[CINEMATIC INTRO]
There is a sort of 'beauty' in our desire to consistently improve a desk setup,
not for the end result, but from the passion of the process and journey...
[CINEMATIC BROLL]
What started as a simple desire to just build a productive space so I can do my best working
has become a hobby and a passion project I'm able to share with like-minded tech and interior and
design enthusiasts hey friends Andrew here hope you're well in case you're new here what I've
been doing over the past two years is I've been consistently adding to my setup piece
by piece starting with budget Ikea furniture through to larger investment pieces and I've
documented my process here on YouTube sharing the evolution of my desk setup and entire workspace
with you guys although the setup isn't complete yet I think it's finally at a point where I'm
relatively happy with so I'm going to take you guys behind the scenes and show you the
key elements that went into designing a space that inspires me to do my best work every day
and I hope that you too can take inspiration from this video and adapt the ideas into your
own space so welcome back to an overdue episode in the setup makeover series
The ethos for this setup I think can be nicely summed up by one of my all-time favorite quotes
by Leonardo da Vinci Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication it's a space with a simple color
palette simple textures aesthetically and practically I want my workspace to look and
work as a studio office and living space that has multiple forms and functions a space that
positively impacts my well-being and allows my productivity and creativity to flow basically
I wanted to design a desk and space that I look forward to opening the door to every day before
I started filling the space with Furniture I thought about color theory InDesign color
theory is the guideline to the use of colors to communicate and aesthetic quickly please colors
are so important when we build our setup so as you can probably already tell the color palette
of the pieces in the space are intentional and complementary from the keyboard to the desk
through to the Bookshelf and armchair I appreciate grounding natural colors and materials things like
stone wood glass and leafy greens honestly I think the Legend of Zelda's Ocarina of Time
and its beautiful and natural landscapes have had a massive influence on me since my childhood and
love for nature hands up in the comments if you're also a Legend of Zelda fan too and so I settled on
the base colors off white light maple wood and accents of black to retain that modern aesthetic
I find that maplewood's lightness and smooth grain gives this open space a very chic and Casual feel
that pairs nicely with the off-white walls I also had the previously very bismal carpets torn out in
place of white oak floorboards and half a year later so I can seriously say it was well worth
the investment the touches of black on the window frames and Corner lamp for example accent the wood
for a darker modern feel but I was careful not to overdo it it's obviously a very bold color and can
easily overpower a space particularly a small one like this the combination of this color palette
works really nicely with the natural sunlight that shines throughout the entire day balancing light
and energizing the space so yeah off-white light Maplewood and black you could call it the Triforce
of color combinations okay that's the last Zelda reference I make I promise the sunlight is also
the reason I've placed my desk right in the middle of the room next to the window rather
than you know traditionally wall facing the desk is obviously key to all the work that I do and
I think desk placement is often something that's overlooked if you've ever had to move your entire
desk setup when it's already been set up you you know it's not an easy task it usually takes up
an entire day or more so giving thought to where you want to place your desk up front is incredibly
important according to feng shui principles a desk should put you back to a wall and give you
a view of a door it's a popular placement called the commanding position apparently this position
brings Fortune opportunities and great energy flow I'm personally not too superstitious but
this desk placement does feel really comfortable and productive the downside is Cable Management
it's trickier than usual because I had to get all the cables right into the middle of the
room looped into the desk the solution here was to mount a quality power board this one's from
Vulcan underneath the sit stand desk and run the cable alongside the wall covering it up with this
very useful cable cover alongside the skirting on the wall by the way I'll drop an Amazon link to
the cable cover and everything else I mentioned in this video in the description box below so
everything I create from my videos to my client work is done right here on this desk as you can
see it's as simple as ever this is omnidesk's sit stand desk and natural heavier wood and it's one
of the better sit sand desks I've used and the combination of short intervals of standing and
then sitting on the Herman Miller Aeron chair is one that my back is thanking me for the wood grain
of the heavier wood is a perfect pairing with all of grovemade's accessories here too so speaking of
all the actual Tech and desk accessories on my desk let's move on to that I've recently added
grovemade's black leather mouse pad on top of the wool felt Merino desk mat it's improved the
Logitech mx3's mouse tracking and sections off an area for the mouse on this desk to fit with
the new color palette I got Grove Maine's black pen stand with Maplewood and it's a
much better match than the brass or titanium pens as beautiful as they are this pen stand
combo is as much as a display piece as it is a practical piece and I love digital notes but
this pen and Stan really adds an old school touch back into a modern desk setup and it's
always here when inspiration strikes and I need to take a pen out and jot down some notes and I
do that on the neighboring Grove made notepad I've been using for a while now too and it's
just been a pleasure to use for quick notes I'll just pluck the notepad out unholster the pen from
its stand I've got a really Pleasant writing experience right then and there they're both
machined from solid metal for a bespoke quality pen that will last a long time to come I'll leave
a more in-depth video of how I furnish the empty desk with the crowbade accessories to check out
if you're interested moving on to the tech this lightweight setup is powered by a beefy MacBook
Pro M2 Max that is as competent in a docked setup as it is portable I like this setup best because
I'm able to work remember remotely wherever I need to and Slot it into this dock with a single USBC
cable I've got it sitting upside down so the heat vents here are able to breathe well and
avoid notoriously overheating an issue that can reduce the battery's lifespan and possibly even
damage internal components so it's important to just pay attention to airflow the cow digit
dock mounted underneath my desk connected with this 24 terabyte G rate Drive helps transform my
MacBook into a desktop setup the drive gives a lot of flexibility in my workflow with its
high performance dual Drive RAID storage and has high speed data transfer speeds to support
multi-stream 4K HDR video workflow while the raid 1 configuration helps with redundancies and file
backup so I don't lose any of my work and this is all linked back up to my insanely big LG 40 inch
5K Ultra wide monitor it's great for multitasking video editing and having multiple windows up I am
considering a dual Apple Pro XTO display setup but you know the good old wallet says no though
I also regularly switch up my keyboards in the most recent one I've got is Apple's arguably
overpriced magic keyboard in black with Touch ID I think it fits the clean aesthetic of this desk
really nicely and adds that black accent to this desk in line with the theme the typing experience
on this keyboard is very similar to the magic keyboard found on MacBooks which I quite enjoy
and the touch ID is unique to this keyboard and genuinely very convenient when quickly logging
in and then I use my Sona speakers when I want music to load the room and I switch over to the
airpods max when I want to do deep focus work with its great noise cancellation performance
so this desk setup facilitates productive work Focus time and quality work creating
this environment is really important to me because previously I just worked Around the
Clock you know allowed productivity to Define my self-worth and I leaned into hustle culture
but it was just a Surefire path to burn out so a clean intentional physical and digital space
helps me work effectively to give me back time in my day not to work more but to enjoy life
outside of work call it productivity 2.0 a big part of the productivity puzzle is monday.com
and they're very relevantly today's video sponsor too it's allowed myself and the team
to become stronger in task management by having a really clear view of all the projects that we
have going on with a clean intuitive interface giving us more visibility in our workflows and
projects for example I can instantly assign tasks to relevant team members organize tasks
By Priority create functional checklists with kanban boards see project timelines with a Gantt
chart and keep everyone in the team in the loop with all the projects that we're working on no
matter where we are in the world the combination of routine task Automation and Integrations also
returns a lot of time back in my day monday.com is a big reason I get more done in fewer hours and if
you're Keen to supercharge your workflow too I'll drop a link to a free trial to try out monday.com
and all its templates for yourself okay moving on to the rest of the office and Studio space
which I'm quite happy with in direct view of my desk is a custom neon sign of my media company's
brand Mark which is auto set to turn on at 9am every morning as I come into work and something
I'm proud to see from my desk behind me is now one of my favorite pieces in this space a charred
black sideboard this sideboard is inspired by an artisanal Japanese wood burning Tech
I think I'm pronouncing that correctly and probably not let's be honest this
technique involves charring cedar planks to give it this carbon black finish and
textural Beauty it also gives me a ton of practical storage space I can
just reach into behind me and keeps this room Corner extra cozy and tidy
I've added govi's M1 strip light behind the sidewall to add more Dimension to the space
and it's a really easy way to turn this space into something that's a bit more cozy and Moody
like for example a warm tungsten for a cozy space during colder cloudier days sitting here are a few
of my favorite books practical furnishings and a candle on hand ready to use if I want to burn the
Midnight Oil behind my monitor here I've created a small Breakaway space where I take a breather for
my work day read and sip some tea in the center of this space is a simple armchair it took me a
while to find an armchair that I liked actually and this one has an off-white canvas material
with light maple wood arms and yeah I quite like this piece it completely matches this space and
it's also extremely comfortable to sit on and to the side are two practical pieces a round
side table made of a thick plank of European naughty oak wood where I place my drink and my
notepad or a book and a simple overhead black and gold accented floor lamp which I've yet to
get out with a bulb I'll likely end up getting a smart colored light bulb for it this area
also doubles up as my creative thinking space it's just great to write really it'll just jot
down some notes on this armchair the other new addition is this beautifully simplistic console
table it's a big heavy Boy made out of large quality Oak in three solid slabs the pyramid
shape and rectangular legs are naturally finished and it's a great display piece that also weighs a
ton to add character I've decorated the console table with some Greenery a small snake plant and
succulent and this transparent book holder for daily inspiration this specific book that's on
it right now is all about ads in the 60s I just have this sort of affinity and appreciation for
old school print ads they're genius in my opinion I guess the appreciation comes from the Mad Men
TV show I used to love with all the Artistry and Creative Marketing expertise that had me inspired
speaking of inspiration I've been meaning to frame this very beautiful print either above the console
table or the sideboard it's a print by one of my favorite artists James Jean who's incredibly
talented and and known for his ability to work and combine different genres and techniques with
an imaginative and multifaceted approach seriously if you haven't seen his work go check it out just
take a look at this meticulously finished print with its intricate for Line work sculptural
emboss details and hand signed by the talented man himself he's honestly an incredible artist
to support and look out for and yeah these walls are still empty though so I'm looking to frame
this artwork in a few photography prints in the next phase of this ever improving space in order
for there to be harmony with the work that I do there needs to be order to the creative chaos
these practical spaces that you've seen here is the harmony that I need it's a seamless connection
between work relaxation and creativity but yet working for hours on end can be challenging so
anything we do to make it that much easier I think is worth it so I'll do my best to create a list
of links to everything featured in this video in the description box below for you to check out the
next areas I plan to revamp is this small Nook I might change into a gaming corner and I also
need to properly kit out the kitchen too and if you made it to the very end of this video comment
the code word harmony and I'll give it a like and let me know if there's anything else I should add
to the space I'd love to get your suggestions and if you enjoyed this video please do give
this video a like and consider subscribing for more Tech and interior design content I'll leave
a link to a more detailed look into the previous episode of the setup makeover Series where I go
over the foundation of my desk setup and as always thanks for watching I'll see you in the next video