Luca Defreitas-Hansen

My workspace is now in its own dedicated room — an actual office! We bought our first house last year, and it came with a room I've finally been able to make completely mine. Before this, I was working out of my bedroom. It worked, but having a dedicated space is a huge upgrade in itself.

Since the room is bigger and purely for work, I didn't really remove anything, just added and upgraded. The main change was my desk. I switched to a Flexispot standing desk because I wanted the ability to work on my feet and have a large, clean surface to spread out on. The other swap I'm glad I made was ditching the LED lights for a simple monitor bar light. Not only looks much better but more practical and helpful for eye strain.

Honestly, it's about the same in terms of what's actually on the desk, but it feels a lot cleaner and more minimal with the aesthetic I've gone for. That said, putting it all together took way more thought and effort than my previous setup. As I know very well in design, simple is often times the hardest thing to get right.

It's made me genuinely appreciate the small things. A lunch walk with my wife. An extra 20 minutes reading in the morning. Hitting the gym mid-afternoon to break up the day. These things sound minor, but doing them consistently while building something you love is where the real sustainability comes from.

Invest in the feeling you want the space to have. Floating shelves, plants, a monitor arm, whatever makes it feel like yours. You spend a serious amount of time in your workspace, so it should feel warm and intentional, not like an afterthought.

And for the things you use every single day, your computer, your monitor, your chair, go for quality. My chair was probably my most important purchase. You don't notice good quality until you've sat in something mediocre for too long.