Working from home has gone from a pandemic workaround to a permanent fixture for millions of us — and yet so many home offices are still making do with a kitchen chair and a laptop balanced on a pile of books. The good news? You don’t need to spend a fortune to create a setup that actually works. Here are the best home office buys under £100 that will genuinely transform how you work.
1. A Proper Desk Chair — from around £50–£90
Your chair is the single most important investment in your home office, and it’s where most people go wrong by either overspending (thinking they need a £400 ergonomic throne) or underspending (buying something that leaves them with a bad back by 2pm).
At this price point you can get a solid mesh-back task chair with height adjustability, lumbar support, and a gas-lift mechanism that actually holds. Look for a seat height range of around 42–55cm, a weight capacity of at least 100kg, and breathable mesh if you run warm.
2. A Monitor Riser or Laptop Stand — around £20–£35
If you’re working from a laptop, you’re almost certainly straining your neck. A simple monitor riser or laptop stand brings your screen to eye level, which makes an enormous difference to posture over a full working day. Some doubles as desk storage underneath, which is a bonus in smaller spaces.
For desktop setups, a monitor arm (usually under £40) frees up desk space and lets you adjust your screen angle properly.
3. A Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo — around £25–£50
If you’re typing on a laptop keyboard all day, a wireless keyboard and mouse combo is one of the cheapest quality-of-life upgrades you can make. It lets you position your screen at the correct height (see above) while keeping your hands in a comfortable, neutral position. Most decent combos now run on a single USB receiver and last months on a single charge.
4. A Ring Light or Desk Lamp — around £15–£45
Good lighting does two things: it stops your eyes from straining during the day, and it stops you looking like you’re calling from a cave on video calls. A warm/cool adjustable desk lamp is the practical choice for everyday work. If you’re on video calls regularly, a small ring light clipped to your monitor makes a noticeable difference.
Look for adjustable colour temperature (warm white for evenings, cool daylight for focus work) and ideally USB-powered so you’re not hunting for plug sockets.
5. A Cable Management Kit — under £15
Nobody talks about cable management, but a messy desk is genuinely distracting — and it makes your workspace look less professional on video calls too. A basic cable management kit (cable clips, velcro ties, a cable box for your power strip) takes about 20 minutes to sort and makes your desk look a thousand times better.
6. A Desk Pad or Large Mouse Mat — around £10–£25
A desk pad is one of those purchases you wonder how you lived without. It protects your desk surface, gives your mouse room to breathe, and instantly makes your setup look more put-together. Go for a large one (at least 60x30cm) — the small individual mouse mats are a false economy.
7. A Webcam — around £30–£70
If you’re still using your laptop’s built-in camera for video calls, you’ll know how grainy and unflattering it is. A basic 1080p webcam is a huge step up — better resolution, a wider field of view, and usually a built-in microphone that’s cleaner than most laptop mics. For most people, you don’t need to spend more than £50 to get something genuinely good.
8. A USB Hub or Docking Station — around £20–£50
Modern laptops famously have very few ports. A USB hub (or a small docking station if you need HDMI out as well) solves this instantly and means you’re not constantly swapping cables. Look for one with at least 4 USB ports, ideally including a USB-C. If you’re plugging into a monitor too, a USB-C hub with HDMI pass-through is worth the extra few pounds.
9. A Footrest — around £20–£35
Often overlooked, a footrest makes a real difference if you’re sitting for long stretches — especially if you’re on the shorter side and your feet don’t sit flat on the floor. It takes pressure off the back of your thighs and encourages better posture. Some are adjustable height, some have a rocking function for fidgety types.
10. A Small Desktop Organiser — around £10–£25
A place for your pens, sticky notes, phone, and the general desk detritus that accumulates over a working week. Sounds minor, but a tidy desk genuinely helps with focus — and it stops you spending five minutes hunting for a pen every time you need one. Bamboo and wire mesh options tend to look the cleanest.
11. A Portable Bluetooth Speaker or Desk Fan — around £20–£40
Two wildly different purchases, but both massively quality-of-life improving depending on the season. A compact Bluetooth speaker (that doesn’t look like an eyesore on your desk) makes background music infinitely better than laptop speakers. And if you’ve ever tried to work in a stuffy spare room in July, you already know the value of a decent desk fan.
Bluetooth speaker – try this one.
Desk fan – try this one.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. If you’re starting from scratch, prioritise in this order: chair → lighting → keyboard/mouse → everything else. Even just the first two will make a noticeable difference to how you feel after a full working day.
And the beauty of all of these picks is that they’re under £100 each — meaning you can gradually build up a genuinely solid home office setup without a big upfront spend.
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Photo by Ylanite Koppens: https://www.pexels.com/photo/minimalist-flatlay-of-modern-home-office-supplies-30173365/
