Working From Home Megathread

In terms of decoration, you can't go wrong with some plants, wall clock, and prints/posters.

I got a number of large prints/posters over the years and just got an identical frames for everything so they look well, frames from Woodies I think. I've 5 plants too (Ikea) and a cool little Karlsson clock I got off Amazon.

I also picked up a slab of "butcher block" kitchen counter top from ikea, Karlby I think its called. I cut it up to make 2 desks, one for me and one for the wife. Legs also came from Ikea. Actually now that I think about it, everything bar the clock came from Ikea.

Don't remember where I got the chair from as I spent a LONGGG time looking at and trying many options and I know it was 200 eur or thereabouts and literally everything is adjustable on it so I was able to get it EXACTLY how I wanted it. Didn't mind spending that because it had to be good quality.

My monitor stand is a Lack shelf, about 30 quid including the feet. I moved house recently so I am planning on adding a lot more art/prints/posters to the space over the next few years.

I will say that I had the office before covid and WFH as my hobby involves sitting at the PC for long hours so I wanted a nice space.

As for how much all of the above cost, probably around 500 eur, but all spent over a few years. You have a million options if you go the Ikea route as you can mix and match bits and pieces.

I guess it all depends on what your tastes are, how much you want to spend, and what you are particular about, for example, I wanted a really good chair and a class looking desk surface, but didn't give a toss about what the legs looked like so long as they were the right height, so I spent accordingly.

Before you decide, take a look online but be careful with the "Instagramable" setups. They may look cute and pretty, but you need to think about how the space needs to work for you in terms of comfort and functionality. One example, I sat at loads of desks when trying chairs and got a good feel for what desk height I liked/hated, so when it came time to make the desk I tailored my choice of surface and legs to ensure I got exactly what I wanted.

Best of luck with it. This is one ongoing project for me and I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far.

If you would like some pics happy to send through PM.

Our company gives us ‘summer Fridays’. Half day for all 20,000 staff (subject to work deliverables of course). And, no, there is no deduction. Messaging re Friday afternoons is directly from the CEO

it’s called ‘wellbeing’ and many progressive companies are into it. staff are more committed, happier and work harder because of stuff like this

what salaried workers are held to their 9-5 these days anyway. I don’t really care if my team leave early or come in late any day as long as they deliver.

Putting wfh aside, whether you rent or own, a bit invested in minimal insulation measures (draught excluders, window seals etc) would probably pay for itself within a month or two and reduce the cost after that.

That is an insane amount of money to be spending on heating.

There's a DIY forum where you can get a lot better advice, depending on the specifics of your situation. For your own financial wellbeing I'd strongly recommend that you investigate further what you can do.

3 bed, 2 storey townhouse, 1,400 sq ft. Built in 2005 but a previous owner did a good job of insulating the place.

No UFH, and the lower floor is best suited to it as its concrete. I could do it in the upper floor too as it's possible to do, just not as effective and may go the UFH route, depends on the return as I'd have to replace all the flooring but we need to do that too as it's all original and cheap crap with tiles lifting etc.

As regards the electric bill, I should also mention that on week 1 we replaced all lighting with 3-5 watt LED's and had to replace all white goods so went with the most efficient models available.

We also won't be upgrading the heating system until we get water treatment as the hardness is insane.

But upgrades are part and parcel of owning and we've a loose plan for things to do over the short, medium to long term. The end goal is to have minimal running costs so when we retire in it'll cost feck all to run.

In terms of saving/funding everything, WFH savings alone, in particular not having a car, pay for the lot. The savings from ditching the car and not having to commute are truly astounding