Work-from-home upgrades: The ultimate guide for your setup
From desks and chairs to seat cushions and filing cabinets, here are some office products that can improve your work-from-home setup.
The ergonomic experts we spoke to said that what distinguishes an ergonomic chair from a regular one is adjustability. This one from Branch features seven different adjustment points, including seat height, seat depth, tilt tension, armrest width and lumbar support. The chair is covered by a double layer of reinforced mesh weave, which the brand says promotes comfort and breathability.
Another type of desk chair to consider is a kneeling chair. Chiropractor Ashley Cruz previously told Select that this chair style can take pressure off of your lower back by maintaining your body’s natural “S” curve. “When you sit in a typical desk chair, you’re left to your own devices and may hunch forward. Kneeling chairs may help fix this,” she explained.
Sleekform’s kneeling chair is a good option if comfort is your top priority. The height of the chair can be adjusted from 21 inches to 28 inches, and the brand claims its 4-inch-thick foam cushions are twice as large as most competitors.
If you prefer to keep hard copies of your files and documents, a letter tray can help you stay organized and store everything in one place. This one from IKEA comes with four trays that can be pulled out for easy access to papers. Caroline Solomon, founder of New York City-based home organizing business NEATLY, recommends labeling each tray to keep track of where things go.
If you don’t want to completely overhaul your desk setup, another way to avoid hunching over your computer all day is with a laptop stand. A laptop stand raises your computer to eye level, which reduces the strain put on your head and neck discs. This stand — which can hold any laptop 10.4 inches or less — raises the screen up 5.9 inches and has a 2-inch hole in the back for cables to manage any cables and wires.
You also don’t have to replace your office chair completely to upgrade the comfort of your setup. A seat cushion can’t give a chair more adjustability, but it can cushion the seat and decrease the amount of pressure on your lower back and derriere. Mattress company Purple makes several different standout seat cushions — notably, the Double Seat Cushion is made of the brand’s proprietary memory foam alternative called Grid for contouring support and breathability. Additionally, you can flip the cushion depending on how much support you need — one side is plusher for softer chairs while the other is firmer for harder chairs.
If you tend to get overheated while working at your desk, a mini fan can help you stay cool without driving up your electricity bill. This one from SkyGenius also won’t take up any space on your workspace since it’s designed to clip onto the edge of a table. It can be powered by both a rechargeable battery and a USB power source, and the fan head rotates vertically up to 360 degrees.
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