Small-space living 3 min read
The place something belongs starts with how you use it
Things used together can travel as a kit; things used separately need their own way out.
Read the guideDesk setups & small-room ideas
Small-space ideas
you can see, measure and try.
One surface can hold a working day and still belong to the evening. Explore desk layouts that change with the task, kits that lift away and storage with a clear way out.
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Typing, meetings & projects
What slows you down at your desk?
“My laptop takes up the space I need for writing.”
Two tasks can share the same desk.
A nearby shelf can hold the closed laptop during handwriting and the notebook during typing. The same clear area takes a different role as the task changes.
One surface, two working layouts.
Your notebook gets a useful writing area when the laptop has a safe place off the desk.
In your room: Two paper outlines can stand in for the laptop and open notebook. The layout includes a safe, reachable place for whichever one is waiting.
Related product examples →Why this approach?
Task-specific spatial arrangements are discussed by Kirsh. These two desk modes are our practical application, not a tested productivity system. Check both your working position and the storage location.
Research context: Kirsh, 1995 ↗See the idea
On the deskNotebookSpace to write.
Laptop put awayOn a safe, nearby shelf.
On the deskLaptopSpace to type.
Notebook put awayOn a nearby shelf.
“A meeting starts, and I am still looking for my things.”
A meeting kit starts in one place.
A notebook and headphones can share a tray because they serve the same meeting. The group has one place to leave from and one place to return to.
A shared task can define the group.
Objects can belong together because you use them for the same task. You have one meeting kit to find and put away.
In your room: An existing tray can stand in for a meeting kit, with the essentials used in your own calls.
Related product examples →Why this approach?
Grouping objects around an activity is discussed by Kirsh. The meeting kit is our practical application. Keep shared supplies separate if several routines need them; a kit should not cause unnecessary duplicate purchases.
Research context: Kirsh, 1995 ↗See the idea
One meeting one kit
Your meeting kit
Notebook
Headphones
The kit leaves together.
It returns to one place.
“The folder I need is always under another one.”
One project can come out on its own.
A folder gathers the pages of one project. Supported side-by-side positions give the separate projects their own routes out.
Pages stay together. Projects leave separately.
Pages for one project stay together. Separate projects can be taken out independently.
In your room: The folder opened most often makes a useful example: its route out shows which other folders need to move.
Related product examples →Why this approach?
This is an illustrated access comparison, not a measured time saving. In the stack shown, two folders are above A; in the upright arrangement A can be removed separately. Check shelf height, folder support and space to grip and pull it out.
See the idea
The next task is in Project A.
In a stack
B and C move
before A comes out.
Side by side
A comes out.
B and C stay.
Photos, tools & reading
Where would you like to begin?
Photo stories
A detail worth borrowing.
A hook where a bag arrives. Light beside a writing hand. Six photographs, with the arrangement explained.
Explore the photographs →Interactive tools
A small change you can check.
Check storage fit and pull-out space, compare access to an item, or try a different light position.
Choose a tool →Ten guides
How the arrangement works.
The route a box takes out. The space behind a monitor arm. The place an unfinished project can wait.
Browse the guides →Looking for a particular tray, stand or holder? Browse the product examples ↗
The reading room
Cables, corners and the space between.
10 short reads.
A different mechanism in each.
10 guides
Small-space living 3 min read
A small entrance can help with both arriving and leaving
An arrival spot and an outgoing spot serve different moments, even when they share one small shelf.
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Small-space living 3 min read
The space under the bed needs a way out
A label on the visible edge and room to remove the lid turn hidden volume into reachable storage.
Photo: SmartStore Bedroller / Orthex Group.
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Small-space living 3 min read
Open shelves, with room for the things you enjoy
A shelf can hold both a small display and contained working supplies; each has a different reason to be visible.
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Small-space living 3 min read
The pile that returns is a clue to the layout
Where an item keeps landing can reveal which part of its return route needs less effort.
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Desk setup 3 min read
One small desk can have two working layouts
A laptop and a notebook do not always need permanent places beside each other.
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Desk setup 3 min read
The cable you unplug every day deserves its own route
Cables that move together can share a bundle; the daily charger needs an easy way to leave.
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Desk setup 3 min read
A monitor arm needs room behind the desk, too
The arm can remove a stand footprint while its joints still need their own moving space.
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Desk setup 3 min read
An unfinished project can still leave a clear table
The kit stores the objects; a next-step note stores the place to begin again.
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Desk setup 3 min read
Light for the page, without a reflection in the screen
Moving a lamp across your writing hand can change the shadow without changing the desk.
Read the guideNo matching guides.