We all have those times where we just have too much stuff and need a place to store it. But if you need to access these items at your desk, and don’t want them in sight at the same time, what do you do?
An easy answer is to find a clean way to store these items under your desk. They are out of sight, and not far away. We’re not going to start throwing stuff under our desk just yet.
Today we’re going to talk about the best ways you can hide those items underneath your desk while keeping your desk aesthetics intact.
Goals With Under Desk Storage
Keep in mind these end goals when you choose an under desk storage solution. Some people will put more weight on one of these than the other. Keeping these in mind means you will be more likely to choose the solution that is right for you.
Keep Things Out Of Sight
This is my main goal when I store items under my desk. I don’t want them on my desk. These days, I keep very few things on my desk. I talk about why in our article on getting a minimalist desk setup.
Basically it gives me more space to breathe and reduces my clutter and distractions dramatically.
We’re going to put an emphasis on keeping your desk setup looking great when we add our storage solution. So we’re not only functionally relocating items off of our desks. We’ll also make our desks look better with clean under desk storage solutions which frees up our desks.
Get More Desk Space
That brings us to our next goal – making more desk space. Storage of items under our desks makes room so we can just do more stuff at our desks.
Some people I know only have room for a keyboard on their cluttered desks, and it results in bad desk ergonomics and a super scattered working experience.
Taking time to store items elsewhere frees up your desk which can pay dividends in ways you don’t really value until you experience it. Like being able to move your keyboard to a comfortable position…
More Convenience
Last and far from least – convenience. If we just tried to store all of our stuff elsewhere, we would make our lives a bit more difficult. We would constantly have to go back and forth from our storage closet, or garage, or whatever your other option is.
Sounds like a huge inconvenience.
Everything we need at our desk can be stored right underneath. I have two IKEA Alex drawers full of stuff that I use pretty much every week of the year at a minimum.
Quick tip – if you don’t use these items at your desk frequently enough, consider storing it somewhere else. If you store items that won’t be used very often, that’s a quick way to either run out of storage space or have way too much stuff under your desk.
Isolate what you use the most, preferably at least once a month. Even that might result in too much stuff under your desk. Choose the items that are used often, as those deserve to be stored at your desk and will reap all the benefits.
Best Under Desk Storage Ideas
Now let’s get into some ideas! Say goodbye to all that clutter, and say hello to some organized under desk storage solutions.
Drawer Set Or Filing Cabinet
It’s hard to beat a good old drawer set or filing cabinet. They were invented for this exact purpose. These can give you the most volume as they are one of the largest options on this list.
I say “one of” because these can come in all shapes and sizes. You can get one that fits perfectly from the floor to under your desktop for the most space. Or you can get a more compact one if your needs don’t require a ton of space.
This is also one of the more convenient options because drawers and file cabinets have rails that slide in and out smoothly and easily.
Drawers are my current under desk storage option. Technically it’s part of my desk as part of the desk. My Alex drawers hold up my tabletop.
Some of the drawer options on Amazon are super clean and even have shelves on the side if you have a huge need for storage.
We have a dedicated article on getting the most out of your drawers with functional organizational methods. We even have an article on organizing deep drawers, which will be applicable to those large filing cabinet bottom drawers.
Desk Mounted Drawer
If you don’t have too much to store, and need something smaller and low key, desk mounted drawers will be the solution for you.
These are small drawers that mount right up under your desk. If you get the super low profile versions that just hold some office supplies, you don’t even need to drill under your desk. Simply use supplied double sided tape for those solutions.
Here are some examples of effective and more concealed under desk storage drawers.
This desk drawer attachment is perfect for organizing your desk and saving space. With strong self-adhesive, it can hold up to 11lbs. The larger capacity can hold a variety of items, and it's easy to install without needing to drill into your desk.
Desk mounted shelves like these are also a great option if you want a more affordable solution with less moving parts.
Rolling Shelf or Cart
If you don’t want your stuff to be concealed inside of drawers, there are great open top solutions for you. These are nice because you can see everything stored with just a glance.
Be careful with these though. Your stuff is exposed, so you will see pretty much everything on them! It’s easy to make these look like a complete mess.
If you want this to be a good looking solution, you have to keep your stuff organized in these open top solutions. Consider using drawer organizers to keep them tidy.
These shelves and carts usually come with wheels so they can easily roll in and out from under your desk. It’s a really good solution for desk storage.
For the shelf versions of these carts that don’t have walls, you can combine them with baskets to make them more storage friendly.
Baskets
That is a perfect segway to our next solution! If you don’t need a multiple level shelf system to store things under your desk, sometimes just a basket will do.
The same “keep it tidy” requirement applies because this is another open top storage solution. It’s a bonus if you find stackable baskets. The convenience goes down, but you can organize your less frequently used items into the bottom basket if you want that solution to work.
Good looking baskets are one of the most affordable storage solutions on this list too.
Fancy File Boxes
If you want to store files, but don’t want a whole filing cabinet, you can grab yourself some of these fancy filing boxes.
They are basically a visually acceptable version of those paper filing boxes. You know the boxes people in the movies put their stuff in when they get fired?
I just got one to free up my Alex drawers. I wanted to place more frequently used items in my drawer, so I’m storing items in one of these to be placed elsewhere.
If you want to store files on a shelf under your desk, or just on the floor, these are not an eye sore and are full size file storage boxes.
Storage Chest
The last item on this list is one of the more “incognito” solutions. If you really want a solution that will be less detectable, this might be the one for you.
This is a full on cube that looks like a footrest or a stool. However, on this one, the top pops off and gives you room for storage!
The one linked here measures 12.6 x 12.6 x 12.6. That’s some decent storage space! It actually functions as a stool and a footrest as well! Win win win!
