Showing posts with label home office. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home office. Show all posts

6/08/2025

SKÅDIS Hanging Hook (White)

These Skadis protruding hooks are terrific to hang anything you can imagine. They can be repositioned easily but stay securely inside the pegboard slots. They're light but strong. So many uses I've given to these to hang scissors, small torches, some art supplies, some painting tubes (those that have a hole at the base for example), keys, utensils and much more. Good quality but pricey. 

DESIGNER Eva Lilja Löwenhielm,

SKÅDIS Container (White)

This container is a great addition for any pegboard. I's great as a pen or crayon holder as it stays in place safely thanks to the well-designed back hooks. It holds tons of stuff and vertically, away from my table, and I can use it with markers, pens, pencils, crayons (these would stain the inside a bit) among other things. Great quality plastic.   

DESIGNER  Eva Lilja Löwenhielm
 

5/31/2025

RISATORP Basket With Compartments (33x24x11 cm)

This is another Risatorp beauty. I super love this range due to its quality, classy Skandi timeless but modern design, and versatility. This compartment basket is not only beautiful, but has myriad uses. It makes a great office caddy, kitchen or crafts  caddy. Currently, I use it as a bathroom caddy to have at hand my most used items of cosmetics, makeup, perfume and toiletries. Its low height makes it perfect for storage in drawers and small cabinets.    
 
Super easy to assemble.  

Not fit for outdoor use.

DESIGNER  Wiebke Braasch,
 
 

SKÅDIS Clip

These clips are almost flat and hook into any Skadis pegboard easily. I don't find them as useful as other hooks and Skadis accessories as these are designed mostly to hold paper. That being the case aren't as versatile, or at least to me, as other hugs and clips. However, they are still great to have important pieces of paper on display: bills to pay, or photos, or leaflets for an event, or your own painting or drawing, inspiration images for your inspiration board, postcards received, and so on. 
 
DESIGNER  Eva Lilja Löwenhielm

5/30/2025

VATTENKAR Desk Organiser (White, 33x21x43 cm)

I really love this organiser. Organisers of this sort are a wonderful replacement for renters who might not be able to use a wall pegboard but want something similar but portable. So easy to carry around the different rooms of the house, or to put in the car and take it away. 

The Vattenkar is a multifunctional organiser that perfectly works as work caddy, and as craft or sewing station. The central pegboard is great as I can use different Skadis accessories and hooks to create different storage layouts. I like the caddy's two sides as I can put the prettier side facing the viewer and the back side with the uglier storage items facing the wall. I haven't used the elastic band yet as I devoted this to crafts not to books or my laptop. 
 
This organiser is easy to assemble as it has just a few pieces that click in together; the instructions leaflet is also easy to follow. I had this in my wish list for a long time because, despite the measurements being clear n the product page, I wasn't sure how much space or how much space would occupy. Having had this for a while now, that the item is a bit bulky and heavy even when empty. Not a beautiful looking storage solution, but a very practical one; and you wouldn't believe how much stuff I can fit in.

DESIGNER Anna-Maria Nilsson 

5/20/2025

SKÅDIS Round Hook (19 mm)

I had read so many negative reviews about these hooks that I hesitated to buy them. The main complaint from customers was that they're really difficult to insert and that they can damage the pegboard. Well, after getting them, I found them to have a child-like sort of insertion system. I wonder why schools don't teach puzzles and basic mechanical stuff to children so that they can become functional adults. Breaking the board with these is so difficult, like you have to have your wires all messed-up and the strength of a bear to insert them in the wrong way. They come with a little handy leaflet that explains how to insert them. But the design is so intuitive that you don't really need instructions... unless you do. 
 
These are my favourite hooks for the Skadis pegboards to be honest. Easy to insert, easy to reposition, and they hold plenty of different things and they occupy just one hold on the board, not two or three as other hooks do. They are strong, too, I love them to store my washi tape rolls, but I can hang so many things from them, like scissors, laces, anything and everything.


DESIGNER Johanna Jelinek

5/19/2025

TJOG Storage box with lid (dark grey, 25x36x15 cm)

I have all my home office storage sorted out with KIKI K storage boxes, which are made of sturdy hard carboard covered in linen. Unfortunately, they don't make them any more. It's impossible for me not to compare the quality and craftsmanship of these with this TJOG box. This Ikea storage box looks beautiful, classic and elegant. It comes flat but it's really easy to assemble. However, the cardboard is not sturdy or stiff enough to me. I couldn't find the maximum storage weight allowed on the product web page. I have put a bit of weight on the two I have, but the heaver is on the bottom. The other one I filled mostly with paper that doesn't weight much. 

DESIGNER Ikea of Sweden

4/18/2025

KOMPLEMENT Drawer mat, light grey patterned, 90x53 cm

This is a drawer mat made of stiff warm grey felt with a cute white pattern. It's very pretty. The mat back has tiny silicone dots so that it holds onto the surface you place it on. This size perfectly fits the Ikea Komplement drawers, but it can be easily cut to size to fit it in other drawers. 
 
I bought several of these to use them as drawer mats, floor mat (under a small storage unit) and to cover the inside of some large woven Ikea boxes.  and floor mats. Yes, I know, this was never designed as floor mat, but I have two of these underneath the translucent floor protector on which I have my swivel chair, and they look great as well and protect the floor without adding any bulk.   
 
DESIGNER IKEA of Sweden

3/15/2025

SAMBORD Floor Reading Lamp (Black & White)

This Sambord floor and reading lamp is replacing my old studio/office lamp. I wanted something that occupies minimal space, doesn't have much cable out and with and adjustable head. This lamp fits the bill at a terrific price. The head is made of plastic and the rest is made of metal coated in powder paint.
 
The base is really heavy and holds the lamp tube firmly. The upper curved part of the lamp is made of flexible silicone, so you can bend it and adjust the head position, from totally upright to bend to suit my needs. This flexible part blends with the metallic tube beautifully. The cable goes inside the tube. The switch button is on top of the lamp head. 
 
This lamps with a two-point plug LED lamp that you need to purchase separately. Yet, it costs little.  
 
The assembly leaflet is super easy to follow and requires just your fingers and a wrench. 
 
For the price, you cannot expect the best lamp out there, but this is a terrific well-designed product that works well, is functional, looks well and costs little. 
 
DESIGNER Jens Fager
 

3/01/2025

TROTTEN Storage Unit on Castors (White, 35x47 cm)

I have two of these and I was going to buy another two when the product was discontinued in Australia (still available in other countries' Ikea). 

The versatility of the product, how easy is to tuck it away and the many rooms I can use it in, make it a perfect storage solution for my home. I can use it as office storage, which is what was designed for. I can also use this unit as a sofa coffee table in my living room to keep a water bottle, mugs, glasses, napkins and other coffee/tea tools easily tucket away. I can use it as bedside table to store my pyjamas, sleepers/ugg boots, and a light throw). I currently use it as an office storage box with materials that I don't use often, and I've put an Eket cube with door on it, and they look fabulous together.  
 
The Skandi style is minimalist but eye-catching. The bamboo lid is excellent quality, very thick, sturdy and good looking. The shell is metallic, coated in an elegant matte antique-white epoxy. It's easy to carry around by hand if I don't put much stuff inside; otherwise, the castors do the job. Despite it's apparently wobbliness, this unit can securely hold tons of stuff inside and on top of it. The castors are also excellent, and roll smoothly.
 
The main downside of this unit was the tricky assembly. The instructions leaflet is good. You have to click in the different panels together, align them properly, and then insert the castors' screws perfectly as these are the only thing that hold the structure together. Getting all perfectly aligned without the structure falling apart was difficult. The unit looks less sturdy than it is. 
 
DESIGNER Francis Cayouette

2/28/2025

EKET Cabinet with Door (White, 35x35x35 cm)

I like the simplicity and elegance of the Eket line. Having a cube with a door allows me  to store and hide ugly-looking stuff from work, study or art making. The cube is made of a wood-like conglomerate, which you can clearly see on the individual panels inner sides when assembling them. It's sturdy material but light. I can move the cube around easily with my bare hands. The white matte paint and the overall design result in a neat elegant storage solution. The door has a push-opener integrated, and opens by making a bit of pressure.
 
This Eket cube can be hung from the wall (you'd need to buy the wall fittings separately), can be attached to another Eket cube (you'd need to buy the joining fittings), used with legs (ditto) or on its own. I own two pieces, which I use separately, resting on top of two Trotten storage units with castors (now discontinued) of the same size and the ensemble looks like water for chocolate.

I found the cube easy to put together. However, the instructions leaflet wasn't the best as includes instructions for other Eket combos and models. Linking and clicking-in-and-down the side 'knobs' was easy in theory. However, despite pushing down the panels like a champion, I couldn't make them click down fully. That being the case, I had to use a small hammer (protected with a thick fabric kitchen towel) to do that. 
 
DESIGNER  Jon Karlsson.
ASSEMBLY LEAFLET that came in the box is not available on the website any more.

HARVMATTA Letter Tray (Anthracite, 32x25x32 cm)

Like the rest of the Harvamatta series, this tray is both practical and stylish. It's quite large and you'll need a bit of space to place it. (I think it fits inside a Kallax cube). It's also a bit heavy (about 4.5 kilos); most of the weight comes from the individual trays as the outer shell is quite light.

I use this letter tray to declutter my desk and other surfaces in my home office. I store papers that I haven't classified yet (e.g. letters, postcards, receipts),  printing paper, and current documents that I want to keep at hand (e.g. medication prescriptions, medical referrals or certificates, bills to pay). The  trays are sturdy and hold A4-size paper pads, small sketchbooks, small items of stationery, and phone chargers. In a way, this letter tray is a mini-shelving system. The individual trays can be pulled out for convenience and their cork lining and outer curved flap prevent anything from sliding off and out.

Assembly is easy. The only difficulty I found was clicking in the last piece of the outer shell. 

DESIGNER Eva Lilja Löwenhielm.

HARVMATTA Box with Lid (Anthracite, 24x35x6 cm)

This box is the largest in the Harvamatta box set. I can easily store up to A4-size documents, stationery, unused painting brushes, colouring pencils and pastels, among other things. They're a bit pricey, but also good quality.

The box is very elegant and minimalist, with a hint of formality. I love the contrast between the metal anthracite colour and the cork lid woody colour. As they are so stylish, I can leave them in full view even though they might contain a lot of crap that, otherwise, would be cluttering my office. These boxes pile on each other perfectly, and they look great on top of the Harvamatta letter tray.

The main downside of the Harvamatta box line is that they don't have any closing or securing system. On the one hand, this favours easy piling on each other. On the other hand, if the box falls down, you'll have its contents all over the place. I would have loved these boxes having some sort of vintage-like wired closure or fasteners; even a tight closure like those that pickle traditional jars have. 

DESIGNER Ebba Strandmark.

KRILLE Leg with castor, white (70 cm)

These legs are sold individually to use with the individual table top of your choice. They are made of good quality strong metal and have an excellent epoxy coating. The castors are fabulous and lockable.
 
The Krille is easy to assemble and, screwing it to the table-top, is straight forward. However, the location of some of the screws holes is wrong, making something as simple as screwing a total pain. I don't have an electric screw-driver so I used a manual one and, despite having small hands, I still had difficulty positioning my hands in a way that I would be able to fully screw some of them. The spacing should have been different. I understand that the holes have to match those that the table-tops have, but the holes on the the leg base were to close to the metal bar. I had difficulty screwing them manually, so I don't know how a person with big hands or a big screwing tool can do that. For the rest, a great purchase. 
 
DESIGNER Francis Cayouette.