Dual Monitor Home Office setup

My dual monitor station at work

I've always thought of a dual monitor setup as a bit of an unnecessary luxury. Throughout my design and photography career I've mostly used iMacs - with the biggest monitor size I could afford. A few years ago I had a guy try to sell me a second monitor for the iMac I was using at the time. He extolled to me the virtues of a dual monitor setup, and why I should buy his Apple monitor off him (for a horrendous price at the time). But I really got the sense that he was just trying to sell me something he didn't want, so I wasn't sold (both literally and figuratively) on a second monitor for my iMac.

Well, that was then, and this - as they say - is now. Since I started working in my present job, I've used a dual monitor PC (Windows) setup. And I have to say that I love it! Why, oh why, did it take me so long to discover the virtues of a dual monitor working environment?

My 'small' 1320 x 900mm working space

Of course when I come home, I revert back to a single monitor work station. Not the end of the world, but I definitely miss the dual monitor setup at work. So, over the Christmas holiday period, I decided to do something about it.

My son Joshua built his own gaming PC over the holidays, and wanted a computer desk to set it up on in his bedroom. The desk I was using in my 'office' (a small sun-room attached to the side of our house) was perfect for his requirements, so I said he could have it if he helped me install a purpose-built desk in my office that could accommodate two monitors.

Phase one in a dual monitor workspace, however, was getting another monitor! Fortunately I had a birthday (my 50th) just prior to Christmas. So I let it be known to the family that I'd like a new monitor to use with my exisiting Asus 20". Joshua and I had a look on-line at what was available in my price range and size, and in the end we opted for an AOC 21.5" i2280SW. At 1920x1080px it has a higher resolution than my Asus (at 1600x900px), but the Asus is a chunkier monitor, so when you place them side by side the difference in minimal and the screens themselves line-up almost perfectly. Eventually I'd like to get a second, identical AOC. But this will do in the meantime.

The 'bracing' in place for the desk top

With a second monitor purchased, all I needed now was to design the desk, purchase the wood, and have it cut to size. I opted for 18mm MDF board, and has able to get it cut to size by a work colleague in the carpentry department of the Polytech.

The design was simple - just a 1320x750mm board with a hole in the center for the computer cords, and a beveled front edge. Some bracing to hold it all in place - and with the left over boards from the sheet of MDF I designed a cube to hold the laser printer and hard drives. Easy.

I don't consider myself a 'handy man' so I kept the design as simple as possible. It really is just a board that everything sits on top of. I didn't need draws or any other fancy compartments. I just needed enough space for two monitors, keyboard, mouse and graphics tablet. Something that would maximise the available space (wall-to-wall) and give me enough working distance for comfortable viewing.

My new Dual Monitor Office space at home.

I'm thrilled with the final result, and now have my own dual monitor setup at home. My new AOC 21.5" is my main monitor on the left - where I do all the designing and Photoshop/Lightroom editing. The Asus monitor on the right is for any other documents I need open to support what I'm doing with the design and editing process. This can be anything from a full size image in Lightroom (see the first image of this blog), to a word document, web page or emails. Windows can be dragged from one monitor to the other at will, and re-size automatically according to each screens optimal resolution.

If you are a photographer, designer, or heavy multi-tasker on your computer - and you've never experienced a dual monitor setup - than I would strongly suggest you try it for yourself somehow. Find someone who has a dual monitor setup and get them to show you how it works (it's very easy). I can almost guarantee that once you try a dual monitor workstation, you'll never want to go back to working on a single monitor system again.