Free up your desk (and maybe your head) with our favorite office accessories

For most of For us, office space is limited. Between the computer, keyboard, speakers, and maybe a few photos of your family or a mesh Wi-Fi node, things can quickly feel a little cramped. Desk-mounted accessories make your workspace look and feel nicer. Mounted desk accessories are perfect for standing desks because everything stays firmly in place as you raise and lower your position. Even if you stay seated, these devices can remove some of the clutter from your desk and perhaps clear your mind a little by giving you some space to focus. As a dedicated desk clerk with nearly three decades in the office, I’ve tried every desk accessory I could get my hands on. I have a few favorite devices that I’ll share below.

Before purchasing a desk accessory, be sure to measure your desk and determine a suitable location for the clamp. Don’t assume it will fit, as they all have a thickness range and some desks don’t play well with clamps. There is also a risk that the clamp will discolor or mark your desk over time, especially if it is softwood or exposed to direct sunlight.

Monitor arm

Number one on my list of desk accessories are monitor arms. Without the need for a stand, you can free up a lot of space and the monitor arms allow you to mount your screen at the ideal height and position, making it easy to adjust the angle if you need to. I’m a fan of dual monitor setup with a widescreen in landscape orientation and a portrait monitor on the left because it’s perfect for my workflow.

I like Ergotron’s monitor stands because they are very sturdy, while still allowing a wide range of movement to get your screen in the right place (the top of the screen should be at eye level and your monitor should be at about arm’s length). I use the LX Pro alongside the old one Ergotron LX ($189)which has a wider base and can support more weight. What I like the most, compared to other monitor arms I’ve tried, is that my monitors stay very still once positioned. With a few arms, the slightest shock on your desk causes your screen to vibrate.

Pet perch

While a dog is happy to curl up at your feet, cats like to be up high. My cats always jump on my desk, walk in front of the monitor and scratch the back of my chair. They love nothing more than to steal my warm seat when I get up for coffee. But there is a clamping solution to the pet problem.

If you want to work in peace, you must take care of your catand one way to discourage them from sitting on your desk or keyboard is to take up an irresistible perch. Attached to the back of my desk, the Desk Nest cat bed gives my cat Rocket a perfect view out the window, but allows him to stay close, so he uses it frequently. The only problem is that its way in and out is over my keyboard and under my monitor.

Desk lamp

A beautiful lamp can reduce your risk of eye strain and create a warm atmosphere, or help you concentrate. It is the perfect protection against intense reflections from your monitor screen.

This iconic design, first released in 1935 and brought to life in the animated Pixar logo, is an absolute classic. It’s the perfect blend of form and function, with a beautiful angular design, silver springs contrasted with metallic black, and it’s highly adjustable, making it easy for you to get light where you need it. Yes, you can get lamps much cheaper and you have to buy the clamp accessory ($50) separately, but Anglepoise lamps are timeless and built to last.

If you want something more modern that can serve as a task light and light for video calls or streaming, the Lume Cube Edge Light 2.0 is what you need. What I like about this lamp is that it has controls for brightness and color temperature. It works securely attached to the back of your desk and even has USB-C and USB-A ports for charging phones or plugging in other small gadgets.

Headphone hooks

After crushing or resting on several headphones, I got into the habit of placing them on a stand, but found that most stands weren’t very sturdy and took up too much space on my desk. There’s a better solution: hooks that attach to your desk.

If you want to go the style route, I don’t think you can do better than this. A simple oak dowel that attaches to your desk and will comfortably accommodate any set of headphones or a gaming headset.

Cheap but effective, this under-desk rotating clip works just as well, and I love that you can rotate the hook 360 degrees to find the best position for your hanging headphones.

Additional shelves and supports

The idea here is to get things off your desk, and I’ve discovered a handful of other clever ways to do that with these nifty clamp accessories that add pockets, shelves, and even a cup holder.

A perfect pouch for storing your printed copy of WIRED magazine, and maybe a few cables and your iPad. This organizer hangs from two clips and is available in different felt finishes with rods made from different types of wood, but it is expensive.

With a simple, smart design, these shelves attach to your desk and provide two spacious metal trays that are suitable for storing anything from pens to plants. You can place them in the center or extend them in both directions, depending on your desk and environment.

You can eliminate the risk of spilling a drink on your keyboard with this clever clamp-on cup holder. I like the ash veneer finish, but it also comes in black and there’s a nifty opening in the side for your mug handle.

As one of the biggest pigs in office real estate, computer speakers can be annoying, but these clamping shelves let you get them out of the way. They’re expensive and you’ll need two for a pair of speakers, but you can tilt the shelf however you like because the clamp supports five different positions and they look lovely.

You can reverse the clips on this cable management tray to hide a power strip under your desk or add a convenient, accessible basket on the side.

Power up with unlimited access to CABLE. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe today.