nature might also feel inviting for city-dwellers. In other words, my wall of dried flowers might be moving out sooner than expected. Round’s design is wall-mountable and incorporates plenty of storage space for clutter that would otherwise claim space on our desktops – laptops, tablets, magazines, books, the works. At the desk’s focal point, Round placed his glass terrarium, which includes a warm light for cozy night viewings or brighter workspaces during the day. While the light can be dimmed, the terrarium itself is always in sight, whether the desk is opened or closed.
The new SlimBeam from NOHrD is that home cable station – that’s just right. SlimBeam is an elegant, multifunctional home cable machine that offers a wide array of workout options for users and its sleek, wooden body fits into any interior living space. The cable machine comes with an incorporated pull-up bar, weights, accessory adapter, and plenty of different cord options for different weight exercises like tricep extensions or pushdowns. The designers at NOHrD made all of these exercise options available to users because cable machines are intended to target those deeper layer muscles that isolated weight training misses. SlimBeam’s body might be slim and minimal, but no functionality was sacrificed in the making of this cable machine. Standing at just over seven feet tall and 16 inches wide, SlimBeam offers cord extension of up to eight meters, giving users the chance to practice that golf swing or rowing stroke.
Fitwork’s design sort of embodies a no-excuse mentality to being fit. Whether it’s the excuse of ‘being too busy’, or of ‘not wanting to go all the way to the gym’, Fitwork combats it by bringing the gym not just to your house, but to your workspace. Designed as a product to let you work and work out at the same time, this crazy hybrid of a desk-chair and treadmill keeps your legs active while you work. Whether you’re sitting in front of a laptop or standing in front of one, it’s the sedentary lifestyle that Fitwork tackles. The setup (which is sure to grab a few eyeballs) comes with an office chair attached to a treadmill underneath, and an elliptical in front. Coupled with an elevating desk, the Fitwork allows you to keep the lower half of your body active while you work, giving you cardio as well as keeping your spine engaged, whether you’re sitting or standing while working.
Kerstin Pfleger’s multifunctional furniture shape-shifts to accommodate a work-from-home lifestyle. By day, it’s a desk-space for work, and by night, it transforms into a bed for two. How does it do it? By using a clever set of mechanisms that compress the bed right into the desk’s storage units! Titled the Work/Sleep Balance, this morphing piece of home decor is ideal for tiny apartments, serving two purposes within a small footprint. The desktop is large enough to accommodate most of your work accouterments, while the cabinet on the side features a collapsible tri-axial bed frame that opens up to become a base for the mattress, which rolls right up and slides into a compartment in the desk’s back. The transformation takes around 2-3 minutes, allowing you to efficiently use your space to work during the day, and catch some shut-eye during the night!
Balconies are only used for drying clothes, and probably for the odd Romeo Juliet scene if you have an interesting love-life. Other than that, no one really uses them, even though they overlook the city and can have really breath-taking views sometimes. The Balkonzept desk fits onto any balcony, making the wonderful cityscape either your workplace or a setting for a beautiful lunch/dinner date. Available in wonderfully fresh colors, it’s sturdy enough to take the weight of a laptop, dining set, or a few potted plants. It uses a counter-balancing area which makes a great mini-garden, or even a book-case or bottle-rack. The makeshift balcony desk is just perfect for people bored of being stuck in the boring office workspace. Using the balcony, and the city’s landscape, the Balkonzept makes for a rather inspiring workplace.
Our modern lifestyle involves us being stationary in one position for long hours which is unhealthy and Pluching was created by Heesuk Lee as an organic solution that brings more movement! The time spent sitting in one place has increased so much ever since the pandemic began because all we do is work from home and then watch Netflix at home. This can cause turtle neck syndrome, shoulder pain, back pain, and unhealthy stiffness which you can minimize using stretching equipment like Pluching. The idea was to design exercise equipment that gives the effect of band exercise and stretching but could clip-on on the back of your chair for ease. Pluching uses a powerful neodymium magnet that is embedded in a silicon clip to secure the equipment and give you stability.
For more innovative investments, check the first part of this collection that will make your 2021 wfh sessions a breeze!
