Home Office 2.1
I’ve worked from home in some form since 2005. My home office is generally reserved for productive activities, which makes it a space that I go when I need to focus. I decided to give it a little makeover last year to make it a place that is a little more inspiring.
The coffee table started it all.
I came across a wooden shipping crate last year while looking for some scrap lumber for another project. I decided a shipping crate was an apt material for the furniture that I use to ship software.
Not sure how well it would work out in practice, I decided to build a coffee table first.
When I can’t concentrate or am working on a hard problem, changing location helps me make the mental shift. I wanted some comfortable chairs to lounge in whenever I needed a change of scenery. I founds some slightly modern looking chairs to pull together the rustic palette furniture with the bright green walls and electronics.
The chairs also serve as a good place to sit and jam on the guitar or mandolin.
The standing desk.
I’ve had various iterations of a homemade standup desk for the past several years. For my new office, I decided to build a new desk out of pallets. I was on the lookout for businesses getting rid of pallets as I drove around town. Within a few days I had more than enough to build it.
Protip: Breaking down old pallets is incredibly boring. Buy a good audiobook to keep you entertained.
I assembled the desktop out of boards from various pallets to give it some good variance, and then aged all the wood using science (tea, steel wool, and vinegar).
I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I don’t love the legs, but they are replaceable whenever I come up with a better design.
A day at the chalkboard wall.
I spend all day on a computer, typically doing things that are not terribly creative. I’m not a designer, but I’ve always appreciated good design and enjoyed the process of designing. So, I decided to make one wall of my office a chalkboard to give myself a creative outlet.
My nieces enjoy the chalkboard wall when they visit, but my work buddy pictured above is not impressed. The design is stolen from this beautiful dribbble design.
Here’s a time-lapse of my first day at the chalkboard:
Protip: If you’re going to turn a wall into a chalkboard, run a sander over it first. My wall had a slight texture to it, which makes it a little difficult to draw on with chalk.
Wall map
I’ve had the privilege to travel to some cool places. I’ve always wanted a wall map to put pins on the significant places. stickerbrand.com has nice ones in various sizes.
That’s all for now
I’m still on the lookout for a stool to go with the standing desk. I’m looking at the HAG Capisco chair. Hit me up on twitter if you have any questions or suggestions.
I am Brandon Keepers, and I work at