35 Space-Saving Desk Organization Ideas

A cluttered desk can spell major distraction when trying to work from home or at the office. Create a well-ordered workspace that boosts productivity with these budget-friendly and DIY organizing solutions.

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By: Maggie Miller

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Design a Dreamy Desk Organizer

Trendy trappings for your workspace can tally up swiftly. Sidestep sticker shock by building your own. This DIY organizer is crafted from a few low-cost materials, including PVC pipes, a wood board and metallic spray paint. Stepping into the role of decor designer lets you call the shots on color schemes, and allows maximum accessory customization to suit your unique workflow. Follow the link below for the step-by-step instructions.

Compartmentalize Chaos

A ton of tiny tidbits can go into a functioning office. Unfortunately for our drawers, all those little lifesavers inevitably get muddled up if left unfettered. To corral the confusion, try adding small plastic dividers to your desk drawers. A little time spent orchestrating order will come in handy when you’re mid-project, desperately searching for those spare staples. For an in-depth guide to junk drawer mastery, follow the link below!

SEE MORE: Organization Overhaul: Junk Drawer Edition

DIY Document Divider

It only takes a few extra folders to turn a neatly ordered desk into a cascading mountain of manuscripts. If your desk is host to a plethora of papers, consider enlisting the help of a dish drain. This roomy kitchen appliance proves surprisingly efficient when put to work organizing folio office necessities. Pro tip: Color coordinate your new caddy with other desk hardware by applying a coat of spray paint and stocking it with trendy folders and notebooks.

SEE MORE: 35 Genius Back-to-School Dollar Store Hacks

Perpendicular Plans

If you have some control over the design of your workspace, installing a pegboard backdrop is a great solution for eradicating clutter from your desk. With endless options for arranging supplies and decor, you can create a dynamic wall display that keeps your work mainstays on hand, without littering your desktop. To maximize the use of your space, make sure to hang wire baskets, open shelves and other stylish storage before installing the decorative pieces.

SEE MORE: 13 Creative Ways to Use Pegboard

Covert Cart

With multiple levels, convenient mobility and a capacity for tucking away under desks and into corners, a cute rolling caddy is the perfect place to stash excess desk accessories. Introduce a splash of color or a funky pattern with decorative shelf liner that complements your office design or try pairing metallic finishes with mirrored trays for a more retro approach. You could even turn the top shelf into a handy coffee station. The possibilities are endless.

SEE MORE: Why a Three-Tier Rolling Storage Cart Is the Solution to All of Your Organization Woes

DIY Designer Storage

Stylish storage solutions can come with a bit of a price tag, and options for coordinating with your existing desk designs are often limited. Clear your desktop without sacrificing style by crafting a set of bins that are perfectly tailored to your office theme. Made from just a few materials, like a cardboard box, some fancy fabric and spray adhesive, these chic containers offer paper clutter a classy home. Learn how to make your own at the link below.

LEARN HOW: DIY Fabric-Wrapped Storage Bins

Up & Away

To maximize storage and free up valuable desk space, put your walls to work. Here, designer Brian Patrick Flynn took full advantage of the vertical real estate in this small study nook by hanging up a calendar, elevating a task light and installing chic paper and pencil organizers, allowing his clients to focus on the tasks at hand instead of worrying about clutter.

SEE MORE: 11 Ways to Create the Perfect Home Office Where There Isn't One

Concealed Charging

Manifold charging devices and nests of tangled cords immediately make for a disorderly desk. Reclaim the workspace with a covert charging station tucked away inside a drawer. You can find these available for purchase or learn how to make your own with our step-by-step video below.

GET THE HOW-TO: Charging Station and Storage

Upcycled Magazine Holders

Monthlies and catalogs are often one of the biggest desk clutter culprits. Manage the mess with the help of some stylish magazine holders. These are available at most office stores, or you can design an upcycled set of your own. Hang on to your family-sized cereal boxes and cut them at an angle from the top. Cover with your choice of patterned wallpaper or recycled wrapping paper and voila! A perfect place for the piles of publications.

SEE MORE: 20 Easy Upcycles for Old Kitchen Gear

From: Heather Baird

Put Cardboard to Work

Working with a tight budget? With a little creativity, you can turn leftover shipping boxes and vinyl shelf liner into custom organizers to tame desk drawer clutter once and for all.

GET THE HOW-TO: Upcycle Cardboard Into a Custom Desk Drawer Organizer

Craft a Cute Calendar

Despite the abundance of agendas available on store shelves, the perfect wall calendar seems eternally evasive. Sure, there are customizable options, dry-erase dailies galore, but the accompanying smudges and industrial designs are not ideal for an elegant office atmosphere. But hope is not lost! This stylish DIY calendar, requiring only a few supplies like washi tape and post-its, can be easily adjusted to suit both your style and your schedule. For the full tutorial, follow the link below.

GET THE HOW-TO: DIY Sticky Note Calendar

Reading Rainbows

It can be hard to part with familiar volumes or inspirational books when deciding what stays in your carefully curated desk display. Unfortunately, book covers don’t always comply with workspace stylings. Make those manuscripts multitask as decor by covering them in leftover wrapping paper or fabric and proudly presenting them alongside other office mainstays.

SEE MORE: 10 Ways to Turn Leftover Gift Wrap Into Pretty Decor

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Elevate to Alleviate

Add height to your desktop and claim some vertical supply storage with a computer monitor stand. This stylish bamboo desk accessory features sleek, compact shelving, a phone dock, a cup holder and more. It also helps reduce strain on your neck, keeping both your desk and body in excellent working order.

BUY IT: Amazon, $29.95

Lift Your Lighting

A well-lit workspace is a productivity must, but a bulky lamp can take up valuable real estate on your desk. Recover surface area by installing a pendant light overhead. Easily adjustable and out of the way, suspended options like this contemporary globe with a DIY macrame cord cover can add style and interest to your office without contributing to clutter. Follow the link below learn how to make your own.

GET THE HOW-TO: How to Make a Macrame Light-Cord Cover

Float the Workflow

A modern floating desk offers loads of space-saving potential. Coming in at a lower cost than standard desks, a piece like this modular design with built-in storage will free up floor space and keep your office looking and feeling chic and spotless. Learn how to build your own by following the step-by-step tutorial linked below.

GET THE HOW-TO: How to Make a Space-Saving Floating Desk

From: Erica Islas

Put Away the Printer

If your worktable hosts a printer and all of its myriad companion supplies, consider creating a printing station. Claim a cabinet or covert area and stock it with all your printing necessities. This will help de-clutter your desk and keep you from having to search for that extra pack of paper or ink refill when you’re in a workflow frenzy.

SEE MORE: 10 Home Office Hacks to Get You Organized Now

Cute & Crafty

No need to run out and purchase containers to wrestle wayward supplies. If you’ve got construction paper on hand, these funky fresh trays are fun and easy to make and are a great way to tackle tiny tidbits. So grab your glue gun and cardstock, and check out the link below to get started.

GET THE HOW-TO: Upcycled Lemon Tray

Beatific Basketry

Well-placed baskets on a nearby shelf bolster the tidy appeal of this elegant workspace. Woven hampers offer a visually pleasing solution for sheltering supplies that would otherwise smother a desk. No need to hide these away in cabinets: their delightful designs can be proudly presented on an open shelf, tucked in a corner or placed directly on the desk.

From: Amy Elbaum

Paper Inbox

Most offices share the organizational nightmare of paper piles. It’s not a crime to set a few pages aside and forget about them, but do it too many times and your desk might just turn into a sea of sheets! Tackle the tide by consolidating important memos into a sleek inbox, like this acrylic desk organizer from Anthropologie. It has slots for your essential forms and trays for desk necessities like pencils and paperclips. Documents that don’t need immediate attention can be stored away in file folders or sent to the shredder, leaving your desk spic and span.

BUY IT: Anthropologie, $32.00

Corral With Clay

Struggling to find a home for all those necessary knickknacks like paper clips, push pins and more? Craft a pack of these pretty, petite vessels out of terra-cotta polymer clay and acrylic paint. These inexpensive organizers also make great jewelry dishes and are an easy DIY gift idea. Get the step-by-step instructions below.

GET THE HOW-TO: How to Make a Clay Jewelry Dish

From: Kristin Guy

Dropdown Desk

A foldaway desk might just be the most fun option you can offer your office. These ultimate space savers have built-in shelves that are great for organizing pictures, pens, pencils and papers to keep your tiny table tidy. The best part? When you’re done working you can fold it up and conceal the chaos. Follow the link below to learn how to make your own.

GET THE HOW-TO: How to Build a Space-Saving Wall-Mounted Desk

Petite Pegboard

No room for a pegboard that runs the length of your wall? Save space without sacrificing functionality with this mini pegboard desk organizer from Ikea.

BUY IT: Pegboard Desk Organizer from Ikea, $36.99

Send It to the Shelves

This modern workspace keeps its contemporary desk trim and tidy with a set of simple bookshelves to store accessories and non-essentials. Opting for a bookcase over built-in cabinets or shelves offers much more versatility when it comes to the arrangement and style of storage that best complements your office needs.

From: Caitlin Murray

Handy Organizer

If your desk feels like it functions as a petite post office, it may be time to invest in a mail organizer. Establish areas for incoming and outgoing mail, bills and pieces to file. Stock it with stamps, return address labels and note cards for a space-saving solution that will free up your workspace for actual work. Check out the link below for a whole host of stylish options.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Hardcover Hideaway

Straighten up your space and pull a page (or in this case a few pages) from literature by stashing supplies in a hollowed-out tome. This DIY book charging station is the perfect place to position your phone while you work, especially if you’re prone to procrastination scrolling. Find the tutorial at the link below.

GET THE HOW-TO: Turn an Old Book Into a Hidden Charging Station

Chalkboard Champion

Keeping a set of goals at hand is definitely a productivity booster, but an accumulation of lists litters a desk faster than you can say “bullet journal”. This compact office gains surface area and order with a chalkboard to-do list built into a nearby door. Easy to update and out of the way, a wall-mounted memo board is an innovative route to reclaim desk space.

From: Tracy Lynn Studio

Or, Try a Dry Erase Board

Great for making lists and brainstorming, dry erase boards are a great way to keep your weekly goals at the forefront of your mind. Make your own DIY memo boards, like organizing blogger Melissa George did here, by upgrading an unused picture frame with a little spray paint.

GET THE HOW-TO: DIY Picture Frame Memo Boards

SEE MORE: 12 Things Every Organized Home Office Needs

They'll Never Know It's Cardboard

Turn cereal boxes into serious storage containers with a little spray paint and hot glue. Yep, that's right. This faux galvanized desk organizer is actually cardboard! Learn how to make your own at the link below.

GET THE HOW-TO: How to Make a Faux Metal Desk Organizer Out of Cardboard

Built-In Bliss

This narrow counter is kept clutter-free thanks to the accompanying built-in shelves. With a variety of heights and lengths, these offer a convenient place to stash reference books and materials for instant access. A cohesive neutral color scheme across the walls and desk accessories establishes a sense of calm and keeps the space feeling open and orderly.

From: Granoff Architects

Create Cohesion

Speaking of unexpected upgrades, this desk is populated with dollar store scores that have been upgraded with chic rose gold spray paint. Desks often fall victim to a hodgepodge of accessory accumulation as we figure out what works and what doesn’t. While a carefully curated collection can be intriguing, it can easily turn into a disjointed display. Crafting your own set of matching pieces creates a sense of unity and order in your workspace that perfectly suits your studio style. To check out the full project, follow the link below.

GET THE HOW-TO: 3 Ways to Add a Designer Touch With Spray Paint

Simple Solutions

When searching for desk accessories, look for pieces that can multitask. Fixtures that serve more than one purpose are a great way to consolidate office mainstays and recover some workspace. These concrete bookends from Anthropologie double as trendy pencil holders, keeping scattered supplies and refence texts tucked up and out of the way. Find more of our favorite office organization accessories at the link below!

Vertical Potential

Limited square footage is no excuse for an overcrowded workspace. This adorable niche capitalizes on its vertical potential, converting it into an efficient office area. Floating shelves above make the space appear larger and expand storage for office essentials, keeping the desk free of any non-essentials.

SEE MORE: 25 Creative DIY Shelving and Cabinet Ideas

Recycled Receptacles

Save money and the planet by recycling tumblers and mugs into office organizers. These gorgeous antique glasses are perfect for adding a dash of desk color and containing counter accessories. Often boasting artistic patterns and designs, drinkware can make a great organizational alternative to store-bought pencil holders.

SEE MORE: 37 Clever Uses for Everyday Items in the Home Office

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Save the Date

Never forget what day it is with a DIY flip calendar that also puts your favorite photos on display. Bonus? Once you make this calendar, you can use it every year. Just update the pictures whenever you're ready for a change.

GET THE HOW-TO: DIY Instagram Desk Calendar

Get It on a Gallery Wall

Have a habit of hanging on to sweet notes or postcards? If your desk is full of inspiration pieces and meaningful memorabilia, contemplate a gallery wall. Try gathering up picturesque pieces and arranging them in a decorative display. This has the dual benefit of tidying up your workspace and boosting creative energy in the office!

From: Bailey Austin Design

35 Space-Saving Desk Organization Ideas

Related To:

Shop This Look

Design a Dreamy Desk Organizer

Compartmentalize Chaos

DIY Document Divider

Perpendicular Plans

Covert Cart

DIY Designer Storage

Up & Away

Concealed Charging

Upcycled Magazine Holders

Put Cardboard to Work

Craft a Cute Calendar

Reading Rainbows

Elevate to Alleviate

Lift Your Lighting

Float the Workflow

Put Away the Printer

Cute & Crafty

Beatific Basketry

Paper Inbox

Corral With Clay

Dropdown Desk

Petite Pegboard

Send It to the Shelves

Handy Organizer

Hardcover Hideaway

Chalkboard Champion

Or, Try a Dry Erase Board

They'll Never Know It's Cardboard

Built-In Bliss

Create Cohesion

Simple Solutions

Vertical Potential

Recycled Receptacles

Save the Date

Get It on a Gallery Wall

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