A functional home office doesn't require an extravagant budget, but it does require deliberate choices about the handful of elements that actually affect daily comfort and productivity. Chair and desk ergonomics deserve the largest share of any budget, since poor posture sustained over months of daily work causes far more long-term cost, in both comfort and potential health issues, than any other home office expense. Lighting is frequently overlooked but significantly affects both video call quality and eye strain during long work sessions — a simple desk lamp positioned correctly often outperforms relying solely on overhead lighting. Cable management, while seemingly minor, meaningfully affects daily friction and the sense of a clutter-free workspace, and inexpensive cable organisers solve most of this problem cheaply. For anyone on frequent video calls, a dedicated quiet corner with a simple backdrop, even without a full separate room, improves both professionalism and personal focus significantly. Rather than buying every accessory at once, tracking which specific frustrations come up during the first few weeks of working from a new setup helps prioritise spending on what will actually be used.