My Chicago Office

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I moved to Chicago last fall and had my first chance to design a dedicated office for fully remote work. With a new job and a generous WFH stipend, I invested a lot of time into finding the perfect gear to improve my workstation, so here’s a rundown:

The desk itself is an Ikea IDÅSEN Tabletop attached to hairpin legs. On the desk, I’ve stuck with the boring Apple Keyboard, Trackpad, and Mouse atop a large Felt Desk Mat.

Under the desk, I have a bamboo mini cruiser skateboard serving as a footrest. The chair is a Herman Miller Mirra with Caster Wheels.

For a display, I’m rocking a VESA-mounted LG 27 Inch 4k Display on a Jarvis Monitor Arm as my primary display, and my laptop serves as a second display atop a Jarvis Laptop Arm.

I use a Shure MV7 mounted on a low-profile Elgato Mic Arm. I use an Elgato Wave XLR interface plugged into Sony Headphones to monitor my input without the annoyance of audio delay.

After years of waffling back and forth, I finally took the plunge and upgraded my webcam setup to a Sony Alpha 6100 with the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 lens mounted on a Heckler Camera Shelf. It's connected via an angled micro-HDMI connector and an Elgato Cam Link 4K.

During the day, this room’s primary light source is the large 6×6ft window. On the opposite side, I use an Elgato Key Light to fill in the shadows on that side of my face. A colorful LIFX Beam behind my chair corner serves as a fun backlight and always sparks a conversation.

After the sun’s gone down, the Key Light gets promoted to the primary light. A second LIFX Beam in the corner behind my desk takes over the role of fill light.

I was well on my way to a Twitch streamer’s setup, so I just leaned into it. An Elgato HD60 S+ lets me pass video to the display and capture HDMI signal for streaming. I have a PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and an Intel NUC connected to the capture card via an HDMI splitter.

Keeping this many cables out of sight can be a tall order. Everything’s plugged into a 9-Outlet Surge Protector mounted under the desk alongside a cable management basket to hold any AC adapters and excess cable length.

I’ve routed all the cables to a CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Dock, which can pass everything to the laptop over a single Thunderbolt 4 cable. I planned out all the adapters, cables, and power requirements with FigJam.

This all makes it easy to swap between my work laptop and my personal machine without reconnecting a dozen peripherals. Given that I spend most of my time in this room, I’m pleased with how it turned out and glad I invested the time and money to tailor this space to my tastes.

If you want to buy any of these things, I’ve added all the links on my blog. Check it out! nathangathright.com/chicago-office/