Four Years Into WFH Life, Here’s What You Need for an Aesthetically Pleasing Home Office

Welcome to Someone Buy This!, a monthly shopping column featuring the fun, the frivolous, and the practical from a very discerning shopper.

Like many people, I’ve been regularly working from home since the beginning of the pandemic. Here we are, four years in (happy anniversary!), and I’m upgrading my setup for the first time. I really wanted my home office to be functional and relatively "quiet" while incorporating some colorful and funky pieces. This month’s column has been years in the making. Here is my Goldilocks home office setup.

I won’t shut up about this chair

The biggest game-changer for my home office is the HAG Capisco chair. I have been resistant to "office chairs" because I think most of them are unattractive, and the ones I think are aesthetically appealing tend to be impractical and uncomfortable. The Capisco chair is the one exception I’ve found. Its ergonomic qualities give it a cool, funky shape that is further elevated depending on the color and finishes you choose. You can build a chair from scratch using their fun online modeling tool and pick from a ton of different fabrics. My chair is teal with a saddle seat that feels comfortably firm. The back of the chair curves against me in a way that makes me sit up straighter but not in a way that feels unnatural. My favorite thing about this chair is that you’re meant to sit in it a bunch of different ways. I’ll often sit sideways on it, with my right side leaning against the back of the chair. I’ve also sat on it backwards with my chest against the back. It may look a little funny but it’s really comfortable, especially if you’re a fidgety person like I am. 

A sleek standing desk that hides all my cables

Before my office redesign, I’d been using a CB2 counter-height table as my desk for many years. I knew I wanted to replace it with an adjustable standing desk. After weeks of research, I landed on the Duo desk by Branch. I really wanted something sleek and unnoticeable that would blend into my office corner. I got the Duo in all white and it was exactly what I was looking for. There are multiple great color/finish options if you want your desk to be more of a focal point. 

The transition from sitting to standing is smooth and, most importantly, quiet. With two taps, you can pre-set heights for standing and sitting. The accessory add-ons are, to me, essential. The drawer is slim and tucked away but holds so much stuff, making it easy to maintain a desktop free of clutter while keeping everything I need within reach. The cable organizer with a built-in power strip hides all my cables, which just makes the whole area look cleaner and more organized. Lastly, I don’t usually comment on packaging, but I really appreciated the way the parts were packaged and labeled. It made the assembly process super easy and fast.

A monitor stand, but better

I replaced my old particle board monitor stand with Anker’s docking station. It’s really great for cable management. Between this and my desk’s cable organizer, the only visible cable on my desk is about 6 inches of exposed laptop charger. The docking station has multiple plug types: usb, usb-c, slot for SD card, even a headphone jack! The wireless charger on top is a nice bonus and removes the need for an additional cord. Much like the Duo desk, it just works. There’s no extensive setup. Just plug in your stuff and move on with your life!

The most beautiful file cabinet on the planet

I have been lusting after MoMA Design Store’s pivot cabinet for years. On a recent weekend, a 20% off coupon coincided with my color-of-choice’s restock and I finally bought it. We drove to the store in Soho to pick it up and I was smiling the whole way. Reader, it’s worth every penny. I love how much it holds, I love swinging open the drawers, I love looking at it—and now, I love my home office. 

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