The most creative office storage ideas don't look clever. They make use of space you've stopped seeing: the gap under a desk, the wall above a cupboard, the swing room a door needs, the end of a desk run.
Here are 16 ideas that do exactly that, with the sizes that decide whether each one fits. They work for a small office, a shared workplace and a home office in the corner of a bedroom.
Why bother? A cluttered desk is a distraction, and it's harder to focus with piles in your eyeline. When everything has a place you can reach, every job is a little quicker.
Quick answer: the best storage ideas for small office spaces
- Go up. A 2000 mm cupboard holds far more than a desk-high one on the same patch of floor.
- Use the desk end. A desk-high pedestal adds drawers and a little extra worktop.
- Lose the door swing. Tambour doors slide, so a cupboard can sit where hinged doors would block a walkway.
- Put things on wheels. Mobile pedestals tuck away and roll out when needed.
- Clear the desk top. Monitor arms and cable trays free space you already paid for.
Storage ideas that use floor space better
Floor space is the scarcest thing in most offices, so start here. The aim is more storage per square metre, not more furniture.
1. Go tall with a full-height cupboard
Height is free; floor isn't. Our wooden office cupboards include a core range in 730, 1200, 1800 and 2000 mm heights, all 800 mm wide and 450 mm deep. So the 2000 mm cupboard takes the same floor as the desk-high one and holds much more. Other ranges have their own sizes.
Keep everyday files between waist and shoulder height. Keep light, rarely used things up top and heavy boxes on the lower shelves.
2. Choose tambour doors where space is tight
A tambour door slides instead of swinging out. That matters in a corridor, a narrow room or beside a desk, where an open hinged door would block the way.
Our metal tambour cupboards include steel units 1000 mm wide with sliding doors, at 1000 mm or 1970 mm high.
3. Combine open shelves and closed doors
A combination unit gives you both in one footprint. Doors at the bottom hide the clutter; open or glass-fronted shelves at the top show off what's worth seeing.
It's a neat fix for a reception area or a manager's office, where some things are for display and some definitely aren't.
4. Keep shared supplies on a rolling trolley
An open trolley on castors holds the things a team shares: paper, stationery, project folders. Wheel it to whoever needs it, then back to its spot.
Give it a fixed parking place, such as the end of a desk run or beside a cupboard, so it never ends up blocking a walkway.
Storage on castors has another bonus. You can rearrange the room for a project or a team session, then put it back.
Desk storage ideas: under, beside and on top
The desk is where clutter starts, so it's where storage pays back fastest. Look under it, beside it and on it.
5. Fill the gap under the desk with a mobile pedestal
Most desks have dead space underneath. A mobile pedestal fills it with lockable drawers, then rolls out when you need the legroom back.
Our standard mobile under-desk pedestal is 595 mm high, 404 mm wide and 500 mm deep. Measure the clear height under your desk first, including any frame rail. If the gap is narrow, the slimline mobile pedestal is just 300 mm wide.
6. Make the desk end work with a desk-high pedestal
A desk-high pedestal stands beside the desk rather than under it. Ours are 730 mm tall, with two box drawers over a filing drawer that takes A4 or foolscap hanging files.
If your desk is also 730 mm high, the tops line up and you gain a strip of worktop for a printer or in-trays. Check your desk height, and pick 600 or 800 mm deep to match its depth. See the full range of office pedestals.
7. Lift the screen off the desk
A monitor stand eats a surprising slab of desk. A monitor arm clamps to the edge or a pole and holds the screen in the air, so the space underneath is yours again.
8. Get cables off the floor and the desk
Cables are storage too, just badly stored. A cable tray or riser keeps them in one channel under the desk, which makes the floor easier to clean and the desk easier to clear. Browse our cable management.
9. Divide the drawers and give paper one tray
A big drawer with nothing to divide it soon becomes a jumble. Drawer trays or dividers give pens, chargers and sticky notes a slot each.
Add one in-tray on the desk for live paperwork, so it doesn't spread across the top. Spare stock goes in labelled boxes in a cupboard, not in your desk drawer.
Pick a desk that does two jobs
A desk with built-in drawers saves the floor a separate cabinet would take. Browse our desks with drawers. A height-adjustable desk lets you work sitting or standing at the same desk.
For what belongs on the desk itself, see our guide to what you should have at your office desk.
Wall storage ideas for a small office
Walls are the one space most offices leave empty. Use them for things you reach for every day, and keep the floor for furniture.
10. Line one wall with bookcases
A row of matching bookcases turns a blank wall into a filing system. Use labelled boxes on the shelves so the wall looks calm rather than crammed. Our wooden office bookcases come in matching wood finishes, so a run of them reads as one piece.
Go tall for the most storage. Our Workwise bookcases come in heights from 730 mm up to 1980 mm.
11. Put floating shelves and wall boxes above the desk
The wall above a desk or a low cupboard is usually bare. A floating shelf there holds manuals, a plant or a speaker. Shallow wall boxes or magazine files hold the paperwork you check every day.
Leave enough headroom to stand up and use your screen without bumping the shelf. Keep heavy things for the floor units.
12. Hang small things on a pegboard
A pegboard takes hooks, small shelves and pots, and you can move them around as your kit changes. It suits headphones, scissors, tape and chargers: small things that get lost in a drawer.
13. Add hooks, boards and a coat stand
Bags, coats and umbrellas end up on chairs and floors unless they have a home. A row of hooks and a coat stand by the door solve most of it for very little floor. A magnetic or pin board does the same job for notes and reminders.
A board can double as wall art, too. Add photos, postcards or a favourite quote alongside the to-do list.
14. Fit storage to an awkward alcove
Alcoves, chimney breasts and the space under stairs rarely suit a standard unit. Measure the width, depth and height, then choose a unit that fills the gap, or have shelves fitted to size.
Modular shelving is the middle way: you can add or move shelves later. Whatever you choose, set the shelf gaps for what you'll actually store there.
Built-in cupboards are the other option. A joiner can design them around exactly what you store and finish them to match the room.
Before you fix anything to a wall
Check what the wall is made of and use fixings that suit it: plasterboard needs different fixings from brick. Follow the maker's instructions and load limit for every shelf, board and box.
Creative storage for hybrid and shared offices
When people share desks, personal storage can't live in the desk. It needs to move with the person or sit nearby.
15. Match personal storage to how people share desks
Choose by what people leave in the office and how secure it needs to be.
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Lockable mobile pedestal | Files and kit that move with the person from desk to desk | Needs a parking spot when not in use |
| Lockers | Bags, coats and laptops left on site | Needs a wall or alcove near the entrance |
| Open labelled cubbies | Things that need no lock, like notebooks and mugs | Anyone can reach them |
A lockable pedestal on castors is personal storage that travels: staff wheel it to whichever desk they're using, then park it when they leave. Our standard mobile pedestal locks all its drawers and comes with two keys.
Whatever you pick, agree one simple rule: when you leave a shared desk, your things go back in your storage.
16. Borrow ideas from the bedroom for a home office
If your office shares a room with a bed, storage has to look like furniture, not filing. Closed doors hide work at the weekend.
Baskets and fabric boxes on open shelves soften the look, and colourful ones add warmth. Use them for work papers in one and personal bits in another. They're easy to lift out, move and rearrange as your needs change.
A desk with drawers saves space you'd otherwise lose to a separate cabinet.
Our guide to home office storage goes further.
How to choose the right office storage
Start with what you store, not with the furniture. Four steps:
- Clear out what you no longer need.
- Group what's left by how often you use it.
- Measure the bulky things, such as archive boxes or a printer.
- Check the inside sizes of the shelves and drawers you're considering, not just the outside.
Then match each type of thing to the right kind of unit.
| What you're storing | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday stationery and files | Pedestal drawers | Within reach of your chair |
| Hanging files | Filing drawer or filing cabinet | Takes A4 or foolscap suspension files |
| Archive boxes and spare stock | Tall cupboard | Most storage per floor space, behind doors |
| Books and things on show | Bookcase | Open shelves, easy to scan |
| Bags and coats | Hooks and a coat stand | Off the floor and off the chairs |
Then measure twice: the floor, the ceiling, and the clearance under every desk.
Make one change this week
You don't need a refit to get space back. Pick the worst spot, usually under or beside the desk, and fix that first.
When you're ready, browse our full range of office storage solutions. If you're not sure what will fit, our friendly team can help you choose.
