I'm tending to agree with several of the comments here...
The triangular mailbag area doesn't feel right. Certainly I would not locate such a spot right near the main door/corridor. Could be distracting if people are walking down there while you're shooting.
Also thought of this arrangement for the side wall shelving:
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/new-eevblog-lab-tour-(incomplete-edition)/?action=dlattach;attach=565345;image)
.... unless you were thinking of the two middle shelves holding things that only took half the shelf depth and were set back to back (like component drawers, for example).
I, too was concerned at your intention to reduce shelving on the long benches to reduce junk accumulation. It's going to accumulate anyway, so having shelving will give it a place to live that isn't all over the floor. Being forced to organise the accumulation due to not having the storage space to put it is going to mean throwing potentially useful stuff out (there's an ominously familiar tone in that thought) and/or spending time you don't have to perform the organisation when you need to.
Either way, there will be greater discipline in how you act - so I suggest you work on a storage scheme which can achieve that. I have found "containerising" stuff to be very effective - utilising containers of consistent sizes which enable stacking. Put labels on the visible side to give an
indication of contents (I often don't need to know that "A" and "B" are in a given container as I can usually remember that they were with "X" or "Y" - and so long as I can quickly find the containers holding "X" and "Y", I will usually find the object of my search.)
Colour coding - YEP!
![ThumbsUp :-+](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/icon_smile_thumbsup.gif)
You have expressed an ideal approach (IMO) so follow through with that.
ESD mat ... yeah it does look daggy. But but the budget might overrule replacement.
I like this idea, too:
Dave, do you think mounting castor wheels (with breaks) on your benches could benefit in the day to day work, specially for the island bench.
Maybe multiple wheeled tables that can be locked together or used individually.
And you'll need a power drop from the ceiling.
No doubt you would have a storage shelf beneath the multiple tables and if they are on wheels, you could unlock one and move it out to gain easy access to something stored right in the centre of the island bench. I would totally avoid storing things on the floor under the tables. You could even have a shelf close to the floor with additional castors that will support the shelving, in order to store boat anchors. It could work like a 2D Compactus.
Open window access for a laser cutter would be nice - but you can get filtration system solutions for entirely indoor operation (not cheap, I know).