Cosy and Functional IKEA KARLBY Desk Setup in Nantes, France

Name: Nicolas R. Dumas

Location: Nantes, France

Occupation: Network & Security Consultant

Room size: 12 m² (129 ft²)

Cost of the setup: ~$4K

Social media: Instagram

Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself

Hi there, my name is Nicolas. I am a 31-year-old IT consultant living in Nantes, France.

I was born in Paris, but my family moved to Nantes when I was five years old. I went back to Paris for my studies when I turned 18. I lived there for about twelve years before returning to Nantes 1,5 years ago.

The reason for this move was that my daughter was born and the COVID-19 made it necessary for our family to have more space, nature, and a calmer environment.

I’ve been working as an IT consultant for about six years now, and I really enjoy it.

Since COVID, I have been working from home three to four days a week, which has allowed me to spend more time with my family.

It has been a blessing.

One thing that has always been true about me is that I love gadgets.

At the age of 12, I blew everyone’s minds by connecting two monitors to the family computer.

I have always wanted the latest phone, keyboard (for example, the Logitech diNovo when I was fifteen), computer, and other gadgets.

You could say I’m a very enthusiastic tech enthusiast.

Clearly, if I had unlimited money, I would probably become a danger to everyone in my household with all of the gadgets I would buy.

In my free time, I enjoy playing video games with my friends.

However, I prefer to play casually and have fun rather than becoming frustrated and mad when I die to a coward camper who is WAITING FOR ME AROUND THE CORNER.

Yes, I’m talking about you, hardcoregamer69.

Take us through your setup

With this desk setup, I aim to create a productive and optimised environment for work and leisure, as I spend most of my day sitting there.

I’m always changing and improving things, organising differently, and buying items that better suit my needs.

My workspace has transformed a lot since I built my first setup (when I was 14, I believe).

It has gone from full RGB lighting, a dual monitor, a big tower, and a glass desk, to what I have today, which may be very different from what I will have in a few months or years.

I am now closer than ever to having a desk setup that truly satisfies me both practically and aesthetically, but I like to change things up frequently.

In an effort to make my setup feel cosy and welcoming, I have added personal items such as figurines (Marvel, Star Wars), pictures of my family and friends, and knick-knacks that have meaning to me (my lighter, Invincible comic, the art of Nantes, vinyl records of nostalgia-inducing artists and other things).

I like plants as well, although I’m not very good at taking care of them. However, I do love having a bit of nature on my desk.

For the colours and materials, I like to have a little bit of everything.

I try to mimic the mix of different materials and colours that you would see in the outdoors (a tree, a metal pole, the pavement, a window, some artwork), as it feels more lively to me.

My work PC is a laptop.

I use the Nova keyboard for work because it’s in the ISO FR layout. It’s more comfortable for me as a French speaker than the ANSI layout.

I also built a budget custom keyboard with the goal of making it as silent as possible.

I put red silent switches on it and did a lot of modifications.

This way, no one can hear it during a call or if I bring it to work, and it feels like typing on clouds.

For my personal rig, I use a Keychron V2 keyboard (I’m in love with this thing!) with knobs and either an MX Master or G Pro wireless mouse (it’s amazing for gaming). I have a docking station to keep the mouse charged and never run out of battery.

I pair the keyboard with an MX Master 3S mouse, which is also relatively quiet and great for productivity.