The final thing, if you don’t care to read about the process!

✧ ✦ ✧

At some point, fawning over saved Pinterest posts and YouTube thumbnails was no longer cutting it. From minimalist desks subtly showcasing various productivity-focused upgrades to cozy spaces filled by warm light and cutesy decor, I decided that I, too, wanted my desk to look like one of those. Plus, it was only fair since I spent 80% of my time in front of my monitor (when I’m at home.)

Desk setup before — What I was working with before, v0

While my original setup looked nice when taken with sunset light streaming somewhat aesthetically through my blinds, you can see cables hanging everywhere, bare walls, one monitor, and no convenient space for my mac mini (which I would buy 6 months after taking the above picture.) Also, my monitor had terrible speakers, so it was either the headphones or listen to audio much like listening through a toaster.

Second monitor, studio monitors, and Mac mini now in the mix

Some time last year, I’d gotten the Mac mini, mostly because I had found a good deal, but also because I was attempting to make iOS apps on the side. The Edifier MR3 Studio Monitors came a few weeks later, when I’d finally gotten sick of using my headphones all the time. Many, many months later, I also decided that a second monitor screen would be helpful because I am, unfortunately, the kind of person that has 20 tabs open on their computer (and tangentially, 200 tabs on my phone) at all times.

Once I finally decided to get serious about this whole “clean desk setup” thing, I had to face what I’d be dreading. Cable management was undoubtedly my least favorite part, and adding a KVM to easily switch between my PC and my Mac only introduced more cables that then had to be further organized. Above, you can see the cable racks I had purchased, all the cables that needed organizing, and the KVM once it was fully set up and plugged.

While not completely perfect, things still looked a lot cleaner now that a majority of the cables were hidden away. All that was left to do was decorate my walls, display my extra mouse, and possibly get a cooler lamp.

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What I Finally Settled On (at least this time)

Notable items (as mentioned above):

My PC, custom built
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
- CPU: Intel i7-12700K
Zoom 65 V2 Wireless keyboard, custom built
Edifier MR3 Studio Monitors
WLMGaming Beast Mouse
Finalmouse ULX Sakura Mouse
Sennheiser Accentum Headphones
- under-the-desk hanger specifically chosen instead of a stand
Mac Mini M4
Art prints from some artists I enjoy
- “not that deep”, “Sometimes sweet, sometimes different” by Hara
- “sticky situation”, “iykyk”, “ignorance is bliss” by kieltokki

A few other perspectives:

I’m pretty happy that I finally have a space that I enjoy, prioritize, and actually want to keep clean. Not only do I enjoy the aesthetic I’ve attempted to throw together, but I’ve finally verified my (obvious) hypothesis that yes, putting the upfront effort to improve my desk space saves me energy on a longer day-to-day basis.

On a surface level, yes, we can look better on a thumbnail or in inspiration pics. But when a setup is something you actually care about, the work becomes enjoyable, and the day-to-day maintenance of it feels less cognitively demanding and more freeing, if anything.

✧ ✦ ✧

What’s Next?

In the midst of creating v1, I’ve already been thinking about v2. For starters, the second I move out of this apartment I’m tossing this L-shaped desk. While it’s worked alright for the past several months, the flow constantly feels disjointed and achieving any symmetry is somewhat rough.

Some more art prints, or personal things to put on the walls would be nice. Possibly a slightly smaller mouse pad, as well. Perhaps a different way to hide my KVM instead of those mini shelves on the side table. Maybe a mic stand, or speaker stands. Possibly many things.

How much is too much? I’m not sure. I do believe in the very real risk of overengineering a setup and accidentally suffocating a space. There’s a solid amount of planning that comes when trying to maintain balance visually while also keeping things functional.

We’ll have to wait and see if any new ideas spring up, but I think I’ll be enjoying things as they are, at least for the foreseeable future.

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Notes, filed by date.