How I Turned an 80sqm Room Into a DIY Warm, Functional Home Office for Two
- Mar 9
- 6 min read
When your space needs to be a productivity hub, a gaming setup, and a creative studio all at once — you stop browsing Pinterest and start building things yourself.
This post covers the full process of transforming a blank 80sqft room into a dual home office with custom-built furniture, smart wall storage, and cozy DIY lighting. From 2D floor plans to final felt panels, here's everything that went into it.
Project Goals
Before buying a single piece of lumber, I mapped out what this space actually needed to do:
Hide clutter and maximize storage without making the room feel cramped.
Create distinct desk setups — one for myself covering productivity and gaming, and one for my partner for work.
Pull it together with a warm, cohesive aesthetic that makes the space feel bigger and brighter.
That third goal drove almost every material choice that followed.
Planning the Layout
I always start with a 2D floor plan, noting everything fixed in the room — outlets, wall fixtures, door frames, windows, and natural light direction. Getting this down early means fewer surprises once furniture is in place.
FLOOR PLAN PICTURE HERE
Once I had a layout I liked, I moved into Shapr3D on my iPad to model the room in 3D. This is where I start designing the actual furniture — visualizing proportions, testing spacing, and figuring out what fits before anything gets cut.
The plan came together around a few key custom pieces:
A sideboard to fill the negative space beside the desks and add hidden storage
Pet stairs so Mocha can keep his favorite window-watching spot
Two rolling carts for the rear wall — one for general storage, one dedicated to my 3D printer
For wall storage above the desks and carts, I turned to Ikea rather than building my own. More on that below.
Tools & Materials
Keeping the tool list manageable
Circular saw + aluminum extrusion guide
Orbital sander
Kreg Pocket Hole Jig
Corner clamps
Iron (for edge banding)
Laser cutter (for stair side panels)
¾" Sande plywood (painted white)
¾" Pre-finished maple plywood (for all top surfaces)
Maple iron-on edge banding
Satin enamel cabinet paint
2x4s + corner brackets (for cart frames and stair structure)
Lockable caster wheels
1/8" wood sheet (backing panels)
1/4" wood sheet (sliding doors)
Plastic drawer slide tracks
Link to tools here: https://kit.co/itsxris/diy-tools-gear
Optimizing the Cut List
My designs were all straightforward rectangular boxes — no complex angles or curves. This made it easy to run everything through Cut List Optimizer, which spits out the exact number of plywood sheets needed and the most efficient order of cuts to minimize waste.
Worth noting: the free version has a generation limit before you hit a cooldown or need to pay. Plan your sessions accordingly.
I took the cut list to Home Depot, had the sheets rough-cut there, then did final cuts at home with the circular saw and guide rail.
Building the Furniture
Painting & Prep
For anything that would be painted white — the main carcasses of the sideboard, carts, and stairs — I used the cheaper Sande ply. After rough cuts, I sanded each piece and applied a coat of primer followed by white paint.
For all top surfaces, I used pre-finished maple ply and finished the edges with iron-on maple edge banding, trimmed and sanded flush. Clean, warm, and consistent across every piece.
Assembly
Pocket hole screws are a first-time woodworker's best friend. No fancy joinery, no complicated jigs — just glue, pocket holes, and a lot of corner clamps. I used 1/8" wood sheets for the backing on each piece, with a small gap at the bottom left open for a surge protector.
Sideboard
The sideboard fills the gap between the standing desk and the wall. I used plastic drawer slide tracks adhered to the inside top and bottom, with 1/4" ply doors drilled with finger-pull holes — sanded smooth so they glide cleanly.
Rolling Carts
The carts are built on 2x4 frames with lockable caster wheels, which also creates a toe-kick area — essential for any standing work surface. One cart got a pegboard-style panel, the other a whiteboard surface, just for future flexibility.
Inside the 3D printer cart, I added a low shelf on drawer slides so the printer can be pulled out for maintenance. Filament spools are stored on 1" dowel rods held in place with 3D-printed brackets.
To minimize vibrations, I lined the interior with an old yoga mat before setting the printer in. Small detail, but it made a difference.
ROLLING CARTS PICTURE HERE
Pet Stairs
The stair side panels were the only non-rectangular pieces in the whole build, so I used a laser cutter for those. The internal structure is 2x4s with a lot of corner brackets — not sure if this is the textbook method, but each step feels well-supported and it's held up nearly a year later.
Steps were finished with clear grip tape so Mocha can go up and down confidently, while keeping the overall look clean.
Ikea Wall Storage
For anything going above head height, I trusted our big Swedish friend rather than my own joinery.
I used Ikea's online design tool to plan out the wall storage. Above the desks, I went with Bekant shelf units.
BEKANT PICTURE HERE
Above the carts, I used Eket cabinets — two white units sandwiching a couple of green display cubes.
EKET PICTURE HERE
Pro tip: always check the Ikea as-is section before buying new. I found a Bekant unit in perfect condition, which saved both time and money.
The green Eket cubes paired with the warm maple tones was the color combination that really locked in the earthy, cozy vibe I was going for.
Everything was mounted using a laser level and toggle bolt anchors. The Eket units were an incredibly close fit — they hit my measurements almost exactly.
IKEA MOUNTING PICTURE HERE
DIY Softbox Lighting
Lighting was the last piece, and honestly one of the most impactful.
Taking inspiration from Matthew Encina's home office build, I built softbox light panels to mount underneath the Bekant shelf units above each desk. The frames are built from plywood offcuts, lined on the inside with foil tape for extra reflectivity, and wrapped in diffusion fabric.
SOFTBOX DIY HERE
For the light source, I used Govee COB light strips. They're not cheap, but they're incredibly bright, already diffused, cover the full RGBW spectrum, and don't flicker on camera — which matters a lot for recording videos.
The frames are finished with thin maple ply strips to match the rest of the furniture, and attached to the Bekant units with high-strength magnets so they're removable. Cables run behind the felt panels to stay mostly hidden.
NANOLEAF PICS HERE
Above the carts, I reused an old set of Nanoleaf panels, mounted on a cut-to-size sheet of ply and adhered underneath the Eket units with 3M Velcro tape. Not as polished as the lightboxes, but a solid way to repurpose tech already on hand.
On the desks, there are light bars mounted behind the monitors for a soft ambient glow, and a lamp on my partner's side.
LIGHTS ON PICS HERE
By day, the big window does most of the work. By evening, everything shifts to a warm color temperature — and the space genuinely feels like somewhere you want to be.
Finishing Touches
With the furniture in place and lighting sorted, the last step was adding some softness and color to the walls.
SAGE GREEN TILES PICS HERE
We chose sage green felt panels for the wall behind both desks and the wall above the carts. They add a pop of color that complements the maple, a cozy texture, and a surface to pin things to. Two birds, one panel.
On the far right of the desk wall, I 3D-printed a small Skadis-style pegboard to keep desk essentials within reach — one of those small details that makes daily use that much smoother.
Lessons from the Build
A few things worth knowing before you start a similar project:
Pocket holes are beginner-friendly, but clamp generously. The more clamps, the better the joint.
Edge banding makes a big difference. It's a small step that takes a raw plywood edge to something that looks intentional and finished.
Check the Ikea as-is section. Seriously.
Download the plans for the sideboard and stairs build here:
Got questions? Want to see the next project in this office makeover series? Drop a comment below or subscribe to the YouTube channel so you don’t miss the upcoming desk setup transformation and more creative workspace builds.
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