A new starter accepts a hybrid role, and one of their first questions is what the business will send to their home. If the answer is only a laptop, they may end up working at the kitchen bench. A clear standard kit of work-from-home furniture settles the question, keeps spending even across the team and gives every remote worker a proper desk and chair.
This guide sets out a basic kit and an upgraded kit from six products and their stated specs, then covers ordering for several homes and keeping a record of what you supplied. If you already know how much room each person has, start with our home office desks.
What a standard work-from-home furniture kit includes
Most employers settle on four pieces: a desk, an adjustable task chair, a monitor arm and a lockable pedestal. Together they give each person a set-up they can adjust to suit themselves.
The simplest starting point is a matched set. The Rapidline Steel Frame Desk + Hartley Task Ergo Chair ($480) pairs a 1500mm W x 750mm D desk with a mesh-back task chair. The desk has a 25mm E1 rated melamine top in Beech on black powdercoated 40mm steel legs with adjustable feet. The Hartley chair has a synchron mechanism with tension control, adjustable arms, a moulded foam seat and a 110kg weight rating.
The desk carries a 3 year warranty and the chair a 10 year warranty.
Desks that fit small homes
Remote staff rarely have a spare room the size of an office. Ask each person to measure their space before you choose, including doorways, the path to the room and where the nearest power point sits. Leave enough clear floor behind the desk for the chair to roll back and for the person to stand up easily.
For a bedroom corner or a narrow study, the Athens Straight Desk (from $186) comes in seven sizes, from 1200 x 600mm up to 1800 x 900mm. It has 25mm tops and sides, side bolts for added rigidity and a 720mm height. Finishes are White, Beech/Charcoal, Cherry/Charcoal and White/Charcoal, and it carries a 3 Year Warranty.
Whichever desk you choose, leave a solid edge for the monitor arm clamp and room for the pedestal.
Fixed desk or sit-stand desk for remote staff?
A sit-stand desk lets the person switch between sitting and standing through the day. It costs more than a fixed desk and needs a power point, so many employers offer it as the upgrade rather than the default.
The Klass 3C/2M Electric Straight Workstation (from $746) is a dual motor standing desk with a 620-1270mm height range, including its 25mm worktop. A 3-point memory control with LCD read out saves preferred heights, and the frame has a 140KG weight rating. Worktops run from 1200mm to 1800mm wide in Classic Oak, Sublime Teak or Natural Walnut, on a black or white powdercoated steel frame. The page lists operating noise under 40dB and a 10-Year Warranty.
Send staff our ergonomic desk set-up checklist with their delivery, so they set up chair, screen and keyboard correctly.
Chairs, monitor arms and storage
The chair is the piece people adjust every day, so it deserves as much thought as the desk. The Graphite Ergonomic Mesh Chair (from $384) has an adaptive synchro mechanism with a four-position lock and adjustable tilt tension. Built-in adjustable lumbar support, seat depth adjustment and pneumatic seat height let each person fit it to their own size. It has a recommended weight capacity of 140kg, comes with or without adjustable arms and carries a 10-year warranty.
A monitor arm holds a separate screen at a height and angle the person chooses, which a laptop on the desk cannot do. The ProFlex Monitor Arms ($163) is a single arm for screens from 17 to 49 inches, with an 18kg weight rating. Its VESA plate tilts from +45° to -45°, swivels 180° with a lock and rotates 360°. It fits to the worktop with a top fix clamp, comes in black or white and has a 10 year warranty.
Storage keeps work papers and a laptop off the kitchen table at the end of the day. The Eternity Slimline Mobile Pedestal - Two-Tone White and Black ($186) is 300mm wide, 535mm deep and 580mm high, with 2 personal drawers and 1 filing drawer. An anti-tilt mechanism and a fifth wheel add stability, and a master key locking series secures the drawers. It arrives assembled and has a 5 year warranty.
Basic kit and upgraded kit compared
Offering two kits keeps the choice simple and the spending predictable. Each person picks a kit, and anyone with a small room can swap in the compact desk. Use the table as the short list for your work-from-home furniture policy.
| Item | Basic kit | Upgraded kit |
|---|---|---|
| Desk | Steel frame desk, 1500mm W x 750mm D, sold as a set with the chair ($480) | Klass 3C/2M Electric Straight Workstation, 620-1270mm height range (from $746) |
| Chair | Hartley task chair from the same set: mesh back, synchron mechanism, 110kg rating | Graphite Ergonomic Mesh Chair: adjustable lumbar and seat depth, 140kg (from $384) |
| Monitor arm | ProFlex Monitor Arms: 17 to 49 inch screens, up to 18kg ($163) | ProFlex Monitor Arms, as in the basic kit |
| Storage | Eternity Slimline Mobile Pedestal: 300mm wide, lockable ($186) | Eternity Slimline Mobile Pedestal, as in the basic kit |
| Small-room swap | Athens Straight Desk at 1200 x 600mm (from $186) | Klass at 1200mm wide |
Ordering for staff across Australia and keeping records
Hybrid work is common in Australian office roles, so a written work-from-home furniture policy saves repeating the same conversation with every new starter. It should also say who keeps the furniture if someone leaves.
Metro delivery is a flat $75 per order, so putting each person's whole kit in one order keeps delivery to one charge per home. Each product page has a Delivery line naming the metro cities it goes to. Five of the six products here list metro Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, while the Athens desk is not available for delivery in SA.
Deliveries go to the ground-floor entrance, and goods arrive flat-packed unless the product page says assembled. Staff in apartments should plan how cartons get upstairs and who will put the desk together.
Keep a simple register of what each person has, when it was supplied and its condition. It makes replacements and staff exits straightforward.
Safe Work Australia's guidance on working from home says work health and safety laws apply at home just as they do in an office, and that workers should be consulted about the arrangement. Ask each person about their space before you choose their kit.
Work-from-home furniture — frequently asked questions
What furniture should employers provide for working from home?
Most employers provide a desk, an adjustable task chair, a monitor arm and a lockable pedestal. A desk and chair set, such as the steel frame desk with the Hartley chair, covers the first two in one order.
What size desk fits a small home office?
A desk 1200mm wide and 600mm deep fits most bedroom corners and narrow studies. The Athens Straight Desk comes in that size, and the Klass sit-stand desk starts at 1200mm wide for people who want to stand as well.
Is a sit-stand desk worth it for staff working from home?
A sit-stand desk is worth it when the person has the floor space and a power point nearby, and wants to change position during the day. Many employers offer it as the upgrade, because an electric desk costs more than a fixed one.
How do you keep track of furniture supplied to remote staff?
Keep a register listing each item, the person who has it, the date supplied and their suburb. Update it whenever furniture is replaced or returned.
Shop the range
Every product in this guide is listed below in the order it appears. Our ergonomic task chairs and monitor arms hold more options for either kit.
- Rapidline Steel Frame Desk + Hartley Task Ergo Chair ($480): a desk and mesh-back chair in one order for a basic home office kit
- Athens Straight Desk (from $186): a compact desk from 1200 x 600mm for bedroom corners and narrow studies
- Klass 3C/2M Electric Straight Workstation (from $746): an electric sit-stand desk for the upgraded kit, from 1200mm wide
- Graphite Ergonomic Mesh Chair (from $384): an upgraded mesh chair with adjustable lumbar support and seat depth
- ProFlex Monitor Arms ($163): a single arm for screens from 17 to 49 inches, up to 18kg
- Eternity Slimline Mobile Pedestal - Two-Tone White and Black ($186): a 300mm wide lockable pedestal that arrives assembled, for tight spaces
Metro delivery is a flat $75 per order, and prices include GST.
