My Final Home Office Equipment List (With Pictures)

Here is the equipment you’ll find in my home office right now.

 

The backstory behind my home office equipment list

I started working from home in my early twenties.

We had four guys in a four-bedroom apartment near the beach in San Diego. You can probably picture the scene: dirty dishes stacked above the faucet, beer took up most of the fridge, and quarters were the hottest commodity on laundry day. 

I wasn’t exactly focused on building a nice work environment. I threw out a fold-out table (likely purchased for beer pong), bought a used office chair, and posted up in the hallway near the pop-a-shot basketball hoop.

Ahh, there it is.

Here’s a good picture of what it felt like to work in that environment.

It took a few years for me to care about my home office setup.

Now in my thirties – I’m married with two kids, both of us parents working from home – the home office environment is just a bit more important. We need a good space where we can think (and be professional on video calls).

See Also: Providing Equipment For Remote Workers: 4 Options

After just under a decade of working from home, I finally feel pretty good about the equipment we have to make a nice home office setup. Keep in mind, though, these are the pieces of equipment that work for me. If you want to see a number of real home office layouts in one, take a look at Maker Stations. They’ve done the best job building real, inspirational galleries.

Here’s my list.

1) Desk: FlexiSpot Comhar Pro Standing Desk Q8

If you look at my face, you can probably see I don’t get excited that easily.

But I love this desk. It’s extremely well built and high quality, it has a minimalist simple, and it has all the bells and whistles:

• Add up to four preset heights (for sit and stand positions for you and you spouse, for example)
• Wirelessly charge your phone on the desk
• Put your work away at the end of the day with a drawer
• Hide your cables and wires with a built-in cable tray

If you want a standing desk with drawers, this is a reasonable price for what I consider the best on the market.

You can read about and filter a list of the best home office desks here.

 

2) Chair: FlexiSpot Ergonomic Chair Pro 

Three things jump out to me about the FlexiSpot Ergonomic Chair Pro:

1. Versatility – everything is adjustable on multiple planes
2. Quality materials – the chassis is sturdier and heavier than any I’ve seen, the mesh material is strong and flexible
3. Breathability – each part of your body is suspended in the air by fabric (no parts are skin-on-cushion, which gets hot).

If you want a high-quality, ergonomic chair that won’t break the bank (like a Herman Miller at $2,000), you’ll be very happy with the FlexiSpot chair I have. You can check today’s price here.

Read about and filter the best office chairs here.

 

See Also: Should You Buy FlexiSpot’s Mesh Back Office Chair? [My OC2 Review]

 

3) Laptop: Apple Macbook Pro ($1,949)

I’ve done the PC thing and I’ve done the Mac thing. I’m a Mac guy now. I’ve had this computer for almost ten years and it still runs like new. I never had a PC that did that. 

See Also: 10 Best Laptops For Working From Home

 

4) Display/Monitor: Dell 24-Inch HD Monitor ($154)

I actually have a Mac Thunderbolt Display, but they stopped making them in 2016 and it’s been replaced by the Pro Display XRD. It looks like the standard version of that display starts at $5,000! I’d recommend buying a car instead.

We now send out these Dell monitors to new employees instead. To pair it with a Macbook you’ll need to get a USB adapter and an HDMI cable.

 

5) Keyboard & Mouse: Apple Magic Keyboard ($94) & Magic Mouse ($99)

I’ve had a wireless keyboard and mouse for years. I’ll even travel with them depending on how long we’re going away for. The wireless piece is nice and helps to keep your desk clean, but the real value of a wireless keyboard and mouse is for video conferencing. In order to look good on video, you need to get a few feet back from your camera and have the camera higher than your head. It’s just a better angle. A wireless keyword (not connected to your laptop or computer) helps to solve that.

 

6) Laptop stand: Nexstand ($44)

This is a great product. Like I said in #5, it’s important to lift the camera for video calls. The laptop stand helps with this and so you’re not constantly looking down all day and putting pressure on your neck. It’s lightweight, collapsible, durable and great for travel.

I’ve had the Roost laptop stand in the past, too, which I’d highly recommend as well. It lasted for about 5 years and traveled around the world and finally broke. When I went to buy a new one, there was a cheaper option on the market like Nexstand. 

 

7) Microphone: Blue Yeti USB ($99)

I have this for podcasting and video creation. I don’t use it simply for video calls. So, if you’re not creating content then you likely don’t need this.

 

8) Webcam: Logitech 4K Pro ($189)

For years, I used my Mac display’s built in camera. Mac is well known for high-quality products, so this was a good solution. Then I got the Logitech 4K Pro and it was night and day. If you want to look good on video calls, I recommend getting this one.

 

9) Video conference background: Anyvoo ($229)

Even with all of the sweet tech I have in #1 – 7, Anyvoo this is the best tool I have. It’s essentially the way to be present professionally while working from home. Just like you probably wouldn’t show up to visit a client’s office in a tank top, you don’t want to have dirty dishes or an unmade bed on a client video call.

See Also: How To Level Up Your Home Office Background

The frame sets up easily and sits on a tripod stand. The backdrop is made of essentially the same thing as work out gear – like yoga pants or gyms shorts. It’s really stretchy and doesn’t wrinkle. So if you choose a wood-panel backdrop, it won’t blow in the wind or pick up wrinkles in a few weeks.

Here’s the Buildremote Anyvoo in my home office:

 

9) Books

Corny? Yes. But it’s true. I’ve read a handful of great books that have helped me specifically because I work from home and for a fully remote company. I asked 29 people who work from home about their best book for working remotely, and wrote this blog post, if you’re interested. These are my favorites:

• Remote: Office Not Required By, Jason Fried
• 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People By, Stephen Covey
• The 4-Hour Workweek By, Tim Ferriss
• Deep Work By, Cal Newport

 

How to improve the experience in your home office I asked my list of contributors for some tips on how to work from home. Here are some quick tips I liked: Prepare the right technical equipment for your job You’ll need a fast router that won’t struggle with advanced encryption algorithms — you’ll need that for online safety. Ensure you have WPA2 encryption turned on or install a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on a router to secure your home network. Remember that you will be dealing with confidential business data outside of office network security, and it’s up to you to protect it. You can also use proxy services if you deal with worldwide clients. If you require specific information from a geographically restricted website, use static residential proxies to bypass the block. It will be much faster than asking for information from your contractor. Get dressed for work It has been a longtime dream of mine to work on my PJs. Unfortunately, this was not helping me get ready to start my day. I procrastinated a lot and did not complete projects as quickly as I did before. Then I started dressing up in the morning, just like I would if I went into an actual office. This strategy helped motivate me, and I also saved time getting ready later in the day when I had to meet with clients. Last-minute appointments were no longer a problem. – Sam Browne, Founder, FINDABAND   Get an extra monitor I was blown away by how much faster and more efficient I was when I added an extra monitor to my workspace. I can go from one tab to another without clicking 100 times to find what I need. I keep each screen on whatever platform or software I need and complete my work much faster. After I got the extra monitor, I realized I had no idea how I was even able to work with just one screen. – Steve Pogson, Founder, FirstPier Create a snack drawer Protein bars, trail mixes, and sometimes a little chocolate are all necessary in order to keep your day going. Traditional offices have them because they know it’s good for morale if you treat your employees while they work hard for you. This is why I adopted the same strategy for myself in my own business. It’s important for me to keep my health in mind, so I keep the sweets to a minimum. However, taking a short break for healthy snacks can give you a nice little energy boost and also help productivity. – Jay Bats, Co-Founder, Content Base   Declutter When I declutter my office, it feels like I also declutter my mind. There isn’t a pile of paperwork in front of me to distract me from all of my other projects. Most of the time, the paperwork is nothing but bills or credit card offers. Any extra paper, envelopes, pens, and pencils are stored with my other supplies. This makes my office look more spacious. I can think more clearly and will be more productive. – Erin Neumann, Founder, Sacred Space Organizing   Get good lighting A dark room will easily make me sleepy, which can make me start procrastinating by scrolling the news online. Once I open the blinds and turn the lights on, my brain wakes up, and I can start my workday. Bad lighting could also be bad for your eyes, so I make sure that my office space lighting is ideal, which also includes the monitors. Monitors that are too bright usually give me a headache, and those set too low can make me squint. The trick is to find the sweet spot where your eyes are comfortable looking at them for a long time. – Shaun Connell, Founder, Rental Property Calculator

Looking for some other useful resources about working remotely? 

• Here is a buyer’s guide to home office storage (with the best product in each category)
• Here’s a sortable list of 60+ remote work software tools for your distributed team
• Read our filterable guides on finding the right home office desk and office chair
• Best desks under $100, best minimalist desks or small desks
• Find some ideas to organize your desk and workspace

 

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