Two people, one small room: shared home office layouts

Before you move any furniture

Two people working in one small room need more than two desks. Each person needs their own work surface, their own power, their own light, and a way to take calls without disturbing the other. Start by answering four questions together:

1. How many hours does each person work in the room? One full-time and one part-time worker can share differently from two full-time workers.
2. How many calls does each take? Frequent callers need the most separation.
3. What equipment does each need? A laptop takes far less room than two monitors.
4. Who needs daylight most? Decide fairly; the window seat often goes to whoever is there longest.

Measure the room

Draw a quick plan with the room's length and width, the door and its swing, windows, radiators and outlets. Then check the clearances each desk needs.

Office Furniture 2 Go's space planners give these figures for the space behind a desk:

OSHA's work space guidance adds minimum legroom under each desk: 20 inches wide, 17 inches deep at knee level and 24 inches deep at foot level.

Three layouts that work

Layout 1: side by side along one wall

Both desks run along the same wall, usually the one with the window.

• Needs: a wall of about 80 inches or more for two 40-inch desks, plus at least 36 inches behind.
• Pros: shares daylight evenly; easiest to wire; leaves the rest of the room open.
• Cons: you sit shoulder to shoulder and hear every word of each other's calls.
• Make it work: put a shelf unit or tall plant between the desks as a visual divider, and agree on headsets.

Layout 2: back to back

The desks face opposite walls, with the chairs in the middle of the room.

• Needs: a room deep enough for two desk depths plus space for both chairs. With 24-inch-deep desks and the 36-inch minimum behind each, that is roughly 24 + 36 + 36 + 24 = 120 inches, or 10 feet, so both chairs can pull back at once without colliding. Staggering the desks so the chairs are not directly back to back saves some depth.
• Pros: you face away from each other, so calls feel more private and neither of you appears in the other's video background.
• Cons: needs the most room; one person may face away from the window.

Layout 3: an L, one desk on each wall

One desk on each of two adjoining walls, meeting at or near a corner.

• Needs: two walls of about 40 inches each, plus clearance behind both chairs where they meet.
• Pros: the best use of a small square room; partial separation; each person gets a wall for shelves.
• Cons: the chairs can collide in the corner. Leave a gap of a foot or more between the desks at the corner.

Give each person their own

• Power: one surge protector per desk, each plugged directly into a wall outlet. Do not run one strip off another; see power strips and surge protectors.
• Light: a desk lamp or light bar each, so neither person depends on the other's lamp or the ceiling light. See desk lamps for small desks.
• Storage: a drawer unit or shelf each, so work does not spread onto shared surfaces. See under-desk drawers and rolling carts.
• Chair: an adjustable chair set to each person; if you share one desk at different times, adjustability matters even more. See compact office chairs.

Calls and noise

This is where most shared rooms struggle.

• Use headsets with boom microphones. They keep your call out of the room and the room out of your call; see headsets vs speakerphones. Keep the volume moderate: the World Health Organization's safe listening standard sets a weekly allowance for adults of 80 decibels for 40 hours.
• Share a calendar of calls, and agree which calls move to another room, such as a hallway, the bedroom or the kitchen.
• Soften the room. Curtains, a rug and full bookshelves reduce echo, which helps both of you on calls.
• Use a divider. The Sleep Foundation suggests a curtain or room divider to mark work and personal space when rooms are shared; the same trick gives two desks a little separation.
• Check video backgrounds. Make sure neither person walks through the other's camera shot on the way to the door.

Agree some house rules

A short list, written down, prevents most friction:

1. Call times and who moves rooms for which calls.
2. Quiet hours for focused work.
3. Temperature and window settings.
4. Tidying at the end of the day, especially shared surfaces.
5. What happens when one person needs the room for something else.

When the room is just too small

If two desks do not fit with the 36-inch clearance, consider:

• one shared desk used in shifts, with a second spot elsewhere (a dining table kit) for the other person; see living-room desk setups,
• a fold-down desk for the part-time worker; see wall-mounted vs fold-down desks,
• a closet office for one of you.

Choosing desks to fit? Our desk size guide has worked examples.

Compact desks for two people in one room

Two small desks usually fit better than one big one. These are 40 inches wide or a corner shape; see what size desk you need to check the room.