A minimalist table desk doesn’t mean you have to minimize what you keep in your office — there are SO many ways to have what you need and stay organized!
Keeping an organized desk is always a chore, no matter how big it is. And, indeed, a small table desk brings extra challenges to keep all the facets of your workday in order.
To be functional, productive, and maintain style when you have to get things done doesn’t have to be an ongoing burden when you work at a table desk. With a little imagination when it comes to organization and storage, it’s incredible what you can accomplish!
If you’re looking for inspiration to manage the clutter on your desk space or in your home office, here are some great ideas to get the creative – and organizational – juices flowing!
1. That space under your desk? Use it!
When you’re working from home, every inch counts. The space under your table desk is an often-overlooked storage opportunity. Without compromising foot and leg room – ergonomics matter! – consider the variety of under-desk storage options available, such as a mobile file cabinet or even a small bookshelf.
2. Maximize the vertical space above and beside your desk
Everything doesn’t have to be within arm’s reach. Take advantage of all that useful vertical real estate to add shelving or boxes to hold decorative bins, books, and resources you don’t use every day.
3. A mobile storage cart
A practical and straightforward metal rolling cart can add valuable storage space in a small package. Mobile storage carts are great for office supplies and, if yours is the same height as your table desk, you can lock the casters in place and put it beside your desk for an additional work surface.
4. A Lazy Susan for office supplies
A Lazy Susan isn’t just for the kitchen or dining room. Keep all of your supply containers within easy reach (or easy spin!) but without taking up a lot of work surface space.
5. Pull-out shelf under your desk
Chances are, you need to access your printer every day. But where to put it? A tidy solution that keeps your printer, and other accessories, out of sight but very handy is a pull-out shelf in a cabinet under your table desk. It’s not a complicated DIY project if you can’t find an affordable option out-of-the-box.
6. Magnetic strips
Magnetic knife strips are a convenient and space-saving solution to store metal supplies and accessories. Mount on a nearby wall to keep scissors, small staplers, paper clips, and more!
7. Add a hutch for more storage
A hutch is a simple unit but loaded with extra shelf space – with doors or without. Hutches allow you to use up vertical space and save a little more floor space. Consult home office furniture stores to find a hutch that will coordinate with your desk.
8. Pegboard or corkboard
Make use of empty wall space above your table desk with a pegboard or corkboard to keep reminders, papers, and photographs. An excellent opportunity to get creative!
9. Double your work surface with a return table
Convert your table desk into an L-shaped desk configuration for more work surface and storage. Look for a return table from the same collection as your table desk to get coordinating colors and sizes.
10. Mount a hook rack for headphones and other accessories
Any simple, decorative hook rack mounted on a wall near your desk can offer the perfect solution for odd-sized items such as headphones, cables, and any other items that would otherwise clutter your work surface or drawers.
11. Go green – reuse your coffee pods!
Looking for an easy and eco-friendly way to reuse those convenient but pesky coffee pods? Clean and reuse them in a drawer to store the tiny office supplies – paper clips, staples, corkboard pins, safety pins – that are challenging to keep organized.
12. Save surface space – clamp-on lighting
Good lighting is integral to office productivity. It’s also hard to find in most rooms. Add extra lighting without compromising valuable desk surface space with a clamp-on directional task lamp attached to a shelf above your workstation.
13. Handy wall pockets for handy filing
If you need filing space or an inexpensive and convenient way to store essential papers, wall pockets are a great space saver. Simply attach them to a vertical surface – a wall or the side of a shelf – and you’ve created an easy and effective filing system.
14. Enjoy your plants… but not on your desk!
House plants are a wonderful way to bring a sense of life and warmth to your home office, but a table desk isn’t ideal for keeping them – possible leaks and spills! Mount decorative shelves around your workstation or incorporate an attractive plant stand nearby to safely hold these vital sources of indoor oxygen.
15. A monitor or laptop riser can offer storage space
There are several benefits to using a computer riser on your table desk, good posture, and ergonomics among them. Another is the extra space you’ll have to store small office supplies such as your favorite pen and notepad; perhaps even a handy place to keep and charge your phone – out of the way, but close at hand.
16. Make your closet work for you!
When it comes to maximizing storage space in a home office, look to any underutilized nook – especially the closets! – to provide more functional space. Remove the existing conventional closet organization and place a table desk and add multi-level shelving to create a compact and tidy workstation designed for ultimate creativity and productivity with ample storage as priority number one.
