7 Things You’ll Want to Update Your Home Office

The pandemic has made many people more comfortable with working from home. If you already have a room in your home where you can focus, hunker down, and check off your to-do list, you’ve probably had no trouble transitioning to working from home. If you don’t have a dedicated space for virtual meetings and the like, it might be a good idea to designate a room with a door you can close to become your home office.

In any case, there’s no reason to work in a place that’s boring—part of creating a space that’s conducive to work and productivity is having good quality furniture, especially a desk that meets all your needs, as well as an ergonomic chair that you can sit in for hours without any problems. Other important factors include having all the equipment you need, a well-stocked supply of office supplies, and adequate lighting, to name a few.

To help you start to revitalize your home office, making it less boring and messy and more inspiring and organized, here’s a roundup of items you can buy on Amazon. Recommendations are based on personal experiences with the products, their rankings on Amazon, and positive reviews shared by other users.

Why settle for a single computer screen when you can extend it? Amazon has a ton of monitor options, all of which will expand your viewing area and let you see multiple windows and tabs at once. Depending on your current setup and size preferences, you can choose one that’s about the same size as your current computer screen, or something a little smaller that you can use to place windows adjacent to your work — think messaging apps like Slack or even non-work platforms like Facebook Messenger or your personal email.

If your primary work computer is a laptop, you’re better off investing in a second monitor that’s lightweight and portable, so you can take it with you if you decide to change scenery and work from a coffee shop or public library for the rest of your workday. One of the best-selling portable monitors on Amazon is the Arzopa S1 Table. Originally listed for $129.99, this portable monitor is often on sale and has even become popular on TikTok. Based on my hands-on testing, it’s worth your time, especially if you’re on a tight budget or want a second monitor you can use on the go.

Meanwhile, desktop users have more room to go wild and buy a high-quality monitor to keep in their home office. If you’re a gamer and don’t work, having a multi-monitor setup can improve your gaming experience. You can go wild and buy any of these 1440p monitors on Amazon or go for one of the more affordable and well-reviewed gaming monitors on Amazon’s bestseller list. One such option is the Sceptre 27-inch 100Hz monitor, priced at $120.

You don’t have to settle for a laptop keyboard or the basic black one that usually comes with most PCs. Instead, consider getting an external keyboard with different colored keys! It can be more exciting to look at and maybe even more enjoyable to type on. Plus, laptop users will have more mobility with a wireless or plug-in keyboard that isn’t built into the machine.

The $40 Moffii Wireless Keyboard may be a largely unknown brand, but it has enough positive reviews on Amazon that it’s worth checking out. You can choose from 26 colors, and the fact that it’s wireless means you can set it up and use it however you like. It also comes with a matching wireless mouse so you can color-coordinate your computer accessories.

If you prefer a wired keyboard and like it to be black to match your computer case, you don’t have to give up a bit of color to spice up your work machine. The $20 Acebaff Rainbow LED Backlit Keyboard is quite pretty and could be a statement piece on your home office desk. Compared to standard keyboards, this one has a larger font, making it easier to read.

Keeping your desk tidy and organized can be tough, especially when you’re up to your neck in work. An easy way to keep your chaotic desk organized is to have a shelf you can place on top that holds all your office supplies. If your desk doesn’t have any drawers, this two-tier monitor stand — which is currently $34 on Amazon — has a slide-out drawer with three compartments that can hold highlighters, pens, cables, and other odds and ends; an additional shelf for papers, gadgets, and more; and side holders that can hold pens and other long supplies.

If you prefer a more modern look, this $24 monitor stand has a wood top that comes in two finishes. While it doesn’t have a built-in drawer, it does have plenty of shelf space under the top, which may be enough for your needs.

In addition to the fact that a monitor stand can keep your desk tidy, it also raises your computer screen to a more comfortable height that is easier on the eyes and generally better for your posture.

If you own a lot of electronic gadgets, chances are you have a huge collection of cables that you have to keep close to your desk. Whether it’s your computer’s power cord, your smartphone or tablet’s charging cable, or your USB or HDMI connector, they can build up pretty quickly and can get a bit unsightly.

To keep your office power strip or surge protector out of sight and a little clutter-free, an under-desk cable tray like this one from Cinati — available on Amazon for up to $26 in a variety of colors — can do wonders for improving office clutter by keeping unsightly cable clutter off the floor and out of sight. It doesn’t require drilling and should be easy to install.

When it comes to your numerous USB cables, instead of keeping them loose and in disarray, buy an electronics organizer for $22. This travel bag can be used to store not only your cable collection, but also your power bank, flash drives, memory cards, and other small gadgets. You can use it to keep your electronics accessories in one place in your home office. Alternatively, you can use it when traveling.

Keeping your office clean and tidy plays a big role in boosting your productivity, creativity, and overall well-being. It’s a good idea to regularly vacuum or mop the room you spend the most time in, and keep a few quick cleaning tools on hand, like a hand vacuum or a container of disinfectant wipes.

If you take inventory of the items on your desk, the ones you probably touch the most and should clean more often are your keyboard and computer screen. Dust can get stuck in the cracks between the keys, and depending on whether you eat while you work or not, your keyboard can get all kinds of junk and debris on it. If you have a touchscreen laptop, there may be a ton of smudges on the display that you should get rid of.

The Ordilend Keyboard Cleaning Kit , currently on sale for $17 and a top-selling product in its category on Amazon, is definitely something to consider. The compact tool itself comes with several cleaning tools, including a brush, keycap remover, stylus tip, sponge, cleaning pen, cleaning spray, and various cleaning cloths that work on your screen, keyboard, and headphones. If you want more features, this $13 electronics cleaning tool has twenty attachments, including an air blower for removing dust particles from screens, lenses, and other hard-to-reach surfaces.

When it comes to expensive home office essentials, if there’s one thing you should spend money on, it’s a chair. It can’t just be any chair – something too comfortable can make you less productive, and something too stiff can cause body aches.

One particular office chair design that’s recently gone viral on TikTok is the “crisscross applesauce” chair. It’s basically a chair that lets you sit cross-legged and work comfortably at your desk. The wheel-free version sold by Neo Chair is currently on sale for $100 on Amazon (but is often on sale) and is probably a better choice for making sure you don’t accidentally roll off the table. The seat itself is roomy and comfortable, and the backrest has a reclining function that provides ample support.

Another option worth considering is the Vivo Cross-Leg Ergonomic Chair. It’s more expensive at $250 — but it’s 20% off on Amazon at the time of writing — but you have more options in terms of seating position, thanks to the adjustable lower footrest and ottoman. If you tend to fidget while working, and sitting in one position for long periods of time makes you feel restless, this could be a dealbreaker.

Adequate lighting can make or break any living space, especially the room where you’ll likely spend the most time doing your most important tasks. While it’s true that natural sunlight is best, having a good quality lamp — maybe one that mimics daylight, if you have one — is a must-have. Whether you prefer lamps that come with a floor stand or ones you can place on your desk, Amazon’s bestsellers for both categories are a great place to start.

The most popular desk lamp on Amazon costs $29 and has a few perks. The lamp head is fully adjustable, so you can point it however you want. More importantly, it has five different light modes and ten brightness levels, so you can adjust its intensity throughout the day. Other cool extras include a built-in USB charging port and an automatic shut-off timer that you can set for 30 or 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, this LED floor lamp — which normally costs $50 on Amazon but is on sale for $30 at the time of this writing — also has a variety of dimming options: cool white, natural white, warm white, and warm white. In addition to having a remote control, making it easy to control no matter where you are in your home office, the lamp itself has built-in eye protection, as well as purple and blue light filters. It also has an auto-off feature.