Home Office Setup For Two: Creating a Double Desk

The shift to remote work has been the reality of our current working life. Whilst some of us like to work alone, others prefer if they had the company of their significant other, sibling, or even just a friend. It can be challenging to set up a workspace for multiple people, acting as a shared space, whilst maintaining privacy and focus. In this article, we'll provide tips on creating a double desk setup that works for both of you.

Measure Your Space

The first course of action must be to work out how much space you both have to work with. This information will allow you to determine the maximum size of the desks you will be able to purchase, and ensure the size will be functional and comfortable. This is an extremely important step, if you are left with a cluttered or cramped workspace, this can significantly decrease productivity and overall happiness in your home office. Once you've measured your available space, you then need to work out the split of space between the people sharing the workspace.

Choosing the Right Desks

The desk you will be using is undeniably one of the most important factors when creating a new workspace, and is even more important when you're creating a workspace for two Below we have listed some of the things you need to consider when purchasing a new desk.

Evaluate Your Allocated Desk Spaces

This information will allow you to purchase not only the desk of the correct size but also the type of desk. If your workspaces are going to be located in the corner of your room, you can consider getting an L Shaped Corner Desk, whereas if you have more space to work with, you can confirm on large rectangular-shaped desks.

What type of work?

This will mostly dictate the size and aesthetic of the desk. If you're creating a home office for writing or other creative work that wouldn't warrant a multiple monitor setup, it might be a good idea to keep the desk sizes to a minimum and focus on other aspects of the home office. On the other hand, if you're working in tech, or are completing work that would require multiple applications open at once, multiple monitor setups may be a great help to you. If you're looking for more information about this, be sure to read our Ultimate Double and Triple Monitor Setup Guide

Remember, just because this is a shared space it does not mean that each of you must have the exact same workspace, everyone has their own requirements, taste, and preferences.

Add Individual Storage

A pitfall to a shared home office is that you're likely to have limited space to share between the two. If this is the case, ensuring you have efficient, yet graceful storage is a priority. Storage can be compact or hidden in multiple different ways. For example, you can add a chest of drawers under your desk, utilizing more vertical space and keeping your open space clear. Below you can see an example of this being used in a setup we recently covered, follow Setup with IKEA ALEX Drawers to see the full review.

Personalize Your Space

Although your home office is shared, that does not mean that there are no personal touches and individuality. It is imperative to make sure each of you feels like the desk belongs to you, and you'd be able to use it adjacent to each other, yet also in private when necessary. Below you can see some suggestions on how you can give a personal touch to your desk setup:

• Add personal photos or artwork
• Use unique desk organizers and accessories
• Choose a comfortable chair or add a cushion to your existing chair
• Add a plant or other greenery to bring life to the space
• Display books, mementos, or other items that hold personal significance
• Invest in a high-quality lamp or lighting solution that fits your personal style
• Use a colorful mouse pad or keyboard wrist rest
• Hang a bulletin board or whiteboard for reminders and to-do lists
• Choose a wallpaper or paint color that reflects your personal style
• Incorporate fun and functional items such as a stress ball, playful desk toys, or a miniature Zen garden.