David J. Pedersen's Blog of All Things
My New Batcave – Home Office Makeover
My office is a great getaway of memories, old furniture, file cabinets filled with comics, and shelves of books. It’s been the perfect spot for everything from LAN parties to writing. Thanks to social distancing, I now work at home full time for my day job. That’s a lot of hours in the basement, and my office was starting to close in on me. I also needed more space to play virtual reality games. I still love my Batcave, and that’s why I had to destroy it.
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Virtual reality requires a lot of space for dragon slaying, zombie killing, or in my case, flailing around the room. My office was crowded with a lot of everything including a sizable desk against the back wall and a bigger one in the center of the room. The first step was to empty the room as much as possible. It took a herculean effort to remove the books, collectables, photos, posters, and furniture. Now that it was empty, I still had a problem.
Painting the Walls
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, hated my wallpaper. (Actually, she hates all wallpaper. Removing wallpaper is the 8th level of hell so I can’t argue.) To appease my muse, I spent several weeks stripping wallpaper and patching the drywall. When it was time to paint I googled for popular office colors since I’m color blind and have no taste. I quickly decided on
Cube Storage Bookshelves
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Ebonizing my Desk
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Monitor Arms
That left the most crucial part, my workspace. I wanted my refinished desk to be clean, and by clean I mean empty. This was a challenge. My desk was a mess of keyboards, mice, laptops, monitors and cables – lots of cables. Some for work, others for David, and all taking up space.
Monitor arms are a gift from the gods of engineering. You can buy monitor arms that mount on your desk, which is great if you aren’t able to attach them to the wall. I went with two that are strong enough to heft my 34” Ultrawide. Not only were the monitors off my desk, I can push them against the wall when they aren’t in use, and even spin the 24” 90 degrees.
Drop Leaf Table
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Going Wireless
for my birthday that never runs out of power thanks to the . I replaced my with a . The G915 is insultingly expensive, but I chose it for several reasons. It’s a mechanical keyboard which, hopefully, means it’s durable and will last. The keys are low profile, and I went with the linear model which means I don’t have to struggle typing on bad
Listening to Tunes
I added to the cube storage unit behind my desk. I purchased an in January that I can’t recommend enough. The sound is impressive, the battery lasts forever, and it’s the most comfortable headset I’ve ever owned. I experience no ear fatigue if I wear it for hour-long conference calls or gaming sessions. The
Nanoleaf Light Panels
My other eccentric purchase was . My decorations tend to be collectables, pictures of friends and family, and posters featuring my muses. Ambient lighting was not on my list. The RGB lighting craze is still growing on me. , keyboard, mouse and mouse pad all glow, rotating through a myriad of colors that can react to events in games. The 9 piece Nanoleaf kit not only syncs with my other peripherals, it pops to music and works with Amazon Alexa. The ambient lighting is really nice, and now when I say, “Alexa, turn on the Batcave,” a lamp in the back of my office turns on and the Nanoleaf lights come alive. I dig it. (Insert nerd snort.)
and switch plates, ebonized boards with
My New Batcave
A lot has changed, but it’s tidy, efficient, wide open, and everything I love is still here. My wife found the transformation inspiring and has started performing surgery on her office. She thinks mine is a little dark (like my soul! Which character am I going to kill next? Mwa ha ha! Er, sorry, not sure where that came from) but I think Batman would approve.
What do you think of my new Batcave? Be sure to leave a message below with your thoughts, ideas, and any questions you might have. Be sure to check out the video version of this article on !
3 Comments
What an excellent space for work and gaming! Batman would be proud.
Thank you! It was a fun project :)
[…] 30 years later, I was on YouTube seeking ideas on how to remodel my home office. When I finished rebuilding my Batcave, I had enough footage to make my own video. The footage was unplanned and rough, my narration is […]