I’m a huge fan of Rickshaw Bags. Ever since my first daily-carry Zero Messenger Bag (now 10 years old and still looking great), which has traveled with me to four continents, I’ve found reasons (and excuses) to buy more bags in other colors, sizes, fabrics and styles. I also have several stationery accessories. Handmade in San Francisco, the products are all well made, durable and – the most addictive part – color-customizable!

Rickshaw’s Plush Valet Tray ($34) is not an item that initially struck me as useful. Traditionally, a valet is used by men as a pocket dump. Since I don’t carry coins, keys, knives or anything else in my pockets, I don’t have this need. However, I do have a specific art table need, and when I spotted the cushy valet, I suddenly realized what its purpose is.

When I’m working on a drawing or other project at my desk, I’m constantly picking up and putting down various pencils, pens, scissors or other tools, and I don’t like the noisy clatter they make on my desktop surface or a hard tray. I’d tried paper towels and fabric to set tools down on, but round pencils kept rolling off.

The rectangular 4-by-8-inch valet is an ideal size for giving my currently used tools a soft, silent place to land – it’s plush-lined! Yes, my pencils now have a more comfy seat than I do. I don’t have any of Rickshaw’s gorgeous, plush-lined fountain pen cases or Coozies because I refuse to let my pens be better dressed than I am. OK, I do have one Clover Pen Sleeve (alas, no longer available), seen in this post, which also shows a couple of my many Rickshaw bags. But the Clover has a specific travel purpose beyond keeping my pens warm and stylishly dressed.

I chose Cordura fabric in Iris on the outside (in homage to my original, well-traveled Zero Messenger) and orange plush on the inside. 

The valet has an interesting and functional design: In use, the four corners are snapped together into a simple tray. When unsnapped, the valet goes flat for storage or travel. It’s also available in three square sizes and a slightly less cushy version in waterproof EPX fabric.

This is one of those things that I did not know I needed until I saw it, and now I don’t know how I ever worked at my desk without it! Did I mention that it’s color-customizable? Don’t play with the customizing tool just before bedtime. I guarantee you will stay up too late trying out all the color combos.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Desk Accessory Review: Rickshaw Bags Valet Tray appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

While browsing around the Ikea site, I found some great research in their Ideas section. It’s divided into categories for areas of your home, organizing, entertaining, and other pertinent categories and then has some wonderful pictorial essays of real people and idea posts about using Ikea products in your home or office to help. Since most of us have or will end up having Ikea furniture at some point, this is a great way to figure out ways to integrate it into our homes creatively and the aesthetic styling is pretty diverse too.

Ikea is great at showing reuse, repurposing and people finding ways to use spaces dual-purpose which is so refreshing.  Above is one of their dining tables that has been repainted and trimmed with washi tape. Add a few layers of sealant to keep the tape from peeling if you really like how it looks. Or leave the tape on the top layer and peel it off after a festive dinner party and replace it with different designs in a couple weeks. Its a great way to use up those rolls and change up your decor quickly.

The other two pics above show a woman who uses her bedroom as a space for her creative work too. Its a lovely article under the “bedrooms” header for creative uses of space.

Above are two different home office spaces; one is a shared bedroom/office and one is a dedicated office space but both are open, airy, functional and gender-neutral. You gotta love Ikea for that.

The two photos above are more creative uses for tight spaces. The top image is the space for a young man whose space is his bedroom, study space and hang out space. The use of the bunk bed helped to give him room for his desk and chair and allowed him to keep his vintage family furniture pieces too so their is some warm, bold color as well as modern styling. The perfect space for a young man.

The next photo is a rolling art tabouret in a hallway near a bright window perfect for painting. And shows how creative we can be in finding a little corner to work when there isn’t much space in out homes!

These last three photos are just more great inspiration and show the range of aesthetic, from masculine to feminine. I liked the article about other uses for the magnetic knife holder (lower left photo) like holding paint brushes for artists, scissors for crafters or as a photo magnet rail to hold photos, recipes or inspiration.

I thought I’d already mentioned my plans for my new office/studio redo. I plan on building (with the help of my handy husband!) a Kallax Island for the middle of our office/studio using plans from the Family Handyman. I like having a standing desk/worktable and this will have tons of storage too.

Do you have a lot of Ikea stuff in your home? Have you hacked any Ikea pieces to work for you?

The post The Desk Set: Ikea Ideas appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Original Vintage Posters keeps a fabulous assortment of vintage posters including vintage typewriter images and other vintage pens. Does your office need some art on the wall?

The post Art of the Day: Paper-Mate poster from 1956 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Hallmark has recently launched a blog that opens the door to the inner workings of the creative staff and have included little gems like this quote inspired by Fahrenheit 451. It was hand painted by lettering artist Lynn Guinta and there are two versions of the design available at Think.Make.Share.

(file under “plugging the firm”)

The post Digital Wallpaper from Think.Make.Share appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

This is fun AND totally functional. I love it!

Sugru is a better version of sticky putty. Buy a pack of eight foil-wrapped nuggets for $22 from the Sugru website or check your local hardware store.

The post Video: Lego Mini Fig Cord Holders appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Do you have your Erasable podcast sticker proudly displayed? I do.Thanks to Andy for sending me a couple before they sold out. If you want one, put in a request, I’m sure they’ll do a reprint soon.

I guess it’s about time that I made some Well-Appointed Desk stickers. Would anyone be interested?

The post Erasable Podcast Sticker appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

My darling bestie, Rebecca of The Plaid Thermos, has just posted fabulous vintage-inspired back-to-school desktop patterns for all your devices over on OHEMV. Vintage mechanical pencils, typewriters and fountain pens. Now you know why we’re friends. Download them today.

(via OHEMV)

The post OHEMV Background of the Month Club: August 2014 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

While not everyone might be as inclined as I am to have a pile of old typewriters at hand, the image of a typewriter inspires the writer, poet and correspondent in all of us. Today I discovered several “typewriter as art” pieces to inspire and compliment the paper aficionados desk.

(Click on images to visit the sources or purchase images.)

The post Typewriter As Art appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Found a few sources for beautiful wallpapers for computer and mobile devices:

• Merek Davis
• Design Love Fest
• Colagene

Go forth and put a new look on your daily device for Spring.

The post Digital Dress-Up appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

While surfing around ModCloth looking for stationery, I found some other goodies for the office and for the office supply geek.

First, there is the cookie-inspired USB cup warmer. I’ve been grumbling about my coffee or tea cooling off and I have one open USB port left on my office computer. Solution? At $14.99, it just might be.

In the middle image is the vintage-inspired, ceramic dachshund paper organizer. Display your incoming post, letters and photos in the coils. It’s hot dog cool for your desk. Just $12.99.

And what paper nerd wouldn’t want to curl up under a sheet of notebook paper with the Free Verse Reveries duvet cover? Dream sweet pen and ink dreams. $89.99

And the Pencil Me In shoes are back in stock. It’s the perfect shoe for the teacher, librarian or office supply geek in your life. $109.99. If you’re feeling generous, I wear a 6.5.

The post Office Supply Whimsy appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.