The blog of Affordances LLC.

Design, Office, Workplace, HR Omar Ramirez Design, Office, Workplace, HR Omar Ramirez

How to Create A WFH Setup That Works For You

Many of us have been working from home for almost two years. At the beginning of the pandemic a lot of companies started giving their employees stipends or letting them take pieces of equipment from work to enable them to be more productive. However, in many cases no real guidance has been given as to how to create an actual basic setup on a budget.

For that reason I have put together this simple guide to hopefully help people like you reading this find the resources you need to work more comfortably from home. I recommend you do your own further research and figure out exactly what equipment works best for you and the way you work at home.

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice and if you are having pain or other physical discomfort issues you should discuss your work setup and any issues with your medical professional and your company.

Setup 1: The Basics For Less Than $400

Something I should mention out the gate is that your best bets for finding quality used furniture are likely to be Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, or your local thrift store. Buying new if great if you have the money and want something with a warranty. However, there is so much used furniture and equipment out there right now that you can easily put together a good wfh setup without breaking the bank and help keep some stuff out of landfill!

The Basic Setup:

Getting a decent setup at any price really is achievable. It just requires some digging and knowledge. Don’t worry I’ll be putting additional resources at the bottom of the page. For now, let’s get into the more complex setup.

Setup 2: The Upgrade

So you’ve been working from home for 2 years and your company has thrown an additional stipend at you. You’ve already procured your desk chair, monitor, and desk. That’s great! Now you can move into professionalizing your setup further. In this setup we’ll add some lighting, a camera, and an ergonomic keyboard / mouse. If you need more info on why lighting is important to make you not look like the shadow monster from the Ring read this article. Our goal here is to still keep total setup under $800 and to think sustainably by buying second hand.

The Base

The Additions

Total Setup Cost: $640

For The Trendsetters, Designers & Individualists

Some of us may want something more personal, stylish, or frankly the best possible piece of equipment. There’s options for people like you as well. There’s been a great number of companies reducing the size of their office footprint and with that lots of great designer furniture has been making it’s way to people trying to keep it out of landfills. I’d highly suggest you look at options like ReSeat before you buy new.

Lastly if you’re looking for design inspiration for your WFH setup I’d highly suggest Pinterest as an option but Apartment Therapy has a ton of great articles / inspiration as well for individuals.

Make It Personal

For a lot of us, working from home is the first time we actually have the ability to make our work space ours. Offices have always offered this to an extent but constant reshuffles / reorgs make this a hard thing to maintain. Take your time, find your pieces, and make it personal. Taking time to make your space personal will make your work more pleasurable, even if you are on never ending zoom calls.

Additional Resources:

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