Office-in-a-cupboard

Unfortunately not. I've definitely seen those in Glasgow tenements but none here barring the one over the flat door.

The door is basically never closed tbh unless

a) im trying to work with the kids around (which is rare as they are usually at nursery or occupied elsewhere when I'm working)

b) if I'm gaming and chatting on discord and my wife is on the phone or watching something on her laptop without headphones.

It's handy to keep the door on at least for now as my kids are 3 and 1 years old. The lock is my main defence against mashed rice cake being pushed through the fan grill of my PC when I'm not watching

The struggle is real! A bit different but I found all sorts inside my VHS player before I lent it to someone local.

One daughter and two twins, two years younger. They may have been 3, 1 and 1 at the time.

Stay strong, mashed up rice cake doesn't last forever.

One twin chucked a rock and smashed a glass lamp about a year ago. Decent shot, but a few too many bits to clean up for my liking.

I'm looking forward to seeing your finished project

I saw a cute/silly design for an under-stairs WFH set-up complete with cat shelf that led through to the stairs. It was carefully drawn, but unbuilt. I can't find it now, had a hunt on dezeen etc. Anyone else see it? I felt sure it would be appreciated on this thread...

So, cable management.

I'll be using a wireless kb and mouse which helps, but given that i'll be using a slab of wood for the desk, i figure there might be some clever solutions I could use for keeping things tidy without stashing everything away in a way that makes it a nightmare to change any wiring etc. Building it in from the start rather than retrofitting seems a better way to do it.

I also have freedom to decide where to place my sockets in the wall.

Has anyone build any cable management solutions into a desk before?

Has anyone build any cable management solutions into a desk before?

No, but it's on my list of ThingsToBeDone - I have desktop build planned (much the same as @soul has built), and am considering options for cable / power / charger management.

In all likelihood, it will involve power bars under the desk at the rear, a few slots routed out, and some sort of box on the surface for the most egregiously cluttery usb nonsense.

I do have a wired keyboard & mouse, though, because latency and clickyclacky mechanical keyboard.

You could mount a full length shelf about 10cm under the desk (on ‘stilts’ drilled into the wood) at the rear.

This neatly hides multi plugs, charger bricks, and you could put some trim in front if you wanted to hide it fully.

Also you could build a false wall on top of the desk about 5cm out so that you can easily wall mount the monitor and route the cables behind.
Maybe the false wall could be the peg board?

What's the forum go to source for a slab of wood cut to a custom size for a desk top? As I just ordered some worktops from worktop express I was thinking of that as an option, but I'd end up with a lot of offcut - there must be a cheaper and more efficient way.

You can get mechanical wireless ones right? I don't FPS anymore so not that fussed about latency tbh.

Anyway, @Soul - got pics?

@Acliff that's the idea behind the pegboard, hides cables, and creates 'off desk' storage too. Need to figure out if I want pegboard thick enough to support the monitor mount or whether I want the monitor arm to slot through the board somehow.

Not too difficult to put some timber noggins behind the pegboard, bolted to the wall, with the pegboard and wall mount bolted through it all.

In terms of mechanical keyboards, I really like the Filco Majestouch, they do a wireless version. Very traditional layout.

Sure...

Pic of the overall desk, under desk cabling and behind monitor cabling.

Main three ways to hide cabling for me:

1. Power delivery monitor (USB C) which powers the MacBook, and also runs the webcam and speaker (at the bottom of the gas lift stand) through USB A ports on the back.
   
2. Power strip that screws to the underside of the desk. Bought from Amazon, it’s specifically designed to be screwed, from the front, to wood.
   
3. Shit load of cable ties
   
   

I put the trunking on the wall to make that neater too. It’s a sit / stand desk so there’s cable slack there to allow for movement.

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On wireless mechanical keyboards, i have the Keychron K2 with a set of custom keycaps on...

Really solid though i'd probably switch from blue to red switches if i bought it again. They're fine in the office but in the much quieter home environment they're a touch too loud.

what KB i end up getting it'll be one of those nifty device switching ones so I can move between work laptop and home PC with the flick of a switch. Doesn't necessarily have to be mechanical - i've never used one before so i don't really know that I'm missing out or anything. We'll see.

Good point about the noggins.

Really nice job Soul, that's not far off at all what I'd envisioned for mine. What wood did you use for the top? I think I got my wife that same monitor arm too for her work area, pretty good for the £30 i paid

It's 18mm birch ply which i made into a herringbone pattern myself.

I like the idea of a compact form factor, but would always miss a number pad.

top job, it looks very smart. I'm thinking about bamboo as it is nice and light with some nice grain too

that's hott

want to come round mine and do my home office setup?

i actually seen you and your partner walk by my flat the other day admiring/grimacing at my garden

Sure.

My day rate is pretty eye watering though.

ha ! think you're not too far from us again - was probably grimacing because cursing the lack of nextbikes at the brodies station

Can recommend one of these. You get used to the round keys fairly quickly

https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/products/keyboards/k780-multi-device-wireless-keyboard.html

Check the depth of your desk. I just got my big monitor from work and found my desk at home isn't deep enough so I'm too close to the monitor and it hurts my eyes. A bit of googling suggest a minimum desk depth of 800mm, which you're not going to achieve based on your plans on the first page, but you have a bit of space between desk front edge and doorway...

On the keyboard front, I prefer the - very similar, but slightly more traditional - K375s

In my old flat the walls were shot, the handyman used stuff called wall dr, its a blown paper, worked well hiding all the damage.
In the flats im in now my mate used those led strips to get light where he wanted it, pretty bright for what they are, also dimmable, you could always mirror the ceiling/wall to throw the light about a bit more.

Has anyone build any cable management solutions into a desk before?

Forgotten who, but someone posted a link to a co they used who do cut to order worktops. They're usually for kitchens, but you can spec holes, etc wherever you want them.

Maybe check the WFH thread to see if you can find who it was. I'm sure they posted there.