New Build wfh & kids desk setup recommendations

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33coupe

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#324140 5-Mar-2026 13:32

I'm close to starting a new build and have a seperate room for a desk / wfh setup, as well as a study nook in the kids bedrooms. I'm a little unsure the best / optimum way to set these up. If you had a blank slate what would you do?

I'm planning 2 x wall mounted screens in the office, and the laptop underneath them. Would you put the power / plugs on the wall behind the monitors and power below the desk for the docking station (run other cables in wall?)?

With the kids nook, I was planning just one screen and maybe something similar to the above. But then I wondered if an All in One computer would be the easier / cleaner option (kids dont game, albeit these AIO dont seem very common, and less upgrade ability in the future if want to have a dedicated PC)

Any ideas or recommendations would be greatly appreciated

cheers

wellygary

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#3467000 5-Mar-2026 13:52

Are the Office screens for a Computer/Laptop?..what problem are you trying solve with wall mounting??

Personally I would like them within arms reach and look at couple of monitor arms rather than being fixed on a wall...

Dynamic

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#3467001 5-Mar-2026 13:57

For the adults, in the past I would have supported bolting the screens to the walls. These days I'm such a fan of my sit/stand desk that I would suggest this as the ideal option, bolting the monitors to a monitor arm attached to the back of the desk. Sit or stand, short or tall, or change it up in the middle of the day. Based on this, just have a twin (or a quad) power point at knee height, and cables will be bundled up under the desk in it's cable management tray. (My favourite desks come from standdesk.nz and I love the bamboo tops as they are easy to sand and re-varnish if they get scratched.)

For the kids, a screen should last two generations of computer (10+ years). An AIO machine is awesome for compactness and tidiness, but they typically use laptop-style internals which (for power usage and colling reasons) don't have the horsepower of a desktop machine. This means an AIO typically has a shorter useful life than a desktop PC, and you're also then retiring a perfectly good screen. The desktop PC is more likely to be usable for modern games or have the room to add a graphics card to help with modern games. When the desktop needs to be replaced, you still have a perfectly good screen to use for the lifetime of that second desktop computer.

The age and interests of your kids will of course be relevant here. If you use a laptop as your daily-driver computer, you could also use the laptop for 3 years yourself and then retire it to be the kids computer for the next 3 years of its life. As the kids grow, they may need to have a laptop for school and it might be handy to connect that laptop to the big screen. A monitor with a USB-C connection might be handy at that stage (though currently USB-C monitors command a higher price).

Lots of possibilities, and there is no correct answer as needs change long term.

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k1w1k1d

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#3467004 5-Mar-2026 14:00

The in-laws have a 27" HP AIO and wireless keyboard-mouse combo on a small desk in the corner of the lounge. Very neat and tidy setup with just a single power cable.

Works well for them and the 27" screen makes me jealous.

Probably pay to get the builders to add some extra horizontal dwangs/nogs in the wall in case you do decide to wall mount the monitors at some stage.

richms

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#3467010 5-Mar-2026 14:49

IME the adjustments on most wall mounts is lacking compared to a desk stand for tilt and height, which if you are using an LCD becomes quite important since gaming ones seem to be some of the worst for viewing angles. Wall mount is great to stop it bouncing around and taking a camera with it when typing or mousing hard on a desk.

Richard rich.ms

33coupe

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#3467012 5-Mar-2026 14:58

Thanks for the quick replies, some great info and insights.

Having them wall mounted would just be for aesthetic reasons (using something like the below link), but like Dynamic said would mean a standup desk wouldnt be possible, hmmm

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MOABRA0450/Brateck-LDA30-114-17--32-Dual-Screen-Wall-Mounted?qr=GShopping&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20216793827&gbraid=0AAAAADtNoCQKOSHhm_ivSGQrKvqMDSsd0&gclid=CjwKCAiAzZ_NBhAEEiwAMtqKy9X8jBHQ5WS6z7c0Szbnq-o3G-rkr8-fi5Ey5yMtidcDT0F-bio0mRoCILIQAvD_BwE

A good point re: the noggings thank you

As for the kids desks I guess I should prep them so that a desktop can be used in the future, that way I'll have the option of an All in One if one comes up cheap etc.

As I use my laptop connected to two monitors (laptop as a third screen) and a docking station. Would you mount the docking station under the desk and cables in the walls? The only concern is that the usb c cable for the laptop isnt very long, and I would need two holes in the walls for cable runs (1 brush plate behind monitors and another behind the laptop or a usb c to c wall terminated wall plates) to avoid the usb c cable coming down from behind monitors.

If that makes sense!?

MikeAqua

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#3467014 5-Mar-2026 15:20

For offices, I wouldn't go with in wall cabling etc. There is the standing desk issue others have mentioned, but also, offices are sometimes repurposed into bedrooms or even rearranged. You then have a power outlet half way up the wall for no apparent reason. If you desk mount monitors, one can easily be switched between portrait and landscape as different users prefer. I secure power panels to the underside of the desk if required and run a single line to the outlet.

In your main office I'd have two daisy chained (power and video) monitors, once of which is also the USB-C-PD hub. In the kids' nooks, I'd have a single monitor with inbuilt USB-C-PD hubs. It's a very tidy (few cords) set up. Anyone can plug-and-play pretty much any modern laptop. The hubs can also be used for high-speed phone charging too (when your kids lose their chargers).

Mike

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PolicyGuy

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#3467019 5-Mar-2026 15:39

If you live in a moderate or high seismic risk area, it's really important to secure the monitors.
At a former employer, all the monitors were on desk stands - some of them on top of piles of books or a couple of wrapped reams of A4 paper - because this was so much cheaper than buying & installing monitor stands. Then there was an earthquake, and fully 30% of the monitors ended up face down on the floor or desktop with cracked glass, broken & unusable. We obviously won't the only organisation to suffer, monitor delivery lead times shot out from 2-3 weeks to 14-18 weeks.

All the refurbished workspaces had their monitors on adjustable arms: more expensive but better ergonomically and seismically much safer.

cddt

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#3467021 5-Mar-2026 15:42

How old are the kids?

eracode

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#3467058 5-Mar-2026 17:03

PolicyGuy:

We obviously won't the only organisation to suffer, monitor delivery lead times shot out from 2-3 weeks to 14-18 weeks.

Are you by any chance still looking for a delivery of 60 monitors from Dell?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

JemS

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#3467064 5-Mar-2026 17:31

+1 for monitor arms instead of wall mounting. Keep the docks on the desk and cables out of the walls incase they fail. Good monitor arms and desks have plenty of good cable management features now too. Put cat6 or better ethernet ports where you expect to have computers.

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everettpsycho

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#3467125 5-Mar-2026 20:03

I'd say steer clear of AIOs and just go laptop with dock or USB C monitor instead. That gives you flexibility for anyone to use any desk or use the computer at school if they need to. I like a desktop but the vast majority of what most people use a computer for these days a laptop is grunty enough to get the job done, if they aren't gaming or doing anything taxing you'll be fine. That also gives you room to upgrade to a better laptop later if you need to without wasting the monitor portion of the AIO.

Power and network, my study nook has 4 plugs, 2 above and 2 below the desk, then 2 Ethernet jacks above the desk. If I did it again I'd put the Ethernet underneath as I'm paranoid the stand desk will catch on the cables. I had to buy power boards with plugs that the cable comes out the bottom to ensure they don't catch on the sit stand desk as well but seems all ok now.