My desk was a mess.
Really, it wasn't a big deal. The area I used the most - the surface - was fairly clean and somewhat organized. Somewhat. But the storage area of the desk was a total mess and was, frankly, embarrassing. A few weeks ago I started looking into making my desk less of a mess and more of a... uhm... less... messy.
My two main sources were The Container Store and CB2. The biggest restrictions I had were budget (not much) and the fact that my desk is black. I'm not crazy about it anymore but, frankly, a lot of that was due to the lack of organization. But with that restriction in place I decided to play Roger Black and go with three main colors: white, black, and red. The computer, iPod, keyboard, and mouse were already white of course. Red would bring a little warmth and (hopefully!) style to the party.
The main point of concentration was the storage itself. Here's a quick before and after shot. In the before, you can see that it was, uh, messy. The open mesh storage bins (also from The Container Store) were a little dated and not really my style anymore but, most importantly, not doing a good job. From the bottom shelf I usually needed printer paper, so I just left it on top of other things. From the top shelf I only occasionally needed a CD-R. And there was a third short shelf at the top - removed in the before shot - that was only about 2" tall and could hold paper and assorted stuff. That's where I put almost everything without thinking.
The solutions were closed storage and a sliding drawer, which is what really got me excited. No, really: I'd finally have a closed, neat place for all sorts of knick-knacks and stuff. I bought a narrow elfa drawer ($11), the sliding guides ($8), and a plastic organizer that fit perfectly inside ($7). It took me about 10 minutes to install - dead simple. I like elfa's stuff overall as it's great quality and stands up to a lot of abuse. I was impressed that the plastic organizer was a perfect fit. Oh, and I had to go with the narrow elfa drawers because my desk thingamajig is only 15" wide.
Closed storage was a really tough decision. I originally wanted these hot red boxes from CB2 but they weren't quite big enough for paper! Bummer. They had a luminous quality, great texture and just looked nice. After considering an open canvas bin and white paper boxes I settled on the stowaway bins ($8 each). They're deep, have lids, and look good - but are not admittedly knockouts. I might dress these up in the future with red pulls or labels.
The top of the desk was, again, not a huge problem. The biggest issue I had was that my desk had become my "throw stuff out of my pockets" place. Wallet, Metra pass, badge for work... all that stuff would just sit on the corner of my desk. I got inspired at CB2 and picked up my only red item, a plate! They had a desk on display with matte black plates holding envelopes and the like. I got the Cayman dessert plate ($4), which was the perfect size for my stuff. As Jeani put it, "You're still just throwing stuff on the desk, but this elevates it."
Finally, my ugly pencil holder from IKEA needed to go. It was a translucent white plastic and just looked sterile and uninspired. I wanted to go red here too, but at CB2 I started entertaining the option of getting a cool mug to use as a pencil holder. Plus, I wouldn't need nearly as many at hand with the elfa drawer. I chose the Palette Mug ($3) because it looked great, and has a very interesting shape. The red was too phony red (compared with the jewel-like quality of the Cayman plate), so I went with black and white.
The end result is a cleaner look with just a little color. I want to definitely bring in more red and try to do away with a couple of ugly things that remain: namely, my non-white Firewire and USB cables (oh, the problems of living in a first world country!) and the hideous, faux aluminum silver FireWire hard drive housing. But sheesh, try to find a non-ugly one. This is easily my next big challenge, because almost every FireWire enclosure I've seen is hideous or dripping with ugly-ass text ("HARD DRIVE ULTRA" et al.) A red enclosure would be lovely!
So that's it. I took care of most of my desk's problems. It took me only a day, and about $70. Not too shabby!