Mini modules for your modern workspace
Despite our mostly digital 21st century, we still need 20th-century office supplies. Pens, pencils, post-its, and paper clips still require places on our desks. Yes, some of us still use desks. Drawing inspiration from minimalist design, I made these modules to organize my most used supplies, painting in bursts of color for some fun.
Since we’re in a modern world, I included a module that holds a smart device at an angle to easily distract you from your office work. And no workspace is complete without a cup of coffee, so I added a coaster to the set.
These modules are intended to be completely customizable. Make one or two or the whole set. You can mix, match, and move them around as needed throughout the day. But when the workday winds down, all the modules nest together neatly on a base. Let’s organize your desk!
Design inspiration
I started with five identical 1 × 4 × 4" modules, rounded their corners, and rabbeted the bottoms for feet. To keep them together, I routed grooves in the feet that nestle atop 1/4" dowels glued to a 3/8 × 4 × 20" tray.
For the pencil holder, I threaded writing utensils through a drill bit size guide for exact diameters. I routed coved grooves to easily access paper or binder clips for the clips corral. A 3-1/2" square opening centered on a face makes the post-its holder. Then, I measured my remaining accessories and organized them for the miscellaneous module. For the gadget keeper, three wide, angled grooves hold most smart devices and a stack of business cards. It also holds the sixth module— the thinner coffee coaster.
The coaster is lined with cork to absorb drips, but the others have bright bursts of acrylic paint. The most fun, though, is customizing these modules to hold your office supplies. Gather your most-used items and start measuring.
Post-its holder. Pull and place your notes from this handsome holder.
Miscellaneous module. A catchall for the extras that don’t fit anywhere else.
Gadget keeper. Great for smart devices or business cards.
Coffee coaster. For your caffeine fix. Stores in the gadget keeper.
Side view. Grooves along the bottom of each module rest on dowels glued to the tray.
Order of Work
- Make the modules
- Customize
- Sand, paint, and finish
Make the modules
Mill 5/ 4 stock to 1 × 4 × 28". And mill another board to 3/8 × 4 × 26". Crosscut the 1" thick board into five 4" squares, plus one for tool set-up. Then crosscut one 4" long piece from the 26"-long board for the coaster, before crosscutting the tray to 20" long.
Clamp the six modules in a stack and rout the corners at the router table using a 3/8" round over bit. Feed the stack at a steady pace to avoid burning. After the first pass, rotate the stack to rout the next corner. Then, reposition the clamp and repeat to rout the two remaining corners. At the table saw, rabbet the feet as shown (inset). Now chuck a 1/4" round nose bit into the router table and rout the placement grooves in the bottom of each module. Set the fence, run the piece, rotate it, run it again. Then rout the matching placement grooves on the tray.
Dadoed rabbets. Saw the 3/16 × 3/16" rabbets around the bottoms of each module with a dado set buried in a sacrificial fence attached to your rip fence.
Customize and finish
At the table saw, set up your dado stack to cut 1/2" wide, 3/8" deep dadoes as starter grooves for the clips corral. Then adjust your dado stack to saw a groove wide enough to accommodate your smart device and saw the grooves for the gadget keeper as shown. Finish the grooves in the clips corral at the router table using a 1" round nose bit. Set the fence to rout through the sawn grooves on each side. Readjust the fence to rout the center groove.
These small workpieces require drilling large holes. Use a slower speed and clamp them securely. I used a hand screw to hold the pieces and clamped the assembly to my drill press table. Cover the pencil puck and miscellaneous module with painter’s tape before marking your hole locations. Drilling through the tape will automatically mask the pieces, simplifying the painting process. Drill at-least 1/2"-deep holes in the pencil puck and miscellaneous module, including three inline 1" holes to start the capsule-shaped cavity. For the post-its holder, drill 3/8" starter holes in its corners before routing the perimeter. To set up, chuck a 1/4" straight bit into your router table and set its height to 1/2". Lower a hole in the post-its holder onto the bit so the piece is on the right. Bring the fence to one edge and clamp a block against the piece’s back edge. Repeat on the left side. Rout the perimeter as shown.
Back at the drill press, use a large Forstner bit to drill out the waste for the post-its holder. For the coaster, drill in about 3/16" deep with a hole saw. This will leave a hole in the center that you can plug later. Use a trim router as shown to rout out the waste in the post-its holder, the miscellaneous module, and the coffee coaster. Follow-up with chisels as needed. Plug the hole in the coaster.
Round over the top corners of all modules with a 1/8" round over bit. Glue overlong 1/4"-dia. dowels into the tray’s placement grooves and cut to length when dry. Mask as needed and paint the cavities as shown. For the coaster, cut a thin piece of cork to size and glue it in place. Remove the masking tape and sand the faces through 220 grit. Finish each module and the tray using an aerosol can of spray lacquer.
Trim the waste. Use a trim router and a 1/4" straight bit and pivot the bit in to freehand-rout the waste. Be careful not to tip the bit into the work.
Sand the faces. Adhere sandpaper to a flat surface such as MDF. Remove the masking tape and sand the faces flat and smooth.
