Unlock the Hidden Secrets to Building a Work From Home Setup That Skyrockets Your Productivity and Health—Are You Ready to Transform Your Day?
Is your home office feeling more like a junk drawer than a productivity powerhouse? Welcome to the 2020s—the decade of working from home, where countless folks have swapped their commute for a short stroll to the kitchen, only to realize that their makeshift workspace might just be the biggest challenge of remote life. Whether you’re craving the perfect desk setup to plug into your day or finally ready to splurge on that swanky chair you’ve been eyeing, crafting your ideal WFH paradise is no small feat. The good news? I’ve trawled the market, tested the tech, and dug deep to bring you the crème de la crème of home office gear—from laptops and standing desks to ergonomic chairs and slick monitors. So, let’s turn that corner of your house into a corner office that even corporate execs would envy. Ready to level up your hustle space? LEARN MORE
The 2020s have been the work from home decade. Many corporate jobs are either fully remote or hybrid at this point, and the long-term switch is leaving many workers in need of a dedicated office space at home to maintain work-life balance. Others just use it as a justification to finally make the fully decked-out home office of their dreams. Either way, we’re here to help you find the best products for your WFH paradise.
From the best desks and chairs to the best tech you need, we are the experts who have already found it all for you. From laptops and printers to mousepads and webcams, we’ve found the absolute best in each category of home office essential. We went with the most important buys first, but you can jump to whatever you’re looking for below.
Laptops
You’ve probably already got this covered (hopefully via work) but if you’re transitioning to full-time remote or freelance, it might be a good time to get a new laptop. There’s only one question: to MacBook or not to MacBook?
If you’re an Apple person, the MacBook choice is easy. The 13-inch MacBook Air will be good enough for all your Zoom calls and emails. It’s fast, got the best battery life in a MacBook yet, and comes in at under $1,000. That’s all most Mac users need.
If you need something more intensive for video editing, data processing, etc, I wouldn’t recommend a MacBook Pro. Instead, I’d go PC. If you’re still looking for a portable, sleek laptop, the Asus Zenbook S 16 running Windows 11 Pro is right there. It’s got an awesome 3K OLED touchscreen (so you get a little bit of tablet fun) and battery life that rivals the latest MacBooks. It’s the affordable, work-a-day Windows laptop we recommend.
Desks
When it comes to home office desks, there are two properties we look for: elegance and flexibility. That’s why our go-to is the Jarvis bamboo desk from Herman Miller. It’s super customizable pre-purchase and it’s made from high quality materials. Most importantly, it can move from standing to sitting desk modes in the push of a button.
For the ultimate WFH desk, you have to go with the Artifox desk. It’s got everything you need to build a workspace in your home. A cable management system, notches to hold up your phone and tablet, and wooden pegs to hang your headphones and bags on. The best part is it’s all modular, so you can take what you want and leave the rest.
Chairs
If you’re working from home for 40 or more hours a week, the number one item worth investing in is a good chair. It’s why this is our only top recommendation that costs this much. The nearly $1,900 Aeron Chair is the perfect example of knowing where to put your money. I sit in a Herman Miller chair every day I come into the office, have been for over a year now. There’s nothing else that measures up to these. The Aeron is the flagship ergonomic chair from the best in the biz. A no brainer really.
For something that is still ergonomic and will last you multiple years, Branch makes an excellent affordable chair.
Monitors
Next up is the monitor. You’re not going to spend every day hunched over your laptop screen. Instead, use 34 glorious inches of screen real estate to stay organized and work smarter. I’m fond of Samsung ultrawide monitors and this Viewfinity is built for all-day eye care so you don’t burn out on blue light.
It’s not for everyone, but I love my curved Dell monitor. Every time I connect it’s like I have the power of three screens. It can be used with PC or Mac and it will charge your laptop all day so you never have to worry about your battery dying if you want to disconnect and step out for a call. It’s got solid built-in speakers as well.
Keyboards
When it comes to mechanical keyboards, you’re either hardcore or you’re not. Our top brand for most people, aka anyone who doesn’t want to build their own keyboard, is Keychron. They make affordable, reliable mechanical keyboards great for typing and gaming. And if you want to start experimenting with swapping out keycaps and switches these allow that level of modification. Below are two great wireless options for WFH, one full-sized and the other TKL (sans the number pad).
Mouse
Logitech is our go-to brand for mouses, erm, mice. The Logitech G Lightspeed mouse is a solid gaming mouse, but because of its simplicity, price point, and lack of garish bells and whistles of other gaming products, we recommend it for every day use. It’s light, fast, and has the buttons you need—no more no less. If you are looking for something more ergonomic, Logitech also now makes a vertical mouse.
Mousepads
With any good mouse, you’ll need a mousepad. And it turns out, like mice, the best ones currently being made are made for gamers. If you’re looking for something basic, latest QcK line from SteelSeries rocks. I’ve been using all of them and my recommendation to most folks is the Balance in the large size (just enough to give you room to breathe but not take over your desk).
However, if you already picked up one of a Logitech mouse, the Powerplay wireless charging mousepad is an awesome gadget that ensures you will never have to charge your wireless mouse again. A bit of a gamer-changer if you ask me.
Docking Station
This isn’t as necessity if you have a desktop PC setup, but if you have a laptop it’s a WFH essential. Most modern laptops (even the ones we recommend) don’t have a whole lot of ports. Certainly not as many as you need if you’re going to be hooking up a monitor, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, and webcam. That’s why you need a docking station/USB hub. You can buy from a brand you trust and be fine. For me, this 10-in-1 station from Baseus (makers of one of our favorite power banks) is the cream of the crop. It’s not as cheap as others, but it’s got the best variety of ports in the smallest form factor.
Webcam
Here’s the thing. Your laptop definitely has an ‘okay’ webcam. Your monitor probably doesn’t. So if you want to take your calls and stay fully integrated into your workstation
External Storage
We are entering the non-essential zone, for sure, with this one. But an external SSD to store all your files is still really nice to have. Especially the really compact and easy to pack ones Samsung makes these days. This one is 2 terabytes of portable external storage for under $200.
Printers
Not everyone needs a printer, but if you do you know. Recently I tried the HP OfficeJet Pro and found it to be a quite a reliable, and ease to use one. Setup is still the major hurdle, as is maintenance, but having something in your home office is much better than paying for printing at the (increasingly dwinding) stores that offer that service.
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