DIY Home Office and Desk Tour — Work From Home Setup

We all need a space where we can feel productive, focused, and inspired. Hi, I'm Matthew Encina, and in this video, I'll take you through my DIY process of updating my workspace and give you a tour of my home office setup. I'm a designer and content creator, so I wanted to optimize the space for my creative needs. Overall, my goal was to have an office that is clean and minimal in design. The first step, cleaning up. When I first started this project, my wife and I were in the middle of redoing our bedroom, so the home office became a storage closet. It was a mess. Boxes everywhere, lots of old stuff we've been hoarding for years, and just way too many computers and devices. I took a hard look at every object in the room and asked myself, does this object provide me joy? Do I use this often? Is this important to keep? If it wasn't an emphatic yes to any of those questions, then I sent them to donation or the trash. The next thing on the list was to consolidate computer gear. Between my wife and I, we had too many machines and devices. Many were legacy computers we held onto since our school days, so I wiped what we weren't using and sold them. Once the space was cleaned, I wanted to update the accent wall so the space had more contrast. I chose a dark gray with a slightly cool tint to it. I used the paint with a matte finish to keep the appearance soft. Next on the list was the foundation of my workspace, the desk. I wanted a big long desk made of solid wood. I looked at many tabletop options, but ended up getting an oak kitchen countertop from Ikea. For the base, I used a pair of Alex drawers, also from Ikea, which I already had from my previous setup. Because it was solid wood, it was pretty heavy and difficult to move around. The wood was untreated, so I had to apply the finish myself. A note here, don't make the same mistake I did and put your hot coffee on untreated wood. That's a big no-no. To fix that moisture damage I had caused and prep the surface for finish, I sanded down the wood. I started with a coarse 120 grit sandpaper and finished off with a 320 fine grit. After researching the different wood finish options between lacquers and oils, I ended up going with a Danish oil finish. This provided a good balance of the natural earthy look of an oil finish, while offering the moisture protection of lacquer. I wiped on two coats of the Danish oil and let it dry overnight. The next day, it still felt a little sticky and was a little too shiny for my taste, so I wiped it down with a little bit of linseed oil and sanded down the top layer with my 320 grit sandpaper. This left my desk incredibly smooth to the touch. With my desk finally prepped, I was ready to set up my hardware. I work on both Mac and PC. I use my MacBook for everyday tasks like browsing, writing, and designing, while I use my PC for heavy tasks like 3D rendering. Previously, I had two separate desk setups for these and now I had to figure out a smart way to incorporate both into a single desk. I used to have a mechanical keyboard and a wired mouse, but it was cumbersome to switch back and forth between devices. So after a lot of research, I found the Logitech Kraft keyboard and the Master MX2S mouse was the best solution for my situation. With the touch of a button, I can easily click through and control each device. I love the low profile design, the tactile feel of the keys, and the beautiful look of the materials because they match the rest of my setup. Also, the ergonomics of the keyboard and mouse are amazing. Underneath that, I'm using a felt pad as a soft surface for my hands and my devices to sit on. It also serves as a visual anchor to break up my desk. For my monitor, I'm using an ultrawide display from Dell. In the past, I've used a dual monitor setup, but I prefer having one big screen with lots of real estate for all of my windows. And like my keyboard and mouse, I can easily switch between my Mac and PC. To work comfortably for many hours at a time while maintaining a good posture, I invested in a few things. A good chair, a footrest, and a monitor stand. The chair was probably the most important purchase since I spend most of my time in it at home. I've been rocking a beat-up Ikea chair for the past decade, and I was way overdue for an upgrade. So after much deliberation, I opted to get the Lino chair, which was incredibly comfortable and quite minimal in its design. It's adjustable in all the right places and comes in some really nice material finishes. To reinforce good posture, I bought a wooden monitor stand to keep my eyeline looking up, and got an angled footrest to help me sit back in my chair. As an added bonus, the monitor stand created a small pocket to tuck my keyboard in if I ever needed more desk space to work. Because I switch tasks between shooting, designing, and writing, I needed a good way to organize my gear. I wanted my most used items to be within arm's reach, so I arranged everything based off of that. I bought a modular pegboard system to hold my loose accessories, my camera gear, writing materials, and my headphones, wires, and adapters. Over my desk, I installed a shelf to make use of the vertical space in my room. This is where I store my secondary gear when not in use. For the things I rarely accessed, I tucked them away in labeled boxes in non-visible places. Across the room, I used an Ikea shelf to organize my books and display my collectibles in a nice way. To keep my space looking clean, I decided to hide my wires from sight. To do that, I used some cable ties and adhesive hooks to route and manage all of my cables behind my desk. For the things that would rarely be unplugged, like my monitor and PC, I tucked a power strip on the floor beneath my desk. For the things I'd need to unplug often, I installed another power strip on the side of my desk. This gave me accessible power while still keeping the wires visually hidden. To hold the loose connectors and chargers for my laptop, I used a weighted cable organizer to keep them readily available. While I enjoy the minimal design and openness of the space, I wanted to make sure there was still some character to it. I follow a lot of artists on Instagram and whenever I can, I purchase their artwork. Like you saw earlier, I have a small collection of toys and pins from conventions and events. I like to keep these here to remind myself not to grow up too quickly and to add some color to the space. To complete this setup, I keep this lightly scented candle and a mini cactus on my desk. That's my home office. I've been working in it for a couple of weeks now and I've got to say, it has made a huge impact on my productivity, focus, and just general enjoyment of being in the space. Yes, it does get a little cluttered from time to time, but because I've developed a better standard and system to keep things organized, I find it fairly easy to maintain. This was a big project for me. It took about two months on the weekends and many trips to the store for me to complete. I didn't know half of the things I know now about designing a good workspace. If you have any questions about anything in the video, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer it. I've also added a link in the description with all of the products I've used in my home office in case you wanted to pick up any for your own. Also, don't forget to like and subscribe because it lets me know who's watching and if you want to see more of these types of videos. Now with that out of the way, it is time to get back to work.