We moved into our current house about three years ago, giving me my dream work-from-home office space.
I never actually purchased new furniture when we moved, instead moving with my current setup, which included a solid L-shaped office desk with hutch, along with bookshelves and book case.
The desk was fantastic and served me well. But after a decade of heavy use, it was full of wear and tear, scratches, peeling, etc.
Two main things happened over the last year or so that prompted a need for an upgrade.
First, my wife bought me an extra-wide monitor to match her own. I love it for gaming, but it definitely crowded my triple monitor set up, forcing my third monitor into vertical display (which I actually ended up liking quite a bit).
Second, I had bought a bigger tank for my hermit crabs, which I’ve been keeping for over a decade. They went from a 20 gallon to a 40 gallon, with much more water access, proper bubblers for humidity, and better substrate depth.
The crab tank was normally right next to me, underneath the hutch, but the new one was so big it barely fit, just like the monitors. I was super crowded at my desk, despite having plenty of space in the office.
So, it was time to upgrade!
We decided to make the most straightforward changes: get a proper tank stand and move the crab tank, replacing the low bookshelf between my desk and my beloved 5×5 IKEA Kallax shelf that holds all my board games.
Get a new L-shaped desk but without a hutch, and get a bunch of shelves to put all the nerdy stuff I like to display, and take advantage of the extreme height and wall space I have to work with.
And why not make that new desk an adjustable sit/stand desk!
I also had the fun idea of putting a little retro game station next to my desk, with a bean bag chair. Basically, instead of the usual arcade machine in a mancave, I’d have a place to play old SNES games.
We actually found everything on Amazon, and ended up ordering the following in one fell swoop:
- Hongtamoya 4-tier AV Media Stand
- Sceptre 22-inch gaming monitor
- KKdema Bean Bag Chair
- 3x Ballucci floating shelves 60″ (includes 2 each)
- 1x Ballucci floating shelves 36” (includes 2)
- Hlivelood Farmhouse Fish Tank Stand 30-40g
- WalkingDesk L-shaped Sit Stand Desk 63″
The first three items were for the gaming station, which I could quickly setup without really moving anything around. The chair is super comfortable, and my wife and kids are glad to have somewhere to sit if they come into my visit.
I dug out my SNES Classic Edition, which is somehow almost a decade old, and hooked it up t the monitor.
Now with the press of a button, anyone can sit down and play Super Mario Word, Mario Kart, F-Zero, or Super Metroid.
My kids are also huge fans, and love stopping in to fire it up. It’s totally distracting for me, but it’s fun to hang out with them in my office, too.
Obviously the console is the tricky part, and while I do still own my old consoles and games, the simple HDMI hook up from the SNES Classic is just far easier.
But, it’s super out of print. I think the next best thing is probably the Nintendo Switch, with a Nintendo Switch Online membership that grants access to all the retro games. A retro-style controller would be a must, though!
Putting together the tank stand and desk involved a bit more work.
An entire weekend to be exact!
Taking apart the low bookshelf was easy, and putting the tank stand together was also relatively straightforward. It has a nifty barn door railing on the front that I really like.
Moving the tank wasn’t too bad since it was so nearby, but my wife and the smart idea of installing the shelves first.
While I worked on the stand and the shelves, my wife emptied my desk, a herculean task as it was stuffed full of PC and office supplies, and nerdy stuff like game boxes and CDs and old Game Boys from the 90s and 2000s, that would soon end up on the shelves or cabinet.
Installing 60″ floating shelves is a bit of a pain, especially if you want them in a specific spot! The low shelves would be even with the top of the Kallax, and the top shelves would be one Kallax cubby-length taller.
Four shelves would go up in a 2×2 formation above one wall. One shelf above the Kallax, and the sixth above my door frame.
None of these would hold heavy objects, mostly empty boxes or Transformers figures!
I then installed the two 36″ shelves on the wall I’d be facing, and we carefully measured to make sure the two shelves could comfortably fit in the corner.
We also made sure to measure with the height of the sit/stand desk in mind! My little laser level was the MVP of this project.
By the time I finished all the shelves, my wife was halfway through building the new desk, and it was late Saturday afternoon.
We finally got the desk finished around dinner time. Shout-out to my folks for babysitting the kids all day!
The next day (Sunday), ended up taking almost as long, but far less laborious.
We just had to put my office back together.
We set up the PC and threaded all the wires into the corner circle, making sure all the cords were long enough for standing height.
Then I started organizing all the shelves, painstakingly taking all my game boxes, CDs, figures, etc, for display.
My wife also had the good idea of putting up the small 24″ shelves I previously had above the desk, as they were the perfect size for my old gaming CD-ROMs.
I ended up installing them in that very obvious blank space above the desk.
We also re-organized some other shelves and moved some stuff around, like all my D&D books into the larger bookshelf. And I moved my old Game Boys into my display cabinet.
I’m still shocked it took as long as it did. I have way too much stuff and never want to move again!
But I think the results look fantastic. I have way more room around my desk, the crab tank is properly secured, and I can freely stand and work whenever. I also freed up a bit of space on the board game shelf thanks to the new floating shelf above it.
And the retro game station is awesome.
My dream office has become even dreamier, and I couldn’t be happier.
RogueWatson 