Tea break inspired desk accessories

Desk tidy by Black + Blum

I have often seen people using mugs as pen pots, so perhaps charging £23 for this item is unjustified. Yet I must admit, there is something oddly intriguing about it. In fact, I can even tell you what I would put where... some coloured paperclips in the smallest cup, rubber bands and a ball of blue tack in the medium pot, and all my pens and pencils in the tall cup.

Don't submit to boring, plastic, office accessories when there are far more aesthetic alternatives. Even if this is not your 'cup of tea' (chuckle) don't rule out porcelain, perspex and other more stylish and design savvy materials. So perhaps you are wondering what I keep my pens in? At home I have a wooden cutlery pot from IKEA which serves the purpose perfectly, at the office I used an upturned candle box which was white with a floral graphic design. The box also still smelled like grapefruit, as the candle was scented and made me smile every time I reached for a pen.

Think outside the box and use objects that look how you want them to look, and fit the purpose required. That does not mean you have to choose something that is labelled, for example, a 'pen pot'. Mugs have been doing a perfectly good job of imitating a pen pot for years.