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The home office reveal

A battle of form and function.

By Life & Muse

October 4^th, 2020

Conventional wisdom says we spend a third of our lives in bed, so we should invest in a good mattress. By that measure, we also spend a comparably large chunk of time working. And with many workers recently shifting to work-from-home arrangements, the rationale to invest in a good at-home setup has never been greater.

That’s me getting ahead of the inevitable “but why?” reactions that I commonly get (both implicitly and explicitly) as I begin the reveal of our home office. You'll see why soon.

Anyway, remember our guest room? Yeah, it’s an office now.

"Goodbye work from home, hello a home for work."

At the end of January, I left work behind for 3 months of paternity leave. Soon after (literally 3 days later), Atlas arrived and we were swept away into the wonderful adventures of new parenthood. In the weeks prior, we had already accelerated the finishing touches of our guest room in anticipation of a few waves of friends and family members coming to meet Atlas. At last, the vision of the guest room was coming to life and being put to good use!

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

As the story goes though, by April, California – and most of the world for that matter – was in full lockdown already. And by May, a few weeks after returning to work from paternity leave (figuratively of course, I was just working from home), our company announced that we’d be permanently going digital by default.

A month before, uncertain of how temporary or permanent the work from home situation was going to be, I had swiftly added a modest desk to the guest room to get by until more was known. Now, armed with the knowledge of how permanent things would be, I knew I needed a more sustainable arrangement. Goodbye work from home, hello a home for work.

Layouts (and lighting)

For a relatively small room, I surprisingly found myself iterating through more layouts than I thought I would. Like most rooms, what began as a superficial exercise of choosing the most aesthetically pleasing layout, quickly evolved into a set of practical decisions that optimized for… lighting. Yes, lighting.

As work transitioned into online everything, I quickly found myself in hours of video calls every day. And like any superficial designer/photographer/techie would, I made the process of finding the perfect office setup all about perfecting my video quality. And, as you might've guessed, lighting is everything.

The room has one large set of west-facing bay windows that acts as the primary light source. A few months back we also installed a set of beautiful new curtains, but opted out of getting the sheer layer because, well, curtains are friggin expensive. No regrets.

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

Placing the desk against the windows (layout 1) felt like the right place to start, but I quickly learned that the daylight beaming through was overpowering. I then spent a handful of weeks with the desk up against the south wall (layout 2), but given the slight inset of the wall, I found the windows backlighting me, requiring me to amp up an artifical light panel in front of me to achieve the proper exposure, thereby slowly burning my retinas over time.

In the end, I settled on the north wall (layout 3) which has given me the right balance of natural light to my left and only a dimmed light panel to my right to ensure I look less like a Bond villain.

"I care about the quality of my video and audio stream the same way I cared about how I dressed and showed up for the office."

The desk setup

The desk represents the heart of the office. It’s likely the most frequently used item in the room and the piece that the entire room should be oriented around.

The original desk I chose was beautiful. It was simple, refined, and full of that mid-century character that’s hard not to love. And at 55”x20”, it fit modestly into the nook of the bay windows.

Unfortunately, as my computer setup grew from laptop-only to laptop + display + camera + mic + lighting + a handful more, I started feeling the constraints of a small desk surface. Plus, having spent a bit of time on the 7’ table we had custom cut to fit our kitchen nook, I was familiar with the sense of luxury that extra desk real estate gave me.

Simpler times.

This was the main reason I started looking at Ergonofis for sit-stand desks – they offered a gloriously large 72”x30” table top, the largest of the handful of brands I was considering. I’m also a sucker for Canadian companies that make really great products.

Aesthetically, I went with the Shift 2.0 Desk in Deep Black. While the wood tops were compelling options, Hanna sagely called out that I should lean into the functional look of the sit-stand desk legs rather than try to dress it up, which made a lot of sense to me. This decision also set the monochromatic tone that the rest of the room would inherit shortly after.

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

Atop the desk, there’s a spattering of gear that probably deserves a dedicated post on its own. But in short, each item was chosen to optimize for the quality of video calls, something my work clearly revolves heavily around these days. Sure, there are far simpler setups that can get the job done, but who wants to optimize for just getting by? To put it another way, I care about the quality of my video and audio stream the same way I cared about how I dressed and showed up for the office (when offices were still a thing, anyway).

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

My old Fujifilm X-T2, mounted on an Elgato Multi Mount, powers my video feed, while the 18-55mm lens keeps me crisply in focus with a buttery smooth bokeh-washed backdrop. The Elgato Keylight, the other noticeable structure protruding from my desk, keeps my face lit and balanced against the natural light of the windows from the opposing direction. And last but not least of the AV trio, the Yeti USB microphone from Blue keeps my audio clear and murmur free.

The rest of my desktop items simply represent a collection of some of my favorite products: the leather-wrapped vintage-inspired headphones by Master & Dynamic, the sleek (and also leather-wrapped) wireless charging dock by Nomad, and the glorified clock and doorbell answering device by Google Nest. Even the all black USB-C hub by Twelve South brings me a certain amount of indescribable joy.

"Who wants to optimize for just getting by?"

On the topic of ports and cables though, you can imagine how easily the wires running off the desk can get out of hand. To reign it all in and keep things tidy and out of sight, I installed a cable management tray that tucks stealthily on the underside of the desk. Best of all, it swings open to give me convenient access to the power strip that keeps everything humming. And yes, I spent far too much time researching power strips too, but I assure you I’m infinitely happier with one that not only offers 12 outlets, but also lays them out in a logical way that acknowledges that every. adaptor. is. a. different. shape. and. size. Ugh.

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

Zooming out, the desk is by far the most technical-looking arrangement in our entire house, which contrasts starkly against literally every victorian detail that surrounds it. But in the divergence of aesthetic and function, I would hope that function wins in most cases. And hey, there’s still a certain charm to the black on black on black motif that somehow makes the look work, even if completely different.

You can find a complete list of products I use at the end of this post.

The backdrop

Now that I’ve covered the most functional setup in the house, let’s take a look at the least functional setup: the backdrop — er, I mean couch and shelf. This area is certainly not exempt from practical use, but I call it the least functional setup in acknowledgement that its primary purpose is rooted in a completely different – and superficial – purpose.

The home office reveal

You see, the other part of optimizing the room’s layout was about choosing the right background for the aforementioned video calls. The gallery of frames that sit above my desk actually used to be the backdrop when the desk was on the opposing wall, but as I switched the orientation of the room, I found myself with a blank wall to play with again. And feeling like two gallery walls in one room would be strange (and preferring the arrangement of frames above the desk), I knew I wanted to go further than just wall art.

A few months ago, in my research for camera setups, I found myself submersed in two adjacent niches of the internet that were oddly inspiring: stage lighting tutorials and home video studio tours. And if the hours of video consumption had served me well, I knew that I wanted to achieve a few key elements when designing my own setup.

"If you’re thinking that this project devolved into an exercise of staging and set decor, you wouldn’t be wrong."

1. Depth

I learned quickly that the key to an interesting backdrop is to introduce layers of details. A flat wall lacks dimension, but artwork, furniture, and other pieces give the viewer’s eyes a sense of depth (especially if your camera can achieve a shallow depth of field). The larger the room, the more layers you can add. But given that the office is relatively small, I had to rely heavily on stacking pieces together tightly.

The home office reveal

I started with a beautiful leather chesterfield sofa in Oxford Black. I loved the uniquely structured shape of this piece and the tufted details give it an extra element of depth. Behind it, I layered two small bookcases that primarily serve as a stage for decor elements. Its minimal wire structure was perfect for providing a sense of depth without needing to steal the show.

The items I chose to fill the shelves represent a small sample of different facets of my world. On the left you’ll find items that reflect my design career: a collection of my old notebooks, a 5 year anniversary card at Shopify, and some of my favorite well-designed eye candy-filled books. The most sentimental piece on this side of the shelf is the “et” acrylic lettering – a snippet of the Jet Cooper sign that used to shine at the entrance of our studio in Toronto (I still have the full sign, but the "et" happens to be the only part that can stand on its own without being mounted).

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

On the right, you’ll find passions covered commonly on this site: photography and watches. Most notably, the limited edition "Rio 2016" Omega Speedmaster Mark II that I bought myself for my 35th birthday spins in its winder (a case that keeps the watch wound while I’m not wearing it). I’ve written all about the significance of this watch previously if you’re interested in a quick detour.

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

Flanking the shelves, I have an artificial bird of paradise (aptly named Big Boy Jr in honor of the real 6ft bird of paradise we had to get rid of recently), and a set of lamps. Collectively, each of these items offer a wealth of depth and interesting shapes for the backdrop behind me.

2. Color

I know what you’re thinking – what color? You’re not wrong and I’d be lying if I said the monochromatic arrangement didn’t give me a daily sense of satisfaction. Aesthetically, I wanted create a sense of cohesion with the desk setup, and given that I had already gone all-in on the black on black theme, I wanted to keep it going here too. Plus, Big Boy Jr really shines against the sea of black, grey, and white.

Before I move on from color, I want to mention the wall color. We painted it in Hale Navy forever ago when we thought this room would be the guest room. For the first few weeks after converting this space into an office, I was convinced I wanted to repaint it a dark grey to match the visual theme (cue Hanna’s eye roll). Admittedly though, I’ve grown to enjoy the desaturated tone of blue over time and now appreciate the slight contrast it offers against the otherwise blacked out decor. Plus, it serves an important role in how the room is lit (see below).

The home office reveal

3. Lighting (and color part 2)

The south wall of the room is slightly recessed from the windows, making it the darkest spot in the room (hence why Big Boy Jr is an artificial plant). So when I throw a black couch against a set of black shelves filled with mostly black and grey objects, the whole arrangement ends up as an indistinguishable blob of darkness. This is where lighting comes in.

The home office reveal

There are 3 sources of light here, each with a very intentional purpose. The backlighting in the shelves are powered by two Philips Hue Play Light Bars and serve to bring definition to the shapes of the objects on the shelves.

The floor lamp on the left, on the other hand, exists almost solely to trace the outline of the couch’s back corner. Without it, the couch washes away into the shadows and takes away a key element of depth.

Finally, the table lamp, initially casted as a bedside lamp for the guest room, is now being used to light the darkest corner of the room and bring a bit of life to the leafy layers of Big Boy Jr.

But lighting also plays a role in the room's color strategy. To add a bit more visual interest, I’ve chosen an arrangement of cool and warm tones for each of the light sources. The shelves are lit in a warm orangey tone, which complements human skin tone really well. Meanwhile, the cooler tones from the floor and table lamp actually bring out more of the wall’s blue tones, which, as a dorky designer, I can tell you is complementary to orange on the color wheel. Huzzah, a little art, a little science. You’re welcome.

The home office reveal

In my research, I learned that the lights I described are called practicals. That is, they appear as part of the scene’s natural decor, but also serve the function of lighting the scene in a specific way. A small nugget of insight that shows how insanely cool the lighting industry is.

Bringing it all together

If you’re thinking that this project devolved into an exercise of staging and set decor, you wouldn’t be wrong. While superficial in intent, it adds a sense of quality to something I need to stare at for 8 hours a day (we all stare at ourselves in video calls, right?), which in turn feels justified as an investment of effort.

PS: Sorry for the surprise appearance of my face.

The home office reveal

And before I wrap this up, let’s take a quick before/after look. If you're interested in seeing the full set of before shots, check this post out.

The home office reveal

The home office reveal

It's all about micro optimizations

This project was definitely more of a series of small tweaks rather than a singular grand plan from the start. A desire to upgrade my camera turned into an investment into lighting, a hunt for a larger desk, an obsession with set decor principles, and on and on and on. No doubt it was a slippery slope, but the effort always felt justified in reflection of how much time was being spent in the office. As the extended lockdown has blurred the days together, it's the micro optimizations that I've come to be reliant on to give me that small dose of newness every now and again. (This is also why rooms are never actually "done".)

I'm also a big believer in chasing my life's work, which means that work has always inevitably found its way home far before a pandemic was to blame. Having a dedicated space to channel inspiration into creative work, though, equally means I have an accessible way – namely, physically leaving the room – to disconnect from everything when needed.

For better or worse, work and life will always be interconnected for me, so having a home that can support both effectively feels right. Until the next wave of inspiration hits, anyway. ;)

Read more stories about our interior design projects

Featured products

Here’s a summary of all the products featured in this article. If you’re interested in following all the products we love, shortlist, and buy for our home, check out our Pinterest board.

Furniture

Shift 2.0 desk (Deep Black) by Ergonofis

Culla Oak Desk by Article

Sayl Chair (White/Fog) by Herman Miller

Alcott softa (Oxford Black) by Article

Black Lavinia 4 Tier Etagere Bookcase from Wayfair

Leather Aero Round Ottoman (Urbino Smoke) by Room & Board

Tech

StayGo USB-C Hub by Twelve South

BookArc laptop stand (Space Gray) by Twelve South

Base Station Stand wireless charger by Nomad Goods

MW65 headphones (Black) by Master & Dynamic

Headphone stand by Master & Dynamic

Yeti USB mic by Blue Microphones

NeatTech cable tray by Humanscale

Surge protector power strip by APC

Nest Hub by Google Nest

Nest Wifi by Google Nest

LG UltraFine 5k Display by LG

Monitor stand by VIVO

Camera

Fujinon XF18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS

Multi Mount by Elgato

Lighting

Kaleb Task Lamp by EQ3

Key Light by Elgato

Light Strip Plus by Philips Hue

Play Bars by Philips Hue

Floor lamp by EQ3 (no longer available)

Nolo table lamp by Room & Board (no longer available)

Decor and accessories

Leather desk mat by ULX

Olifant (Black Beech Wood) by The Whimsy Shop

Bibliothèque candle by Byredo

Bear (Black/Gray) by Locknesters

Speedmaster Mark II “Rio 2016” Limited Edition by Omega

Sheepskin rug (Steel Grey) by Room & Board

Small ceramic pot by EQ3 (no longer available)

Linear cut velvet pillow by West Elm (no longer available)

No. 79 throw by Throw & Co (no longer available)

Books

Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible by Sophie Lovell

The Kinfolk Home by Kinfolk

The Kinfolk Entrepreneur by Kinfolk

Goodtype: The Book Volume One by Goodtype (no longer available)

HODINKEE Magazine Vol 1-6 by HODINKEE

Watches: A Guide By HODINKEE

Plants

Snake plant from Roots SF

Zapo Artificial Bird of Paradise Potted Plant by Artiplanto

© 2026 Life & Muse

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