Desk planning
Will Your Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse Fit Your Desk?
Measure a two-row setup, including your mouse movement area, and compare both width and depth with the usable desktop.
Example: a monitor area of 55 × 22 cm, a keyboard of 44 × 14 cm, a mouse zone of 22 × 24 cm and a 4 cm gap require a 70 × 50 cm rectangle in the two-row layout below. A 90 × 45 cm desktop has enough width, but it is 5 cm too shallow for that arrangement.
Measure the surface you can use
Clear enough space to see the desktop boundaries. Measure usable width and depth in centimeters. If a fixed object blocks part of the surface, choose a clear rectangle for this comparison. The outside dimensions of the furniture may overstate the area you can actually occupy.
Next, measure the monitor's horizontal span and the front-to-back space its desktop setup occupies. Include the stand when deciding that footprint. Measure the keyboard's outer width and depth. For the mouse, mark the area you need to move it while working; the mouse's physical size alone is not the movement zone.
Compare two rows
This model places the monitor in the back row and the keyboard beside the mouse zone in the front row. Its single gap setting is used both between keyboard and mouse and between the two rows. It does not model a different gap at every edge.
| Area | Width | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Monitor | 55 | 22 |
| Keyboard | 44 | 14 |
| Mouse zone | 22 | 24 |
| Front row | 44 + 22 + 4 = 70 | 24 |
| Whole layout | 70 | 22 + 24 + 4 = 50 |
Required width is the larger of monitor width and keyboard width plus mouse-zone width plus gap. Required depth is monitor depth plus the larger of keyboard depth and mouse-zone depth, plus gap. Compare both results against the desk. Here the width margin is 20 cm, while the depth margin is −5 cm.
Try a layout before replacing anything
- Mark the example footprint with paper or removable markers on the usable surface.
- Move existing objects and check whether their arrangement can change.
- Measure any revised footprint and recalculate if it still follows the two-row arrangement.
A staggered arrangement may use space differently, but this rectangle calculation cannot validate it. Inspect that arrangement directly. Buying nothing is a valid outcome if repositioning your existing setup leaves the areas you need.
A nonnegative margin means the entered rectangles fit as drawn. It does not establish comfortable posture, cable movement, desk strength, monitor-arm attachment or mounting compatibility. Confirm those conditions separately before purchasing equipment or changing how it is supported.