Home Office EDC: The 16 Best Desk Accessories

With more work-from-home employees now than ever before, there are countless people trying to make their home desktops more comfortable and even enjoyable. From laptop risers to envelope openers, and everything in between, we’ve highlighted the best WFH office essentials for your workspace.

How We Tested

With so many options for WFH gear and accessories, we first compiled a list of all that we thought one would need when working from home –– largely based on what we use here in our own offices. From there, we tapped into our extensive experience with most of these gear categories to figure out which items would best suit a home office environment.

As you’ll see, we looked for pieces that blended form and function, but didn’t shy away from something just because it lacked one or the other. After sourcing our units for testing, we spent weeks testing our gear (at least the ones we were less familiar with), looking at how useful they were, how they looked, and how much easier they made our day-to-day work experience. The results are detailed below.

What to Look For

Appearance: It’s easy to get tired of looking at the same stuff every day. So whatever you’re selecting to fill up your immediate space should be easy on the eyes. We’ve looked at items here that are as attractive as they are functional.

Utility: Along with looking great, your workplace gear shouldn’t be too frivolous. Most pieces should have some sort of utilitarian purpose. While an element of fun is important in your daily sphere, desktop real estate can be scarce so you should be highly selective in what you put on it.

Master & Dynamic MW75 Active Noise-Canceling Wireless Headphones

In this day and age, the computer is the centerpiece of nearly any desktop, and if you’re like us, you’ll need a quality pair of over-ear headphones so you’re not disturbing your family or housemates while you’re listening to your own tunes or having a work meeting. We picked the Master & Dynamic MW75, blending quality audio with active noise cancelation, all in a high-brow look and feel (this even won a Red Dot Design Award last year).

Featuring a lambskin leather headband and ear pas, aluminum and tempered glass for the ear cups, and anodized aluminum for the controls and hardware, the MW75 feels tangibly premium in-hand considering the price point, and weigh an amazing 12oz to boot. For the sound, you have state-of-the-art noise cancellation with adaptive sound to tailor itself to your environment. You’ll also get Beryllium-coated 40mm drivers, up to 32 hours of playback, and four beamforming microphones for ultimate sound quality for taking work calls.

Grovemade Wood Headphone Stand

Speaking of headphones, a quality stand for your Master & Dynamic pair is crucial for saving desktop space and elevating its class in the process. Leave it to Grovemade, an expert in wooden workspace accessories, to make the best stand we found. This one combines vegetable-tanned leather pads with a skeleton made from 304 stainless steel and American walnut. Grovemade has other wood options too, like maple and oak.

Keeping your headphones protected and stylishly displayed at the same time, the Wood Headphone Stand also excels in build quality. Made completely in the United States and designed by the brand in Portland, OR, the stand also uses steel made by Oregon-based partners before being assembled and manufactured in Ohio and Iowa. Weighing 2.25lbs to prevent accidental tips, it stands 9″ tall with 5.75″ in depth and a 3.8″ x 4.5″ base.

Grovemade Wood Laptop Stand

If you spend any amount of time exploring their online catalog, you’ll wind up wanting to Grovemade-out your entire desk area. We also love this Wood Laptop Stand, which props up your laptop to help reduce neck and back strain and improve posture. It just so happens to match the Headphone Stand with a seven-ply walnut material (there’s also a maple version) matched with stainless steel. Again, this product is made in America, assembled this time in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Standing 6″ tall, 11.5″ deep, and 15″ across up top, with its longest section stretching 20.5″ at the rear base, this laptop stand puts your laptop at a fixed forward-facing angle to make your keyboard easier to access without having to lift your arms higher (unless, of course, you have a separate keyboard). Cork feet cover the bottom while the top ledge in front features a leather-covered stainless steel stop to keep it protected while keeping it from falling. Oh yeah, and this thing is sturdy enough to withstand 200lbs of force, so it’s not going anywhere.

​​Orbitkey Desk Mat

An underrated piece of desktop gear is the desk mat, which not only elevates your immediate space but also prevents scratches on your surface. Simple yet elegant, this black vegan leather version from Orbitkey stretches 27″ across, with a 14.5-inch height (there’s a 35-inch version too). It’s also got a magnetic cable holder and toolbar track that can hold a few writing instruments. This latter feature is magnetic and you can reposition it, which is pretty useful. We loved how easy this was to do, while also being strong enough to stay seated in one place.

At first glance, this looks like your standard desk mat but there’s more beneath the surface, literally. If you lift the top surface, you can store paperwork underneath. In fact, three A4 sheets can fit side by side, and you can stack quite a few without affecting the thickness of the mat above. Note, however, that the mat is rolled up out the box, so you might need to train it to stay flat, which can take a few weeks.

YSTUDIO Classic Revolve Rollerball Pen

Even today, a ballpoint pen is invaluable to your everyday life. I can’t express the number of times I’ve opened up my phone to write something down and by the time the app loads, I’ve forgotten what it was. Keep handy a notepad and pen, such as this Classic Revolve model from Ystudio. Its flat chamfers not only bring a handsome aesthetic but also prevent the pen from rolling away or falling off your desk.

Ystudio makes a number of Revolve ballpoints but we prefer this brass version, crafted without any sort of paint or finish applied, allowing the alloy’s beauty to shine. And with regular use over time, the outer casing will develop a ton of patina. Taking Schmidt Rollerball or Standard Rollerball Pen Refills, the pen measures 5.12″ long with a 0.43-inch thickness, weighing just 1.16oz in the process.

Ezra Arthur Small Notebook

To set reminders, jot down thoughts and notes, and schedule your upcoming tasks, a notepad for your desk is crucial to keeping your days and weeks organized. We love Ezra Arthur’s small 5.45″ x 3.75″ premium leather-bound notebook, available in six leather finishes of which we opted for the Whiskey colorway. It comes with 128 thin but durable 52 GMS acid-free and Japanese-made Tomoe River pages.

Despite the thinness of the pages, however, the brand equips you with a lined guide that you can see through the paper. And when you don’t need lines, you can just ditch the guide til next time. Our favorite aspect of buying from Ezra Arthur is that, once full, the notebook can be sent in to be refilled with more paper for a small charge, allowing you to keep this beautiful leather cover.

Craighill Desk Knife

Even the biggest knife enthusiast might not want a folding blade sitting on their desktop. If that’s you, opt for this purpose-built Desk Knife from Craighill, which covers you when needing to open letters or boxes, among other day-to-day home office tasks. Inspired by the Japanese Kiridashi knife, Craighill’s fixed-blade utility knife combines its on-brand stylishly minimalist aesthetic with its penchant for crafting premium home goods, yielding a super unique knife.

Stretching 5.25″ long, with a half-inch base at its wides, the Desk Knife is crafted from a solid piece of brass and feels remarkably top-shelf. It has a short cutting edge at a steep angle with eight or so rings for grip behind spanning back to the handle. It may be tricky to sharpen the brass variant of this blade but it’s not impossible. If you’re worried about this, perhaps opt for the stainless steel variants which will be easier to sharpen from time to time just as you would with your steel pocket knives.

Orbitkey Nest Portable Desk Organizer V2

We head back to Orbitkey to find one of our favorite desktop organizers. To organize your notebooks, earbuds, chargers, cables, pens, and more, check out the brand’s second-gen Nest, which gets the job done with serious style. On the outside, you have basically the same design as the previous model, but with improved wireless charging speed, now with a 15-watt maximum for Android devices and a 7.5-watt maximum for Apple devices. There’s also a USB-C for supplying the Nest with power when charging.

We love the versatility of this case, which allows you to detach the charging lid from the base while still using its wireless features. Meanwhile, part of the lid serves as a valet tray made from real leather. You also get a couple of repositionable Velcro straps for holding a stylus or organizing cables. As for the interior, it’s lined with a soft suede-like textile that houses six dividers that can be moved around and repositioned based on the size of any given EDC item you want to keep inside. This is great for organization, plus you can take it on the go if you so choose!

Hasami Porcelain Mug 15oz

Most of us utilize the natural gift of caffeine to help propel us through our days. And if you’re looking for the best way to keep a good cup of coffee at your side, check out this porcelain mug from Hasami. Not only simple and beautifully thrown but they’re also designed right near HiConsumption HQ in Los Angeles, while manufacturing is done in Japan.

The brand’s 15-ounce mugs are 4.13″ tall with a 3.38-inch base. Sourced from Nagasaki, the porcelain used is a propriety mixture of crushed stone from Amakusa that’s been used for over four centuries. The hand-crafted porcelain mixes with clay to yield a sturdy and strong build, outfitted with only a slight bevel on the bottom face for stacking in storage. And because of the firing, glazing, and throwing process of the vessel, each mug will have its own unique one-off staining and texture. As a bonus, this is completely dishwasher- and microwave-safe.

Graf Lantz Bierfilzl Merino Wool Square Coaster Solid 4 Pack

Most people have their favorite mug but forget to stack up some coasters to keep their desktops free from stains and heat damage. We love these Bierfilzl square coasters from Graf Lantz. Available in packs of four, these are made in the United States from top-grade merino wool and are temperature-resistant up to 300ºF. Merino is a type of sheep that grows this wool year-round, maintaining inherent properties of water-wicking and temperature control.

Available in all different colors, the 4″ x 4″ square coasters are perhaps most accessible in the black variant we tested. We far prefer these over your standard leather or cork options, simply to preserve the detail and integrity of your desktop. Plus, at just under $30, these are a steal.

Anker 553 USB-C Hub 8-in-1

With fewer port options in modern-day computers and laptops, we’re forced to resort to multi-port hubs for plugging in USB-A, USB-C, ethernet, HDMI, and the like. Anker is increasingly becoming a one-stop shop for all things plugs, from chargers to adapters. We love their highly-portable 553, an 8-in-1 hub that delivers 100W of power and includes 2x 4K HDMI ports, an ethernet port, 2x USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C port, and an SD/microSD card reader.

Not only does it help you charge all your devices in one place but it gives you the ability to stream or mirror dual-screen displays in 4K at 60Hz. With 85W of output, you’ll also have enough power to charge your MacBook. And with Anker’s matte aluminum design language, Apple products will nearly match the aesthetic.

Samsung T7 Portable 2TB SSD

It’s hugely important to back up your computer, especially if you’ll be returning to documents months if not years from now. For our money, we love the Samsung T7, a solid-state drive built on USB-C 3.2 infrastructure, boasting fast transfer speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s. On the outside, it features an extremely minimalistic design that’s about as thin as a few quarters for easy stowing.

We opted for the 2TB option, but Samsung also offers the T7 in 500GB, 1TB, and 4TB capacities, with matte metallic finishing in gray, red, or blue. If you want or need some extra security, there’s also the T7 Touch, which features a built-in biometric fingerprint scanner.

Shinola Detroit The Runwell Desk Clock

If you’ve spent any amount of time perusing our content here at HiConsumption, you’re well aware that we love wristwatches. That said, it can be challenging to wear a watch on your wrist while typing away at a computer. Not only can they get in the way but you risk scratching the bracelet or crystal as well. For the purpose of your home office, don’t shy away from an actual wall clock, like this larger take on Shinola’s Runwell.

The Detroit-based company takes its flagship wristwatch and sizes it up while employing a continuous sweep quartz movement inside. Surrounding a fully matted black dial, with pops of color like the yellow second hand, is a matte zinc case (rather than a stainless steel one) that stands 6.38″ tall, which we feel is just perfect for the desktop. Not to mention, there’s a watch-like lume on the dial as well, which lets you see it even when the lights are out. Furthermore, it’s equipped with a case-matched black wood stand if you decide you don’t want to hang it on your wall.

Buck Mason Lone Pine Candle

You might not expect that Buck Mason, one of our favorite men’s clothing and style brands, makes one of the best desktop items you can find. Named after Lone Pine, CA at the foothills of Mt. Whitney, this candle brings a bit of the outdoors to your home office with bouquet notes of pine and cedar.

While the candle itself is made of 10oz of hand-poured coconut wax, the vessel it sits in is made of rugged-looking ceramic stamped with the Los Angeles-based brand’s logo underneath the black glaze on top. Once the wax runs out, you can use the mug for a variety of things, including a new wick and new wax.

Dissim Inverted Soft Flame Lighter

If you need something to actually light that candle above, check out this Inverted Soft Flame Lighter from Dissim. Regardless of function, this is a cool-looking lighter to begin with, featuring gray and black rubber and metal materials with a trigger ignition mechanism and circle grip point. Designed to be used right-side-up or upside-down, the lighter is easy to hold, while the low-temp flame is fully adjustable with just one hand.

We also love the reservoir window that tells you how much of its ~1-ounce butane fuel tank it has left. Interestingly enough, we found that there is little evaporation that occurs, unlike a classic flint wheel from Zippo. These seals are far better in this regard.

Gantri Gallery Task Light

Whether you’re giving yourself an extra bit of light while overlooking documents or trying to get some bias light to aid your eyeballs, a desktop lamp is still as essential as ever. For the Gallery Task Light you see above, Montreal-based designer Andrew Ferrier partnered with Gantri on this simple yet sleek solution that grants you 600 lumens of warm, fully dimmable light.

Continuously exploring new, sustainable manufacturing processes and large-scale 3D printing techniques, Gantri has built an admirable brand with clean lighting options that are easily some of the most attractive on the market. We’re huge fans, to say the least. The most unique aspect of the Gallery Task Light is the material it’s made from: the Gantri Plant Polymer, an organic material made from sugarcane sourced from Thai farms, making this unit incredibly lightweight at just 4lbs. Hand-assembled in beautiful San Leandro, CA, the lamp stands 21″ tall and 7.5″ at its widest. Better yet, the head can swivel the light 360º allowing you to point the light in any direction.

Tested: The Best Portable Power Banks For Your Tech

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