My Desk Setup and Accessories 🪑

The top 10 things I use everyday (no affiliate links!)

We are approaching Christmas time! So after the latest long, serious pieces about Elon, and the Cloud tradeoffs, I thought it was time for something lighter.

Today I will cover my favorite 10 items of my office setup. You might use this as an inspiration for your space or as a gift guide for your loved ones.

I will briefly review each item and also provide links to learn more. Those won’t be affiliate links — I will not make any money out of this.

This article also nicely complements the one about my tool stack — so you can now imagine exactly how I work, both physically and digitally.

I will divide this into two main sections:

• 🪑 Desk Setup — the basic configuration: standing desk, stool, and mat.

• 🪄 Desk Accessories — everything that goes on the desk.

Let’s go!

🪑 Desk Setup

Six months ago I bought a standing desk with the goal of improving my posture and general health — especially that of my back.

It was a long shot. I had worked seated for 20+ years, so I distinctively remember myself thinking: “I am probably wasting money here”. Also because these desks don’t come exactly cheap.

I had two main concerns:

1. 🔋 Stamina — I wouldn’t be able to stand for long.

2. 🧠 Focus — while standing, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate the same way I do when seated.

And for the first week or so, I felt I was right! I wasn’t able to stand for more than one hour at a time, and I also felt distracted by the new pose.

But I gave it some more time, and the new style started growing on me. After just one month, I was spending roughly half the time seated and half standing, and there was no noticeable concentration gap anymore.

Fast forward to today, I spend about 75% of my time standing. Usually the whole morning, and about half of the afternoon. I don’t really stand continuously for hours — I work with pomodoros and I use pauses between sessions to sit down, have a coffee, and relax a bit. But the main difference is that, one year ago, I used those pauses to stand up — now I use them to sit!

The health difference is also noticeable: whenever I go for a walk, or hiking, I have way more energy than before. I used to have intermittent back pain, too, and now it’s gone.

So here is my setup:

1) Fully Jarvis Standing Desk ($500+)

I have researched standing desks thoroughly and this was by far the most recommended and loved. It comes in several sizes, styles, and with plenty of accessories. I love it and can’t recommend it enough.

2) Ikea Lidkullen Stool ($139)

This is a specific stool made for standing desks.

When you are seated it slightly moves, helping you to sit actively. The mechanism keeps your body in motion and should give you a healthy posture. I love that it is small and I can keep it under the desk when I am standing, saving space in my room.

3) Anti Fatigue Mat (~$20)

One of the initial problems after standing for a while was that I felt some pain in my feet and knees.

It turns out standing barefoot on a hard floor can cause issues. You can counter this by buying an inexpensive anti fatigue mat on Amazon, made specifically for standing. It works and solved the problem for me.

🪄 Desk Accessories

So, what’s on my desk, you may ask? Let’s cover the main items:

4) LG Ultrafine 5K 27” (~$900)

This is the best monitor I've ever used in my life, bar none.

It was made by LG on Apple specs, specifically for Macs, and everything about it is fantastic: resolution (5K on a 27” is very high density), brightness, and integration with macOS.

It is also very expensive — but it has been around for a long time so chances are you can find it second-hand. I bought it this way at ~€600, which is less than half the retail price.

5) Fully Beam Desk Lamp ($130)

I bought this lamp together with the desk, and I love everything about it. It is minimal, good looking, and has just the right amount of controls for brightness and light temperature.

The build quality is great, and since it clamps to the desk, it takes very little room.

6) Shure MV7 ($230)

I upgraded to this mic when I started recording voiceovers for Refactoring, and after reading countless reviews. Both recording quality and build quality are stellar. Also, it has both USB and XLR outputs — which is convenient so I can easily use it both for work and with my band.

7) Desk Mat (AliExpress) ($4)

I am a fan of large desk mats, but I find many to be unreasonably expensive. In the end, I just bought a bunch on Aliexpress.

Quality is decent and they cost literally 1/10th of what you find online otherwise.

8) Google Nest Wifi Router ($99 – $199)

This was a fantastic upgrade over the previous router we had. We bought the 3-pack to make sure the wifi covered the whole house and the terrace, and it works perfectly.

Setup is very simple, and the app is also useful if you want more granular control / stats over your net.

9) IKEA SIGFINN Stand ($25)

In a world where monitor stands / desk shelves have become fashionable and expensive, this unassuming IKEA stand is the real MVP. It is good looking, well built, and gets the job done. It is also only $25.

10) Artificial plants

I love having a couple of plants on my desk.

I can only keep artificial ones because my cat would destroy them otherwise, so I have become kind of an expert. In fact, the difference between a mediocre and a good artificial plant is immense: the best ones can be indistinguishible from the real thing — you have to touch them to know for sure.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found good international retailers. If you are in Europe, chances are you can buy some good ones from Maisons du Monde. In Italy we also have niche companies and artisans like Verdevip, that provide higher quality at lower prices — but they only ship in Italy 😢

In general, my advice is to buy succulents, because artificial ones are more likely to look good.

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See you next week! 👋

Luca