Here’s a handpicked collection of minimalist and quirky, small and spacious real shared home offices for two people — including side-by-side, face-to-face, and open-plan arrаngements.
Instant home office for two on a spare wall
The room that was destined to become a shared home office for Mary Laurens, a lifestyle blogger from South Carolina, and her husband, sat right in the middle of the house. Every day that “eyesore” would threaten Mary as a whole since the doors were always open.
She eventually bought a desk at World Market and hung her favourite Mandi Nelson’s print on the wall, but space still felt bare.
Mary then stumbled across Loomwell’s Aspyn Wallpaper and got all inspired. It was very eye-catching and also quite busy, so the best place for them would probably be some smaller corner... like a home office. Thus, the brainstorming began.
Nothing seemed to work with this crazy wallpaper. Just too much. I finally decided on the shelf and love how it turned out!
Visit Mary’s blog to read the whole makeover story.
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Dual freestanding sit/stand workstation for creators
The Brooklyn-based furniture makers from Uhuru Design created MINIM RISE SIT|STAND to be a dual sit-to-stand workstation with easy-to-use features and flexible power options.
Users can set desk heights and activate different modes in this desk system remotely from their phones, along with being reminded to change positions.
Uhuru makers have considered every last detail, from the desk system’s proportions to the materials used, so that it offers versatility and functionality without sacrificing an elegant look.
Sleek one-desk, two-windows shared workspace setup
For this home-office-for-two project, Jennifer Pacca from New Jersey designed a custom shelving unit under the window seats on the desk wall that also serves as filing cabinets and large drawers.
With a 48-inch width, this desk can easily accommodate one person on each side and also provide privacy for both.
Office den for two in a farmhouse shed
This farmhouse-style WFH office for two was entirely created by a family couple on their own — from the wife’s ideas to the husband’s DIY execution.
With a workbench that long, two people can easily work side-by-side without unwanted interference.
Simple face-to-face home setup for two
Sometimes even putting a large table perpendicular to a window can make a huge difference.
In addition, such a layout can provide a nice sidelight for both shared home office co-workers.
Shared home office setup with floating shelves
If you have a tight space or an empty wall, you can visually and practically declutter your dual WFH office desk with floating shelves.
If possible, place your desks near natural light sources. Even if you have a tiny corner, windows are the best way to make the shared workspace feel bright and airy.
Twin workplace in a studio
A soft, gentle colour palette and a variety of lighting sources are useful in keeping your space from feeling too dark or stuffy. Ideally, each person should have their own desk lamps so they can independently adjust the brightness to their likeness.
A home office corner of this San Francisco studio designed by Jute benefits from an abundance of natural light, lots of antiques, and natural fibres.
Budget IKEA home office for two
Crystal Satriano, a Scranton, Pennsylvania wedding and newborn photographer, did extensive research on which desks to get for her shared home office.
After reading countless reviews and taking numerous measurements, she decided on IKEA as for her it offered unbeatable value for money.
The workstation’s top is made of one LINNMON/ADILS corner piece, two 39″ pieces and one 47″ piece, and four ALEX drawer units.
Read the full story behind this setup on Crystal’s blog.
Side-by-side dual workstation for two creatives
In this case, the room layout was a bit funky, so the owners — Jess Ann and Craig, a family couple of lifestyle, travel and wellness bloggers — had to put in a long desk that didn’t take up too much space.
Most of the photos Jess Ann and Craig chose for their home office gallery are either ocean-inspired or from their journeys. They like to be surrounded by things that remind them of happy memories and places.
It’s actually really nice that we work side by side because I can give him immediate feedback (and vice versa).
Feel free to learn more about this relaxed shared home office setup on Jess Ann Kirby’s blog.
Scandi-style minimal shared desk setup
They say minimalism isn’t the lack of something, it’s simply the perfect amount of something. As in this Scandinavian home office for two.
A timeless black and white Scandi look never fails to make a statement.
Having light wooden floors, off-white walls and minimalistic furniture with black accents instantly transforms any home office. It’s always a failproof idea to bring in the houseplants for a pop of colour.
Shared home office setup with colourful walls
A dual desk is a handy way to make the most of office space as such desks come in various shapes and sizes.
With the following side-by-side layout, co-workers neither awkwardly facing each other nor getting in each other’s way during their video calls.
The only disadvantage is that co-workers may have a full view of one another’s screens, so it can be distracting.
Loft open plan workspace with staggered arrangement
Originally from Philadelphia, Nicole McQuade and her husband have been recently running their design business from the loft space in the heart of Chicago.
Their passion for design extends beyond their graphic work — it can also be seen in their home décor with a variety of fondly chosen items.
For more details, join Nicole McQuade's Chicago apartment tour.
Neat wall-mounted desk for two with hexagon shelves
Often used in minimalist offices, wall-mounted desks save space and can accommodate additional seating since they’re legless.
Furthermore, if you want more portability in the office, you can consider options for wall-mounted folding desks or standing ones.
The rest will come from the customised shelving, giving the workspace a personal touch and defining its style.
Back-to-back home office setup
Having a shared home office with a back-to-back arrangement gives co-workers the feeling they each have their own space for getting things done.
A room divider or a portable webcam backdrop can help you avoid dropping in on each other’s live video calls in such an arrangement.
Panoramic dual setup for a couple
A shared workstation facing out to the window benefits from tons of natural light, perfect for working from home.
J Æ, the London-based data consultant and tech enthusiast, enjoys setting up the themed workstations/battlestations in his home office at Royal Wharf in London. Above you can see the Chinese Valentine’s Day inspired setup.
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Neutral toned side-by-side office for two
Earthy shades of greys, greens and blues evoke a feeling of calm if you are looking to reduce stress at your desk while working from home.
For the dual home office arrangements, sound-cancelling headphones are a must-have. They let you tune out any noises even when your co-worker is having a Zoom meeting right next to you.
Pink dual workplace for sweet dreamers
A dessert designer Caroline Khoo tells a great story about eating with style and pushing creative boundaries in her book, “I’m Just Here for Dessert: Macarons, Mini Cakes, Icecreams, Waffles & More”. In her airy home office, Caroline’s outlook on life is also echoed.
“What makes a setup great are the personal touches that the owner adds to it,” says Kevin Ng, a Toronto-based front-end developer. Join his maker station’s tour!
Modern DIY home office with farmhouse touches
At first, Amanda and Wes, a DIY couple from South Carolina, were planning to put one large desk facing the doors for their home office. But quickly they realised that they both needed their own space to “get stuff done”.
Over the next few months, they kept saving inspirational pics from Instagram and Pinterest and in one weekend their vision came to life.
They kept their WFH dual office’s style modern and monochromic with farmhouse touches here and there. They also mounted their monitors on the wall and built a six feet wide floating shelf to keep things more organised and maximise workspace.
Don’t have access to electrical wires in your walls? Just install puck lights in any light fixture for an easy wireless option.
For more DIY tips for your home, head to the Matheny Manor Instagram profile.
Bright pocket office for two
If you have plenty of wall space available in your office, you may prefer a long quirky-shaped desk over more traditional setups.
A long desk for two, like this L-shaped one, is an ideal way to share one piece of furniture while also providing enough space for each person to have their own workstation.
With the orange and yellow colours playing off the blue and mint shades, Alison Kandler, an interior designer and decorator from California, created this double setup to be bright and soothing at the same time.
Dark and stylish “mirrored” face-to-face home office with a flexible desk
Any home office setup would be enhanced greatly by having a desk with adjustable height and length.
With a foldable table, you can alter the size of the desktop to meet your current needs.
Dual workspace in a studio
If you and your office partner have separate workstations, consider adding a small table for collaborative work and discussions.
Having a common meeting space allows co-workers to get away from their desks for a while, which encourages one’s creative side.
Get inspired by the full studio makeover by Holly Marder and Hedda Pier from The Hague, The Netherlands.
Home office nook with a corner bookshelf
Corners are often dead spaces, regardless of room size. But with a little bit of creativity and a knack for making purposeful home design, you can change it in a blink of an eye.
Corner shelves in such nooks are not only practical and useful. They can also add an extra twist to the workspace’s design.
Freestanding workstation for two
Freestanding desks centred in the room create a multi-purpose co-working environment.
Consider building a custom wall unit to keep all of your essentials organised and accessible.
Dual desk combining a parent’s workspace with a kid’s study
“Who says an office space should be boring? Not me!” claims Hana, a Toronto DIYer, woodworker and interior designer.
Hana designed a shared home office/study room for herself and her son to have a punch of colour and took a risk with the abstract shapes and leopard wallpaper.
Scared of too much colour? Tip: keep the same colours in the space for unity.
Home office for two in a small kitchen space
Without proper lighting, the interior of your tiny cabin-in-the-wood-style home office can easily begin to look dungeon-like.
By having lots of windows, in addition to keeping the walls lighter, you can make it appear larger.
You may consider installing skylights instead of standard windows to open up the space without sacrificing the wall area.
Relaxed retro style two-person living room office
The design of a functional, comfortable and dedicated dual workspace can actually be quite simple.
For Marti Palermo, who’s been fixing up a 1916 bungalow in Chicago’s Albany Park neighbourhood, it only took one long desk for two people with some small drawers in the middle.
No more camping out at the kitchen table!
Marti’s blog has a step-by-step breakdown of how this setup came together (Spoiler alert: the whole process was supervised by the cat inspector).
Modern shared home office with a vintage twist
Atlanta’s Virginia–Highland neighbourhood hosts this family work/school home office that is a harmonious blend of the timeless luxury of the West Coast and the romantic charm of the South.
The feature wall is painted in Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor. The owners picked it over other shades due to its bright yet well-balanced hue.
T-shaped home office desk for two (as a minimum)
A family’s home office of a Raleigh, NC photographer Christy Johnson used to be their formal dining room. She was never in love with the space, particularly because of the formal wainscoting and the hand-me-down furniture.
Christy’s vision for her new home workspace was formed after reading hundreds of home décor magazines and spending hours on Pinterest.
Christy’s favourite things in the new home office space are the planked walls, the neutral colour palette and all of the textures, from the bamboo shades to the wood chandelier to the seagrass rug.
I am no interior decorator, but putting my vision onto paper and then bringing it to life was amazing.
Read the full story on Christy’s blog.
Shared desk facing a panoramic window
A crucial part of shared office design is avoiding clutter.
While each person needs their own computer or laptop to get work done, nobody wants to crowd desks with other electronics like printers or charging docks. Save space by sharing these devices!
The biggest challenge for Matt Jaworski and his girlfriend while building their WFH dual workspace was their attention to detail. They both hate looking at cables, and all the devices they use do have a lot of those. Fortunately, a Kuala Lumpur-based couple has discovered a simple solution — head to Matt’s interview to learn what it is!
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Comfy dual setup in a small corner
When properly planned, even the oddest corner office space can serve as an efficient workspace for you and an online learning zone for your children.
This fully-equipped workspace in Vancouver was designed with two desks in mind so there is also an area for the kids’ homework and family-time crafts.
With ample storage and a clever filing cabinet that doubles as a bench, the home office ticks all the boxes for all creatures small and great.
Wave-shaped home office with a skylight
Lauren Wills, an interior designer from Brooklyn, NY, completed her own home office in Fort Greene with pink walls surrounding the skylight.
Curved desks offer a sophisticated contemporary alternative to traditional office furniture. You can use them to beautify those awkward corners in your home and make the most of them.
Recharging setup made by DIY mama
Shelly Bergman, a woman behind the DIY Mama Blog, has got an entire office + craft room Pinterest board dedicated to designing her workspace.
While creating her dual home office, Shelly was torn between having a ton of happy, busy colours or simply white. But looking at the board as a whole made her realise she was most drawn to the crisp feel the well organized white rooms possessed.
Read on to Shelly’s blog for more details.
Symmetrical his and hers home office
When the Atlanta-based interior designer Andaika Jeannoel Courtois was designing a home office for herself and her partner, she wanted it to be symmetrical, cordless, and multipurpose.
According to Andaika, the main challenge here was to conceptualise a balanced space for two very different people while keeping everyone happy.
Sometimes you need an extra set of eyes to help you visualise your corners.
Draw some inspiration from Andtopia’s functional awkward spaces.
Bright clutter-free craft studio for two
Smart design and well-thought-out organisation can help make the most of productive spaces.
For Darcy Miller, a bestselling author, illustrator and party expert, her studio is where all the creating, crafting and celebrating happens. Or at least where it all begins.
For more photos and details on how it’s done, head to Darcy Miller’s website: part one (desks and tech) and part two (storage and hardworking wall)
A dining area converted into an IKEA hack home office
After completing a long single-storey extension project, a Midlands, UK-based lifestyle blogger Jane Taylor and her partner had the chance to turn their old dining room into the study they had always wanted.
However, there was one little problem. Their budget was pretty tight after the extension expense. That’s why they decided to save money by creating an IKEA Hack home office instead.
The couple only had a fitted bookcase in the room as a starting point. Nevertheless, they set themselves a budget of £1,000 for absolutely everything else: furniture, paint, soft furnishings, lighting and accessories.
For example, they added a front and side vent to the ALEX storage unit for less than £7 so their PC base unit now has plenty of ventilation.
Dive into Jane’s blog for a step-by-step guide on turning a dining room into the IKEA hack home office/study within a week and on a budget.
Simple and sophisticated Scandinavian style home studio for two
No matter which area you choose for your shared office, effectively utilising the space you’ve got will keep everyone comfortable and productive.
Try not to block anyone into a corner, keep walkways open and accessible, and avoid cluttering the area with too much furniture.
His and her custom desk battlestation
Both players’ interests have been thoroughly addressed in this gamer setup room.
Her setup:
- 27″ Late 2013 iMac
- 3,2 GHz Intel Core i5
- 16GB 1600MHz DDR3
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M
- 1024MB
- 1TB HDD
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His setup:
- ASUS VG248QE 144Hz 24in Monitor
- Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB Gaming Keyboard
- Corsair Raptor LM3 Gaming Mouse
- Wired 360 Controller
- Bose SoundTrue In-Ear Headphones
- Intel Core i7 4790k 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
- Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 Motherboard
- Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600
- Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5in SSD
- Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5in 7200RPM
- MSI GeForce GTX970 4GB Twin Frozr V GPU
- Corsair 400R ATX Midtower Case
- Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified
Colourful industrial style shared home office with separate his and her zones
A self-proclaimed neat freak from the midwestern United States, Cheryl Sousan chronicles her journey through homemaking on her blog, TidyMom.
Visit Cheryl’s post for all the details on her family home office's décor.
New England style home office for a coworking couple
When space is limited in your shared workspace, it’s beneficial to employ clever office storage solutions.
Choose desks with storage drawers, install file cabinets that can fit under desks or place overhead shelves for storage containers.
Keeping things arranged and put away will make even the smallest office appear bigger. Draw some inspiration from this Kiel James Patrick fashion designers’ maker station, complete with a cosy fireplace, accent chairs, and tons of artwork.
Multifunctional workspace combining a computer desk with a sewing craft room
If you enjoy various hobbies, look for a table that’s large enough to serve several purposes. This way, you can use it as a sewing centre, a crafting hub and a desk.
Depending on your plans for the room, you might wish to rearrange the furniture or buy a few pieces that can be used in multiple ways.
Toy style craft studio
Kelly Mindell lives in Los Angeles and shares her passion for making a house a home with the audience of her Studio DIY blog.
Kelly started building up her studio with a blank slate.
White floors, white walls, the works! I wanted to bring in colour obviously but do it in a way that was completely moveable and changeable.
Above all else, she needed this space to function for any and every project that would come her way. Meaning it had to be versatile.
Since the space had to function for so many different purposes, Kelly divided it into three areas: the “office”, the seating area and the workshop area, which now doubles as her shooting space. Find out more on Kelly’s blog.
Long IKEA desk with a set of seatings for different moods
Utilising unique chairs can be a very rewarding way to add character to a dual home office setup.
Consider chairs that add a pop of colour, especially if your space has mostly neutral hues. And, of course, be sure each seating option is comfortable enough for long work hours!
Two people home office with a divider
Fancy more privacy and concentration in your shared home office? Use pegboard dividers, desktop partitions and screens to separate workstations.
Whether you prefer to build a custom wall, hang a curtain or use bookshelves, file cabinets, or on-desk dividers, separating your shared space will provide the focus you need.
You may also opt for a practical multi-purpose cork partition that can serve as a physical inspiration mood board for your work.
Minimal IKEA home workspace with a Japanese twist
When sharing a home office with a roommate or spouse, it’s especially important to make a workspace truly your own.
Feel free to add artwork, books, family photos, favourite stationery, some trinkets, and whatever else to keep you inspired at your shared maker station.
Take a peek into Katsuro’s home office to learn more about this minimalist Japanese-style interior.
Zebra-inspired home office for two
Based in London, Jenny Kakoudakis is the founder, creative director and writer behind Seasonsincolour.com, a source of inspiration for design aficionados and interiors enthusiasts.
For her shared home office, Jenny has chosen to make the most of the raw materials with the chipboards.
She has also decided to balance the black and white aesthetic of the room with an unusual feature of wall art and some greenery. For a full story behind this setup, go to Jenny’s blog.
Workspace corner under the stairs
In many homes, there is a dead space under the stairs. Some people take advantage of these awkward spaces by turning them into cosy home offices.
Lindi and Russel spent less than $600 to make this space come true. Read the full story firsthand.
Bonus: kids distant learning room and mom’s workspace triple desk
With this simple IKEA hack, you can create a look of high-end furniture for a fraction of the price.
Plus it can be customised to fit any space and meet the needs of all creatures, great and small.
For a simple DIY IKEA desk hack step-by-step tutorial, head to Jessica Welling’s blog.
To learn how to work from home with kids, have a look at the products, tools and advice recommended by Buildremote.co.
Whether you’re designing a home office for two or coworking space in your garden shed, you’ll have to get creative with what’s already available.
With a little thinking outside the box, forgotten lofts, odd corners, spacious guest bedrooms and tiny book nooks can all be transformed into your ideal dual home office.
We’re a reader-supported publication. This article might contain affiliate links. It means we may receive a commission if you click a link and buy a product that our maker has recommended. The interview was done independently.
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