Get the dimensions right before you spend anything

Six chapters, numbered as they are on a drawing sheet. Every entry is a single work-station factor: what it controls, the measurement it wants, the band it may sit in, and the reason the band is where it is.

Entries publish on a schedule. Chapters fill in over the coming weeks; numbered gaps are entries not yet released.

Seat height, seat depth, tilt, lumbar support and armrests - the five numbers that hold the rest of the desk together.

• Seat height: the measurement everything else is built on
• Seat pan tilt: the 5 degrees that decides whether you fidget or ache
• Seat depth: the measurement that decides whether your back gets support at all
• Lumbar support height: find it by measuring your belt line, not your waist
• Armrest height: how high before they start lifting your shoulders
• Backrest angle and tension: the two settings people never touch

Desk height and depth, keyboard and mouse planes, clearance underneath, and the arithmetic of raising a laptop.

• Desk height: seat height plus 20 to 25 cm, and why 75 cm fits almost nobody
• Keyboard height and tilt: the negative-angle trick that saves your wrists
• Desk depth: the working arc that decides where your monitors can go
• Mouse plane and arc: matching the mouse height to the keyboard
• Under-desk clearance: the measurements that decide whether you can sit close
• Laptop riser math: how high the stand has to be, calculated not guessed

Screen height, viewing distance, tilt and glare, panel size, dual-screen fold angles and low-screen positions.

• Monitor height: the top bezel is the number, and it goes below eye level
• Viewing distance: arm's length is a myth, here is the actual arithmetic
• Monitor tilt and glare: stop tilting the screen back to beat reflections
• Screen size and pixel density: picking the diagonal from your viewing distance
• Dual-screen angles: the fold, the seam, and the neutral head position
• Sofa-corner screens: when the top of the screen has to be below your eyes

Elbow angle, the two reach arcs, wrist deviation, document holders, headsets and cable drag.

• Elbow angle: why 90 degrees is the floor, not the target
• Wrist rest and neutral wrist: measuring the angle you actually type at

Standing height, sit-stand ratios, mats, footrests, microbreak patterns and walking-pad speeds.

• Standing desk height: elbow height, not a range from a chart
• Sit-stand ratio: how long, how often, and why the total matters less than the switching

Desk orientation in a small room, key and fill lighting, colour temperature, sofa corners and shared tables.

• Small-room desk rotation: measuring which wall the desk should face
• Sofa-corner setup: a measured build instead of a compromise