Name: PJ Manalo

Location: Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Occupation: Human Resources Consultant

Room size: 12,3 m² (132,4 ft²). Desktop space: 1,8 m² (19,3 ft²).

Cost of the setup: ~$6K, including the PC and monitors

Hey, PJ! Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m a Human Resources Consultant and manager for an international HR Consulting and Solutions company.

I get to collaborate with HR practitioners from all over the world. I help them so they could help their own organisations. I provide advice, training, designing and putting in place HR systems & frameworks.

Before the pandemic, my job involved a lot of travel — with upwards of 100 days of business travel in a year. I’ve been to 33 countries (as of December 2021) since I started working for the company in 2006.

I’m a lucky husband of an awesome woman. We both share a quiet lifestyle. We enjoy food, books, occasional travel, and watching streaming shows.

A small home office setup in the Philippines
PJ and his partner live in a small (52 m²) 1-bedroom condominium in the city centre. “It’s super convenient — lots of restaurants and bars in the neighbourhood, two malls within walking distance, and a 20-minute walk to the office”

I enjoy learning, building things, and tinkering. Cooking new recipes and trying different techniques make me happy, too.

Also, I love Lego, especially Technic and space-themed sets. I got into PC building (kinda like adult Lego) and gaming during the pandemic.

Since August 2020, I’ve built six PCs.

My current gaming/work PC has had two versions. I built one for my wife, one home theatre PC, another work PC, and a budget gaming build for a nephew.

Can you describe your home setup?

Item Model
Monitor Samsung Odyssey G7 32in, AOC 22B2HN 22in + Eyoyo 13.3in 1440p
Monitor mount FlexiSpot MA8
Monitor light bar BlitzWolf BW-CML3
Speakers Razer Leviathan
Headphones beyerdynamic DT 880 PRO 250 Ohm + EPOS H6Pro
Keyboard Royal Kludge RK61
Mouse Delux M618XSU
Desk mat MD Custom Felt and Cork Mousepad, 800×300mm
Mouse mat MD Custom Aluminum Mousepad, 240×300mm
Chair HandO Gain Executive Mesh Chair
Desk shelf Generic steel shelves
Web camera Center Cam
DAC/Amp iFi Zen DAC v.2 + Topping A50s
DAC EPOS GSX 300
Clock Lenovo Smart Clock

Lack of space is the main challenge of a 52 m² apartment for two people.

There isn’t really space for a home office. My first setup was in a nook in the bedroom. The nook must’ve been used for a dressing table before.

PJ’s first setup had a view of the bed behind him. “It wasn’t optimal when sharing a bedroom”, he says

I could only fit an IKEA Micke Personal desk — it was 73 cm wide and 50 cm deep.

The whole space was a little less than 1 m².

It wasn’t ideal because I couldn’t slide my chair back much. I would’ve collided with the bed behind me.

There was little natural light and no view.

And my spouse couldn’t get to her closet or the bed without people seeing her if I was on a video call.

I grew tired of that setup after over a year in quarantine. I did some measuring and moved furniture around the bedroom.

This gave me tons of space (1,8 m²; 80% more) that had more natural light, and a view of the city past the balcony.

Working from a windowless home office?
These 9 proven tricks will make it feel bigger.
Maker StationsEditorial Team

Better yet, my new space is angled so that my wife has free reign of the rest of the room even while I’m on camera.

I still have a relatively small space.

I took inspiration from my neighbourhood of high rise condominiums.

I built vertically with as few compromises as possible.