8 Home Office Desk Organization Ideas You Can DIY
Updated: Jan. 18, 2023Turning a spare room into an office can seem overwhelming. But with small budget and some DIY know-how, you can create something useful and beautiful. See how we built this industrial style home office over a weekend with plumbing pipe and inexpensive countertops.
Take some cues from the details in this project to find some inspiration for organizing your own desk.
Desk Organization: Think Space and Materials
Home Desk Ideas: Build to the Room
Measure the space you are working with and determine desk organizer ideas and your needs for the space. One requirement for this room was a lot of desktop workspace, storage, and versatile options since a husband and wife would be sharing this office space. They found a fantastic deal on a couple ‘As-is’ kitchen countertops at IKEA, ($19 each!) and decided to build the rest of the structure out of MPT piping and lumber shelving for a DIY desk shelf.
Consider Desktop Heights for Home Office Desk Ideas
Customize for Your Comfort
Choose your desk height and fit piping accordingly. This couple wanted the DIY office desk to sit at about 32′ high, so they connected a 12′ and 18′ piece of pipe. Adding flanges on either end added another 2′, and made for a perfect foot to each desk leg, and brace to attach the desktop to. Bonus — with a little unscrewing, each leg can adjust slightly in height, which comes in handy when you’re working in an old home with uneven floors.
Shelves Make Walls Functional
Get Vertical
They decided to make two shelves the full length of the desk, with a slider bar underneath for flexible desk storage. Before assembly, clean and spray all pipe pieces with two coats of matte black spray paint. This step is optional, depending on the DIY desk shelf look you want to achieve.
Be Creative with Brackets
Use Common Parts for Easy Shelving
Shelf brackets for these shelves are made by attaching a flange, a 9′ pipe, and an end cap together and mounting with drywall anchors to the wall. The 9′ deep DIY desk shelf is a piece of lumber is stained and sanded. The shelf is attached with a U-shaped bracket around each pipe screwed to the underside of the wood shelf.
DIY Office Organization: Use a Utility Bar
Not Quite Curtains
This utility bar was created by connecting flanges, 2′ pipe, elbows, a 72′ pipe, and a T-shaped joint in the middle for support. Use drapery clip rings before assembling the flanges and mounting. You could also use shower curtain rings, or S-hooks for the perfect home office organization.
DIY Office Organization: Hang All the Things!
Keep Supplies within Arm’s Reach
You can hang file baskets, pen cups, documents, memos, photos, you name it from the utility bar clips. Best part is, you can change, rearrange, and replace by sliding and clipping. The hanging file baskets are thin and don’t stick out too far, and the storage keeps the mess up and off the desktop, leaving more room to work.
Versatile Office Furniture
Find Mobile Solutions
This metal drawer unit on casters keeps tape, batteries, cords and other small items tucked away and off the desktop. The casters allow for versatility if you want to roll the unit to another part of the office, or pull it out from under the desk to use the top as an additional workspace. You’ll want to see some of these amazing IKEA hacks at home, too!
Don’t Forget Your Furry Friends
Make Room for Pets
A custom, open base desk like this has more than just human perks—a little extra room in the corner makes for nice spot for a furry coworker. Show your pet some love with any one of these cool projects.
Next, check out these home office ideas for a smallish space.
