2021 Desk Setup Tour | Working From Home Setup

hello everyone it's spawnpoint and welcome to my new desk setup tour so it's been about nine months since i first shared my desk setup and since then quite a lot has changed and as more of us are working from home these days hopefully this video will be of interest to you so if you follow me on instagram this desk isn't new i've been sharing it since august but it was time that i thought i would do a tour showing you everything that i've changed so i'm going to cover each item that i've got where i got it from how much it cost i've also linked to every single item in the description of this video in my kit list so if there is something that you like or something you want to purchase be sure to check that list out first also if you haven't already please don't forget to subscribe to the channel and drop a like on this video as well as it really helps me out so the first thing that you'll notice about my new setup is i've removed the two alex drawers i had in blue now although these looked great and they were really practical as well they left me with quite limited room to move my legs on top of that i really wanted to get myself a standing desk as well i wanted to remove the need to be sat down from anywhere between five and eight hours a day if i didn't need to so i swapped the drawers out for some smart desk legs from autonomous now this is the diy kit that they do and this comes with just the legs and the motors it doesn't come with a tabletop and it means that you can use your own if you've got one like i have already and then you've just got all the parts in here that you need you've obviously got the center bar the legs the motors the brackets and the control panel the control box that's what everything plugs into and that's pretty much it and then putting it together was easy enough you just slot everything together and what's great about these legs is they can extend anywhere between 40 and 73 inches wide so that should fit most spaces then i attached the top connected the wires up to the control box and that powers the motors and then i spent about 10 minutes deciding where i should put the control panel now this little control panel here when it comes with 3m tape on the back so you can just place it wherever you like and this is the keypad that lets you move the height up and down of the actual table so just by pressing and holding the arrow keys you can adjust it manually you just press and hold until you're happy and then just let go now once you've figured out the best sitting and standing height that you obviously use regularly you can just save these settings within any of the four numbers so for example i have number one set as my sitting height and then i have number two set as my standing height and then when you just tap the number it will then move it to that height straight away there's no need to hold it and as for the motor the noise they're quite quiet as well so have a listen to this price wise you can either go for the home office legs for about 320 or you can go for the premium legs for about 390 dollars which is what i went for now the only difference between the home and the premium legs are the height that you can go to so either 28 to 47 inches in height for the home or 25.4 to 51 inches for the premium so i went for the premium option because it means i can go lower if i want to and i obviously can go higher as well now these legs are really really heavy as well they're absolutely solid so there's very little wobble at all especially when moving up and down and even when shaking the desk as well or when you're stood there and you're leaning against it it'll easily handle 130 kilos in weight so you could literally sit on it so it's very very solid so as for the wood that i've added to the top well this is actually just a kitchen worktop from a diy store here in the uk so it's the same one i've been using for the last year or so it was part of my previous desk setup it cost me 140 pounds or about 190 and that was for a three meter piece so it's a solid oak work top and then i cut this down to fit the space i needed i sanded it back i stained it to fit in with the darker style i wanted to achieve now it measures about 160 centimeters wide by 60 centimeters deep and what i've done then is i've attached the four legs with just four wood screws so the stain that i've used is called american walnut and i gave it two coats plus a clear wax coat on top just to protect it as well and i think it gives it a nice rustic but very clean look as well so i really like the look of this i think it's different it's definitely different to the standard ikea worktops that most setups seem to go for so yeah that's enough about the actual desk itself let me show you some of the other items i've installed or that i'm using on a daily basis so one of the biggest things i needed to upgrade on my last desk setup was the monitor now i was using a 24 inch dell screen it wasn't anything special i didn't really talk about it at all in my last video but this time i've changed to the 27-inch lg and this is the qn880 and this screen is a massive improvement for me so the first thing to note though is it's not a 4k screen it's only 1440. now a lot will say that's not enough which i would agree with but the image quality the colors the brightness of the screen is really really impressive it's only when i go back to my macbook that i really notice the difference now one of the biggest features of this screen though is the arm that it comes with so this clamp here well it's actually part of the screen so it comes with it which to be honest it's so good they should be selling it separately so once it's clamped onto your desk you can then tilt it pretty much any way that you like so you can tilt it up and down and left and right you can swivel it out you can push it back you can even rotate the screen from either landscape into portrait so i can't quite show you this portrait mode because of the shelf i have underneath but it gives you an idea of what you can do with it this also means that it frees up some space on your desktop where you'd usually have the stand or the feet from the screen and this bracket alone sold me so yep i think it looks absolutely awesome then as part of the arm itself or this tube that's on the side well this is where the cables can be hidden inside so as the screen is hdmi and usbc i've actually hidden all of my cables inside keeping it pretty clean looking i'll show you how i do my cable management a little bit later and what i really like about this screen is that it's matte and not glossy so it means i'm no longer seeing reflections from my window to the side during the day and the viewing angles are pretty good as well so especially good for an ips panel overall i'm really happy with this screen and haven't used it for about five to eight hours a day pretty much every day for the last two months i can say it's a decent screen as well and then under the screen i've got this little stand or this shelf here so this is a walnut monitor stand from a company called grovemade so it gives the option to put a monitor on top or in my case a speaker and it still gives you room to store things underneath as well kind of out of sight so i usually keep my macbook or my keyboard and mouse under here when i'm not using them and then on the left hand side on this little felt shelf this is where i'd usually keep my notebook or papers and things like that so actually this little black notebook this is what i use for writing my video ideas down or my planning for my videos so i manage a lot of my videos digitally in spreadsheets and so on but sometimes it's easier to write them down as there's fewer distractions this way then under this shelf i've added a desk tray also from grovemade so this is designed to obviously fit the space so this is a metal tray and i keep some of my daily items in it as well so i've got things like pens and pencils and cash and even my playstation vita i've been looking for black plain pencils for ages and i finally found these so there's no branding there's no markings at all and these are only about two pounds for a pack of ten as well and then price wise well the stand is 170 pounds or 220 and the little desk tray underneath it that was 90 pounds or about 120 so it's not cheap it really isn't cheap but it looks nice it gives me some organization without looking cluttered also it keeps with the walnuts sort of color in a theme that i've got going on on my desktop and then looking at the keyboard and mouse i'm using so i'm using the logitech mx keys and the mx master 3. so in my opinion this was the best combo that i could find when i was looking earlier this year so i use both windows and mac on a daily basis so i needed a combo that i could switch between both devices quite easily and this is perfect for my setup so i just tap the button on the keyboard on the mouse and i'm switching between the two quite easily now they both can be charged on usbc as well i actually have a retractable usbc cable plugged into the back of the monitor so when i need to use it i can just pull it down stretch it out and i can actually plug it into the devices and what's great is i can still use the devices while it's charging as well so if you want to know more about this awesome keyboard and mouse i actually did a review on it a few months ago which surprisingly has got a lot of interest it was something i wasn't expecting so yeah i think it's an awesome keyboard and it's definitely something i enjoy using every day so i've been wanting a new desk pad or mouse mat for a while now and i was either looking at getting a leather one or a fabric one the problem with most fabric ones that i found was they either fray or they snag when you're using it with a mouse but i found this one it's just perfect for the job so it's pretty soft as it's made from a wall felt and it doesn't scratch or move around the desk as well so i went for the medium size and it costs about 50 pounds or 70 dollars but they also do it in a smaller size and a larger one as well and i think it fits nicely and again with the dark wood and the grey theme that i've got going on so while i'm working i like to have music playing in the background so it's usually some kind of chilled hip hop playlist or a low five beats now as i'm not using speakers on my screen as i wear headphones when i'm watching or editing videos i opted for this harman kardon citation 1 speaker instead so it's a really nice speaker is a good alternative to the nest audio speaker if you're with google home or using google assistant it's pretty bassy though and it's really really clear so as it is a google assistant speaker it means i can use it during the day for voice commands such as playing music from spotify turning the lights on and off or turning the heating down so this week it can be bought for about 150 pounds or 200 now although i'm using a standing desk i obviously spend about half my time sitting down and the chair that i'm using is the autonomous ergo chair ii so i've been using this chair for about nine months now and it's held up pretty well i mean to be honest it looks as good as the day that i first built it so there are no squeaks there's no damage there's no real wear to it at all and i use this every single day now what i like about this chair is it's proper supportive it has loads of adjustments and it still looks nice as well now i know there are loads of gaming chairs out there but i wanted something that was a bit more aesthetically pleasing but yeah nine months in i'd say it's even comfier than the day that i first built it and this costs about 250 pounds or 340 dollars now my room has a carpeted floor i personally prefer carpet to hard floors but the problem with that is it means moving a chair like this around is really difficult it's a real struggle so what i did was i picked up one of these floor mats to go under the desk now there are loads of different versions out there so if you look on amazon there are dozens of different floor mats most of them if you have a look they're really cheap they're really thin they're quite flimsy and they will flex when you stand on them and when they turn up they're usually rolled up so you have to kind of flatten them out to try and iron out any creases that's how thin they are whereas this one it was 40 pounds or 55 dollars from amazon and it's really thick really heavy and it has loads of spikes underneath as well so it digs into the carpet so it won't move at all and it came as one solid piece so this is impossible to roll up if you try and roll it you're basically you'll crack it or you'll snap it so let's take a look at the cable management now something i've said before in my previous setup videos is i hate seeing wires or cables i just i really don't like it so i actually spend a lot of time trying to hide them and my desk setup is no different so under the desk i'm using an extension socket and this is just stuck to the desk itself and i'm using a metal tray that i've got from ikea as well so this is just screwed into place with four screws and if i want to take it off it's quite easy there's just two screws either side you unscrew these and the actual tray will drop down as well if you want to swap wires out and plugs out you can do so and then any loose wires that i've got i've actually just stuck them to the underside of the table i'll just use some black insulation tape so nothing fancy so there is one power cable that goes from the desk setup down to the floor now i've tried to hide that as best as i can but as the desk does move up and down i obviously can't stick it in place otherwise it will stretch and obviously it will stop the desk from moving up so the bottom half of the leg i've strapped the cable and you can see here i've done it with the insulation tape and as you move up i've actually created like a loop with just enough cable here that when the desk is at its fullest height it means that the cable is stretched and as the desk comes all the way down again it basically creates a loop so you can't quite see it unless you're under the desk but it means there's enough extension there for it to move up and down quite easily so yeah i'm really happy with my cable management for this setup and to be honest i think cable management is underrated it's surprising how many setups that you do see on youtube or on instagram and people just have all the wires out and i think it in my opinion it looks cluttered it looks untidy so just by hiding the wires alone just spend 10 15 minutes sticking them to the desk legs hide them underneath the desk itself i think will make a massive improvement for most desk setups so let's take a look at the machine that i'm using on a daily basis what power is my setup well i'm still using a 2018 macbook pro the 15-inch and honestly it's absolutely perfect for what i need it for it really is so i've used it every day and i use it for edits and photos writing emails and it's in these videos that you see on the channel each week so i've not had a situation yet where i feel like it's not quick enough or that it struggles with anything that i throw at it so in the world of youtube i'm using an old system why have i not upgraded to the m1 macbook pro but honestly right now i don't feel like i'd benefit from it i'm happy with the system that i've got now in terms of storage i'm using two sandisk extreme ssds and i use this for storing my footage on and my backups and things like that now i've also got this small usbc dock as well and i use this to plug in any devices that cannot be plugged straight into the mac so it's quite rare that i use it but i've obviously got this as well and i think in the future what i'll probably do is i'll stick it to the desk somewhere so whether i stick it under the desk or under the monitor stand and then what i'll do then is i will route a usb cable from the back of this into the mac or into the screen i'm not really sure what i'm going to do with it yet and as for the lighting that i'm using in my setup well as you've probably seen i've got a few different lights going on so the first one that you'll notice is the lifx beam that's on the wall and this is an led strip and it lets me have any color combination i'd like and as it's modular you can basically create any line or angle or pattern that you'd like so i've opted for this l shape now the beam costs 150 pounds or 200 and then stuck to the back of the desk itself i've got a lifx z-strip and this gives a nice glow both up and down so above and below the desk as well as it's 10 centimeters off the wall then behind the screen i've got another lifx zed strip and that's stuck to the back of the screen itself now both of these strips can be a combination of any color as well so whether you want a solid white which i often use during the day when i'm working or kind of a retro eighties vibe then you can do that as well this can all be done via the lifx app or you can do it via voice commands in scenes as well so these strips are about eighty pounds or 100 each and they are wi-fi controlled as well so you don't need a hub and then to the side of my screen i've got this floating led light bulb from a company called flight and it's got a rose gold detail to it and it's floating on top of a walnut wooden base and i really really like this it fits nicely and again with the dark theme that i've got going on but the combat is just basically a combination of magnets and it allows the bulb to float in mid-air and as it's floating it also powers it as well so you line it up you kind of wait for it to grab it and it hooks on you can feel it as you're kind of hovering above and then once you let go it just floats and then all you need to do then is you just tap the actual base itself and that will then turn the light on and off but yeah so i think this bulb looks absolutely awesome now it's not cheap so this bulb costs about 250 pounds or about 330 dollars so that's a lot of money for a bulb but it definitely looks different and it's definitely different to anything else i've seen now if i get enough interest i will create a dedicated video on this gadget alone so this light bulb i will create a video on this alone so a few other things i've got on my desk as well that i use on a daily basis i've got this wireless charger here this is also from grovemade now i've had this for a few months now this was way before the iphone 12 was announced so you know before any kind of mac saved chargers existed i think this is fine i use this on a kind of a weekly basis if i forget to charge my phone the night before so it's nice just to have it on here i've also got a coaster here now this is similar fabric to the desk map but it's not from grove made it's actually just a cheap one from amazon to be honest i think these were it was a pack of about eight or ten and they were about 10 pounds from amazon so again that's linked in the description and then the plant that i'm using here this is called a san severa if i've said that right which is perfect for me as they need very little water and are quite hardy as well so it's fine for in the sun or in low light and then i've potted it in one of these light gray pots as well i'll just pick this up from a local garden center so it's nothing nothing special and then on my walls and my shelf above my desk not a lot has changed so if you've seen my previous desk setup tour from april you'll see it's very very similar to be honest so i've got my be fearless print on the wall some might say this is naf but for me it's a constant reminder to step outside my comfort zone and to keep moving forward and then on my shelf i've got my original matte black chili bottle i've had this for a number of years now like three four five years i think it's been i've also got other bottles i use on a daily basis but this one just sits here on my shelf then i've got this playstation icon print and i've just made this in photoshop to be honest i just printed off and then i stuck it inside of this box frame so you cannot buy this anywhere it's just something i made myself then i've got my 12 pro max box as well and again this is a constant reminder that this is all i use to record the videos on this channel so nothing else all the videos on the channel recorded with this iphone then there's this small fake plan which i probably should change at some point and then i've got this dji mobile gimbal and i use it quite a lot so i'm actually using this for this video as well today oh and something that a lot of people keep asking for is what color are your walls so the wall color is called chic shadow and it's from dulux it's the same color that i've been using for about eight years now it's the same color in the living room it's the same color behind my desk as well so if you're interested in that it's in the kit list but it's just called chic shadow from dulux so yeah this is my 2020 desk setup tour and this is where i sit and stand for about five to eight hours a day now i really like it i think it's got enough personality in it which makes me feel relaxed and it's also a really productive space to be as well so i know that i can sit here and i can get stuff done i can concentrate without any serious distractions as well but it's also somewhere i can sit and chill if i want to watch and listen to music and so on so what's next for the setup well to be honest last time when i did my desk setup tour i reeled off a massive list of changes i wanted to make and i've done them all to be honest i've done every single one but this time i have no plans i really don't i might change to a 4k or even a 5k screen if i wanted to i might change to a new macbook m1 pro but i don't have any attention to right now so that's something that'd be you know way into next year if i did so and what do you think is there anything that you would change or add to my standing desk setup or whether that's the desk itself whether that's the screen the keyboard the mouse is there anything that you would change or anything that you would add to it and you just made it to the end of this ridiculously long video so thank you for sticking with me and if you drop a standing desk in the comments i will give you a thumbs up as i know you're still here you've made it to the end and i hope you enjoyed this video please don't forget to hit that like button as it really does help me out and don't forget to subscribe to the channel if you want to see more content from me you can also follow me on instagram and twitter until next time

Channel: SpawnPoiint

Views: 1,509,621

Rating: 4.9363947 out of 5

Keywords: Desk setup, desk setup tour, modern desk, setup wars, Wfh, work from home, workspace, office, desk, minimal office, desk setup tour 2021, diy desk setup, standing desk setup, budget desk setup, clean desk setup tour, workspace tour, walnut desk, desk setup ideas, dream desk, macbook setup, ergo chair, spawnpoiint, dark wood desk, minimalsetups, isetups, standing desk, autonomous smart desk 2, grovemade, grovemade desk pad, un880, lg, home office setup, desk tour, desk setup

Id: Q1iyBo-sewE

Length: 17min 28sec (1048 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 20 2020