So we all like to talk about our survey gears but what about our office spaces?
I will be having an extra room in a few weeks and wanted to turn it into an office. I recently went to Office Depot and similar stores and really can't find one that that suits my needs. I'd prefer one that isn't too roomy, L-shaped or possibly U-shaped to have enough room for a plan sheet, 2 monitors, keyboard and another spaces to make annotations or work with a book.
Could you guys post some recommendations of some comfortable desks for us surveyors or people who generally work with plans and books? Trying to get some ideas over here. Thank you.
I did the same when we bought our house, at the time our local Office Max had a U-shaped desk with outlets built into the corner and an optional Hutch
Pic from their website, just so happens to be on sale too.
I use two "Steelcase" secretaries. There are the 'L' shaped desks with one side lower for typing. I have them opposing each other with access on one corner and a printer/plotter tower on the other. That gives me 4 working surfaces where I can sit and spin all day long.?ÿ
I have one steel case secretary and a variety 4 different more that include two corner desks (one very wide and one very narrow with bookshelves on each support leg), one multi-level desk and one 4ft wide computer desk for the printer and one 2ft wide storage cabinet.
Will take a picture. Currently, I am reducing two offices into one. I am exhausted from running from one room to another because my computers are set up to do certain tasks and only one is connected to the internet.
Card tables and folding chairs can get the job done in a pinch.?ÿ Play with various arrangements, then go blow a hunk of cash on your dream set up.
I use solid core door blanks with Hon 2 drawer legal size filing cabinets as supports.?ÿ Works pretty good.?ÿ You can paint or stain them however is most attractive to you and they can be cut down to whatever length fits your available space.?ÿ At the house it's setup in a T configuration along one wall.?ÿ There's a work station for both me and my wife with a peninsula between.?ÿ The printer sits between the 2 computers.?ÿ The wall side are 30" doors and the peninsula is 36" leaving plenty of room to roll out a plan set if need be.?ÿ At the office it's the same concept but repeating the pattern, 80" work stations separated by 36" peninsula's all around the perimeter of the room.?ÿ This leaves good space in the middle for a conference size table that people can wheel up to for brain storming sessions.?ÿ At the office we use Hon 2 drawer lateral filing cabinets to support the end of each peninsula which provides each station plenty of personal storage.?ÿ?ÿ
I use solid core door blanks with Hon 2 drawer legal size filing cabinets as supports.
I use some old cardboard boxes I got out of the dumpster at Walmart. I put some pallets across them to form a work surface. For a chair, I use the passenger seat out of the '89 Plymouth that's rusting in my front yard. Works great...
Jeesh. I remember college. Sometimes you do what you have to. Buts it's hardly something a professional aspires to.?ÿ ?ÿ
?ÿ
My office with MDT had prison-built furniture- ultra sturdy oak secretary so it had the ??el??? but new enough that it had file drawers on both ends, and not a typewriter hidy-hole. It was 14 years old and looked brand new when I retired. Home office ?ÿis a mix. Still arranging. Main office at the new place had a fender there today installing some work station. I mentioned that it reminded me of Dire Straits...
@norman-oklahoma LOL
I worked at a firm where the price tag on your executive chair had a direct correlation to your supposed "professionalism". They went out of business. Using the method described above I was able to build out a 24 station office for less than $3,000 including the chairs and haven't heard a single complaint. I instead spend the real $$ on things that make $$$ and forego the leather and cherry hardwood 😉
I did spend a grip on our conference room table though, but that's because it's a Killer Spin professional ping pong table masquerading as a conference table.
Cheers!
$5800 per might be out of all our ranges, but there is a lot of room between that and $125 per work station. I once bought out an office full of cubicle work stations plus conference room table, and about a dozen chairs, for $3000 plus the hauling.
I have two old desks in my little shop at home. Got a wooden teacher's desk for free on Facebook marketplace because the lady didn't want it to go to the land fill.?ÿ
My office at work has modular furniture, I directed the installation. U-shape, face the wall, peninsula on my left (door side of the room), desk surface on the right. Steel shelving unit behind me for Trimble GNSS boxes, little Lawyer bookcase I scrounged next to that with books I found hidden in a cabinet to make me look smarter than I really am. Two side chairs with a scanner box in between them for side table.
It is sad that human nature tends to encourage the thought that one's capabilities are based on their appearance and the beauty and plentifulness of their tools.?ÿ Some of the most intelligent people I have met over a lifetime gave the appearance of just falling off of the turnip truck.?ÿ Some of the dumbest people I have met over a lifetime gave the appearance of having just walked out of a gala at the White House.?ÿ Sad.
I think that I read years ago that Jeff Bezos' first desk when he started Amazon was a door supported by cinder blocks in his garage.I can't remember the details, but I think that such a desk was a status symbol for his early hires.
It's not what you have, it's what you can do with it that's important.
It is sad that human nature tends to encourage the thought that one's capabilities are based on their appearance
Not sad for us handsome folks....just sayin'
Sorry. I forgot about your extraordinary talents.
"Bon Vivant, Raconteur and Man About Town" reported as other licenses in your personal information here.
😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛
Actually I should update that...added two more states (well one state and the District of Columbia) since I last updated my profile.
I'm not exactly sure how the leap from my description to cardboard boxes and pallets was made but here's a picture of what one area looks like. My station is out there with everyone else at the end on the right.
I realize there are lots of options available and a broad spectrum of setups and configurations. I worked in cubie land 20 years ago and didn't like it, nor did many of the folks I worked with so when we started up our own gig we made the intentional decision to do something different. What we landed on helped us maximize the space available while still providing lots of individual work space in a budget friendly way.
End of the day, the OP said he couldn't find exactly what he wanted at the store and asked for ideas. Maybe it's having grown up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere Montana but when I'm presented with situations like that my default is to ask how I can build what I need instead. This is simply my solution and I realize it isn't going to work for everyone. Bringing my professional aspirations into question over the materials I chose to build out work stations with seems a bit of a stretch IMHO.
The term "cubie land" was used above.?ÿ I like that phrase.
Walked into a single room/building once about 1977 that was big enough to host the Super Bowl field/seats and all.?ÿ Nothing but cubicles about five feet high.?ÿ Rest rooms and meeting rooms along one side, otherwise, all cubicles.?ÿ Told myself there isn't enough money to get me to take a job such that I would need a road map just to find my work station every day.
Ended up stuck in a cubicle for a couple of years anyway but there were only about thirty of them.?ÿ But, there were two people per cubicle.?ÿ Not good.?ÿ The worst thing though was every desk had a telephone and many of the cubicle residents were doing things elsewhere on the facility for most of the day.?ÿ Listening to their phones ring repeatedly a few feet from your ear while you are attempting to do business on your phone was extremely annoying.
I'll confess that it looks much better than I imagined. I've surely seen worse. Like 8 CAD ops on folding plastic tables in a windowless concrete room ("we can't seem to retain good staff, I can't figure it....."). Your guys seem to have natural light and plenty of space, which is good.
The OP was asking about setting up a personal workspace, presumably in his home. People began throwing out Office Depot solutions made of particle board, plastic, and thin steel. Ick. Then somebody upped that ante with doors on top of filing cabinets.
There is nothing wrong with spending a little money on a nice desk with some lasting value. Say, as much as you might spend on the computer and associated stuff you are going to put on it for years to come. Say, as much as you might spend on a set of bedroom furniture, a home theater, or a sofa and coffee table. After all, you are going to spend more time at it than you do any of those other things.
