TL;DR: What gadgets, tools, furniture and whatnot do I need for an ideal desk setup for a tinkerer/programmer/gamer? Leave a comment and give it your all!
Image is AI generated for the lack of a better option, but I kinda like it.
New year, new everything, I guess. Yes, I know, it's June, but the last 12 months have been wild for me. I switched jobs after 10+ years, got married to my partner of 10+ years, and now we're finally moving into a larger flat after almost 10 years.
The room my wife and I have dedicated to be the "office/work/workshop" room is a bit larger than the one we currently have. More power sockets, more space, better lighting due to larger window, everything's amazing - except for my current setup.
What's there
I currently have an almost L-shaped desk with a single external monitor. On that desk I have a home-made shelf with some books, a desk lamp and all kinds of trinkets. I once added a home-made ambient light (might write about this at some point - leave a comment if you'd like to see that!) and a whiteboard foil on the desk top, a USB hub with all sorts of cables - way too many, actually - but that's it.
Across from that desk I have my little electronics/wood working workshop that located on a countertop. An external screen for Raspberry Pis, a soldering iron and some storage space for all kinds of electronics parts and more trinkets that might come in useful at some point. Since it's a countertop, I can't put my legs underneath that, resulting in an awkward twisted position whenever I want to solder anything... Less than ideal.
Underneath the desk are stacked boxes of cables and all kinds of gadgets. Storage space is a bit of a rare commodity.
What's missing
This is where things get interesting: When I ask myself what I want and how my ideal setup should look, I don't even know where to start. When I type "Cool desk setup for programmers and gamers" on A Popular Search Engineā¢, I get tons of different amazing setup inspirations, with lighting that would put the Las Vegas Strip to shame, tons of angled screens, desk mats, several(!!) keyboards, you name it - But nothing really says "that's what I want".
What I do want is an actual desk for my electronics workshop with a moving arm for light and perhaps a magnifying glass, and generally more space for actually working.
Also, I want to move the books and cables away from my desk, ideally getting rid of the rather claustrophobic home-made shelf and moving the ambient light.
So, what is missing from my setup? I can't tell. I don't even know where to start - and that's where the DEV community comes in!
What I need
Leave a comment! What's your ideal setup as a programmer, tinkerer or gamer? What do I desperately need so I'm finally one of the cool kids? What gadgets should I avoid at all costs?
Everything goes, so go wild! Sky's the limit!
Top comments (2)
Well, a 3D printer of course! To print all the stuff for organising space under the table so that 3D printer can fit on the table!
Dont diy if its for your own place, try zigbee or Xiaomi IoT products, can also integrate with alexa, google etc so everything is centralized and controlled by one phone/computer.