Nine types of functional desktop architecture

Desktop accessories strike a balance between clutter and function. But with stationery gone, this weird and wonderful world goes far further than a company-issue pen-pot and two-tiered filing tray.

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By Schönbuch, Herman Miller, Arthur Holm and

March 21, 2022 | 11:00 pm CUT

Salvatori’s Balancing collection includes the pictured letter holder, letter opener, two-sectioned circular tray and desk pad, all in luxurious combinations of brass, marble and leather

Like many a science-fiction disaster story, the near-extinction of desktop stationery began with the rise of technology, with cloud computing and a work-from-anywhere culture the final nails in its coffin.

Whether a permanent home setup or one-size-fits-all office desk, however, individuals’ workspaces can vary as much as their personalities, from barren minimalist desktop landscapes where even a lonely pen lid raises alarm, to cluttered-up cubby holes where every item has a place. So, while the stationery it stored may have moved on, we still need the architecture. Here are the modern-day products helping tidy up and personalise our desktops.

The Anywhere Case from Herman Miller keeps desktop accessories safe and secure while on the move, and open up into desktop storage when not

Travelling organisation

Regularly moving essentials from one workplace to another can seem like packing and unpacking a suitcase, twice a day. Herman Miller’s Anywhere Case identifies the issue and suggests users not bother with unpacking at all. The helpful little case has room for hardware like laptops and diaries, along with an array of pockets and holders. Once the required elements are safely transported, the case opens itself into an ideal storage platform, holding up phones and books within arms reach.

The Platform 3 desk organiser by ChristelH is a simple, precision-milled tray of beech or walnut, but provides the perfect compromise of order and creativity

Permanent desktop organisation

Understanding the desk workers’ need for order, the Platform 3 desk organiser from ChristelH enables both a tidy desk and a tidy mind, with space in its handy square sections for only the contemporary office pilgrim’s most essential items like charging phones, card wallets, keys and coins, as well as a circular space to hold drinks, plants and pots securely and a slot for calendars, decorative prints or personal photos.

The TRAY TWO HALVES by Stattman is an ultra-minimalist take on desktop storage, providing only a small plinth and neighbouring recess to hold a few treasured or imperative objects

Trays

If even this is too cluttered for you, however, more streamlined, minimalist trays are available for desktops to offer lessons in self-restraint. The TRAY TWO HALVES by Stattman is split with a flat platform on one raised side, and a shallow angled recess on the other. The effect makes the user extremely wary of overloading the aesthetic.

Schönbuch’s solid-wood BOWL (top), Favius’ Den bowl (middle) with its brass accent lid and Louise Roe’s green marble Gretha bowl (bottom), all keep smaller items safe together and out of sight

Bowls

Try as we might to keep our desks tidy, it’s all too easy for keys, loose change and open sweet packets to litter up the place. Lidded bowls like Schönbuch’s subtle solid-wood BOWL, Favius’ eye-catching Den bowl with its brass accent lid or Louise Roe’s green marble Gretha bowl with its quiet, natural beauty give us the opportunity to keep these objects close to hand, but out of sight.

The Balancing collection from Salvatori is great for old-school letter writing fans. The brass and marble collection also includes pen holder, document holder, paperweight and photo frame

Mats

Cloud computing may mean everything takes place online now, from editing text to taking minutes and even signing digital contracts, but there’s something about the feel of writing on a leather-inlayed desk that turns back the clock. Salvatori’s Balancing collection includes a number of antiquated, yet powerfully desirable, accessories such as a letter opener, document holder and near-functionless paperweight, all in brass and natural stone. Chief amongst them, however, is a sleek leather and marble desk mat.

This is Omini the climber, from Ghidini1961. They’re a cheeky little monkey who likes to steal your paperclips, a cheerful little sculpture that brings a smile to any workspace

Paperweights

According to its blurb, Omini the climber, from Ghidini1961, is a paperclip holder. But even the promotional imagery admits it can only hold up to four paperclips at a time. As, however, an afore-mentioned near-functionless paperweight, this heartwarming climbing monkey is useful. Not, as the subheading suggests, to stop loose paper blowing away, but as an intriguing piece of desktop sculpture.

Arthur Holm’s Dynamic X2KM monitor rises from a flat desktop along with accompanying keyboard and mouse, each with their own slot and hole for storage

Monitors

Desktop accessories like bowls, trays, mats and even paperweights are one thing, but the one unavoidable obstruction to a super-minimal desktop is the monitor screen. Arthur Holm hidden monitors like the DynamicX2KM rise from the depths of the desk, allowing users to stay in contact with the digital world when they really must, before dropping down again, under a smooth workspace.

Even cluttered workspaces can be efficient and functional in their own way. Colourful Stapler filing trays from Magazin® allow paperwork addicts to stay organised with accessible pull-out sections

Filing trays

Many companies aren’t as advanced as this, however, and still insist on paper copies of everything. Try as you might to keep a tidy desktop, those various papers and files soon mount up. The high-rise stacking Stapler filing trays from Magazin® provide paper and other documentation safe sanctuary on even the most cluttered desktops.

The Peacock pencil holder from EO encourages children’s desk-attendance, while the GIRO Savings box from Authentics is an easier way to save and learn about money

Kids

There was no need for desktop computers in our younger days, of course, when workplace pressure meant colouring inside the lines. Stationery and desktop accessories are an important feature of a child’s personal bedroom environment, turning the desk into a homely, welcoming area.

The Peacock pencil holder by EO, for example, is a wildly inefficient use of space, but a cute one. While one of the most poorly designed traditional children’s accessories, the piggy bank, is given a makeover with the GIRO Savings Box by Authentics. Coins or notes can be slipped in the central, circumnavigating slot, before parting the two magnetised half-spheres to gain access. Much easier than smashing a porcine figurine.

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Display product Gretha from manufacturer Louise Roe

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