Planning a masculine home

How to Organize Your Study Desk: The Art of Clutter-Free Studying Spaces

14 September 2016

Felicia Carr

A change of furniture should come with a change of space – why buy a beautiful new study desk, only to bury it underneath a mountain of clutter not only a week later? An unorganised desk not only leads to an unseemly study space, but also to less productivity.

Here are some tips on how to organise your new study desk, depending on its type:

Simple writing desk

If you're a minimalist, you might opt for a simple desk – no frills, just a surface to write and study on. In this case, clutter accumulates on the desk itself in the form of papers, pens, wrappers, maybe even miscellany that make their way on it and are forgotten until they get in the way.

Here you need to attack clutter on two fronts: with paper organisers to clear your documents, and pen holders to hold your pens and pencils. A small decorative bowl should be used to keep miscellany in one spot. If possible, all organisation items should be small to keep the space clear for studying.

Pedestal desk

This desk usually sits on top of two "towers" that act as its feet. These may include drawers or just shelves. Not only should you apply the organisation tips used for the simple writing desk to minimise surface clutter, but you should also tackle the towers, or else junk will overflow from them and onto the floor.

Shelved items should be kept in decorative boxes and other sorts of containers, so the world doesn't see all of your nick-knacks unless you mean it to. Display items should be kept on the topmost shelves if you have pets, but fragile items should be on the bottom so the risk of breakage by fall is minimised.

Dividers are great for organising drawers. You can buy them from a store or make them yourself using pieces of stiff cardboard, following guides easily found online. You should also use one drawer for one type of item – e.g. one drawer for stationary, another for art supplies, and so on.

Multifunctional study desk

Multifunctional study desks can include filing cabinets, shelving on the upper part, lots of drawers  and even a designated space for a computer tower. Organisation must be modular in this case and must follow all the tips outlined before.

The topmost shelving is tricky, since it can also be decorative as well as functional. Mixing books with beautiful covers, either by colour or by interest level, and sprinkling in decorative containers with needed items can immediately make a multifunctional study desk very chic. Do not fall in the pitfall of letting clutter accumulate in the computer tower space, on top of the computer – it can cause overheating or can gather dust that clogs the CPU fans.

No matter what desk you choose, organise it well. You'll use it for hours and hours on end, after all.

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