Small and Cosy Apple Setup with a DIY Oak Wood Desk

Name: Nicolai Jul

Location: Aarhus, Denmark

Occupation: Working with kids and young people diagnosed with ADHD

Room size: Small room — just 120 cm wide, facing a window

Cost of setup: $6,5K

Social media: Personal Instagram, Setup Instagram

Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m 45 years old, a father to three teenage kids.

We live in a small Danish city near the ocean.

I have been an Apple user since the first iPad came out.

In my spare time, I have a passion for bike riding and cleaning my car.

I work in an institution with kids and youth who are diagnosed with ADHD, and some are on the edge of the law.

Due to my work, I can’t go into details about it.

Besides my day job, I draw a lot. I make tattoo drawings by request and sometimes logo drawings.

Take us through your setup

Item	Model
Monitor	Apple Studio Display
Monitor light bar	LUXI portable lightbar
Laptop	MacBook Air M1
Computer	Mac Mini M4
Tablet	iPad Pro M4 13″ Apple Pencil Pro
Speakers	Apple HomePod 2nd Gen
Headphones	AirPods Pro 2nd Gen
Keyboard	Satechi
Mouse	Logitech MX Master for Mac
Desk mat	Grovemade XXL
Desk shelf	Wall shelf in Oak Satechi Riser
Chair	IKEA Gaming Chair
Desk	DIY oak wood desk

My desk is handmade.

I found a desk at work that was going to be thrown out, so I restored it with sandpaper and oil until I was happy with it.

I’m an iPad Pro user — it’s my main device — and I have been an iPad user since the first generation came out.

The main reason I use the iPad is the Apple Pencil — its thin and lightweight design makes it super convenient for both work and creative tasks.

The responsiveness of the Apple Pencil is great for sketching and jotting down notes, and with the iPad Pro’s powerful performance, multitasking is a breeze.

I find using Pages on the iPad Pro a solid choice for note-taking, document creation, and even some light design work.

The ability to easily integrate text, shapes, images, and even sketching with the Apple Pencil makes it versatile.

Pairing the Apple Studio Display with the iPad Pro really opens up a lot of possibilities and enhances the experience.

With the iPad Pro M4’s power and Stage Manager, it almost feels like using a mini workstation, but with the portability of a tablet.

I love using Stage Manager with the iPad Pro on an external monitor.

With the external monitor, the iPad Pro becomes more like a traditional laptop setup and provides a more comfortable workstation.

I find it great for longer work sessions.

I can easily connect via USB-C or Thunderbolt to the Studio Display, which makes the setup seamless.

For me, Apple’s aesthetic is a huge priority.

I could use another monitor for my work, but like art on a wall, my desk setup has to look good.

Apple-like PC Desk Setup

The creator’s goal was to create a compact, powerful system that didn’t resemble a spaceship with RGB lights and would fit seamlessly into his living environment.

Maker StationsMakers

I’m using Philips Hue lights in my setup and throughout the house. Being able to connect it all to HomeKit is a joy.

The Philips Hue lights are a great tool to enhance productivity — they offer customisable lighting tailored to different tasks and moods, and work great with the Hue app on Mac.