Although cubicles are widely despised, at least they do a good job keeping everyone’s personal effects and work items organized. What kind of hot-desking personal storage options do you have?
For personal storage in a hot-desking arrangement, organize the office with the following items:
- • Storage carts
- • Mini filing cabinets
- • Bookshelves
- • Cubbies
- • Credenzas
- • Lockers
Whether you think one of these storage solutions will work for your office or several, we recommend you keep reading. In this article, we’ll talk more about the benefits of each storage option as well as provide shopping links courtesy of Amazon.
6 Hot Desking Personal Storage Ideas
1. Storage Carts
The first option worth considering for a more organized hot-desking office is a storage cart. Although these can’t hold as much compared to the other products on this list, they’re useful for their portability. It’s common for storage carts to have wheels so you can bring them anywhere.
Considering some hot-desking employees don’t have one consistent place where they work, they’ll appreciate how portable storage carts are.
Mind Reader Rolling Storage Cart and Organizer
A wheeled storage cart we recommend on Amazon is from a company called Mind Reader
. This Amazon’s Choice product has four wheels with black plastic casters to minimize noise as your employees drag the cart around.
The compartments, of which there are four, are made deep so they can hold more than an average storage cart. Each organizer comes in a different color so you can group like things together. The translucent plastic lets you see into the organizers so you can grab what you need when you need it. These drawers also come out if necessary.
Gramercy Cart by Recollections
Recollections’ Gramercy Cart is another solid pick for around the office. The bright teal color ought to improve the mood and morale of your employees. This cart measures 31 inches tall, 14 inches wide, and 17.9 inches long with a tray that’s 3.5 inches high, 12 inches wide, and 16 inches in length.
This wheeled storage cart can hold up to 20 pounds, which is pretty generous. The casters move all 360 degrees for the ultimate in portability, and they lock as well. While this cart has three drawers instead of four, there are up to 10 different storage accessories throughout.
2. Mini Filing Cabinets
Sometimes, employees need better organization than perhaps a storage cart can offer. A mini filing cabinet is the next best thing. Not only do these cabinets provide more privacy since they close and lock, but they often come on wheels, too. Since they’re half the size of a regular filing cabinet, and in some instances even smaller, porting them around the office is no trouble at all.
DEVAISE Three-Drawer Mobile File Cabinet with Lock
Our first pick for a great mini filing cabinet is another Amazon’s Choice product. It’s the DEVAISE Three-Drawer Mobile File Cabinet. Made of tough steel, the cabinet stands at 23.6 inches tall, 18.9 inches wide, and 15.4 inches long. It has three drawers in all, with the bottom drawer measuring 9.5 inches high, 17.3 inches wide, and 12.9 inches long. The other two upper drawers are 2.7 inches tall, 17.3 inches in width, and 12.9 inches in length as well.
Capable of carrying 330 pounds of files, documents, and more, the DEVAISE cabinet has five caster wheels for traveling with you throughout the day. One of the casters, located in the middle of the cabinet, stabilizes the entire thing. The ones in the front can lock for more security.
The hanging rails included inside the drawers allow you to store a variety of papers, among them A4 files, legal documents, and letters. You’ll also find stationary drawers up top with pencil trays for books, erasers, pens, paperclips, staples, and other small office essentials.
When you’re done for the day, lock everything up with an interlock system. The three drawers lock via two keys for extra safety.
Bush Business Furniture Series C3 Mobile File Cabinet
Another highly-rated mobile mini filing cabinet you might consider is this one from Bush Business Furniture. The front drawers are finished in an appealing wood, such as mocha cherry, mahogany, warm oak, light oak, graphite gray with Hansen cherry, graphite gray with auburn maple, or graphite gray with a natural cherry.
Like the DEVAISE mobile file cabinet, Bush Business Furniture’s cabinet can stash A4 files, legal documents, and letters. There are also bow drawers for keeping other office supplies tucked away. The ball-bearing slides make opening and using this mini filing cabinet easier than ever, not to mention wheels allow it to roll with you.
There’s a lock on the bottom drawer that also will secure the two drawers above it. If you use a Series C desk from Bush Business Furniture in your hot-desking office, then their Series C3 mobile file cabinet fits underneath it perfectly.
3. Bookshelves
Better for so much more than books, bookshelves in a hot-desking office can be used to keep personal effects (for the day), store large files and folders of documents, or organize past project binders so you can pull them out in a pinch.
TomCare Cube Storage Six-Cube Organizer
This first set of shelves is maybe not quite what you were expecting. It’s unconventional after all, but then again, so too is your office. TomCare’s Cube Storage comes with six cubes in all. Each is detached, so you have the freedom to organize them your way. Maybe you stack them tall, lay them out in rows of two, or make a triangle out of them. Whatever you need, these storage cubes are here to accommodate you.
Once you’re ready to attach them, you only need the hammer that comes with your order. Each module is made of ABS plastic with a PP panel for durability. You can fit 15 pounds of office equipment per cube, meaning you get 90 pounds of storage overall. The cubes measure 11.8 inches by 11.8 inches apiece.
Sauder Beginnings Three-Shelf Bookcase
A somewhat more traditional shelf and an Amazon’s Choice product to boot, Sauder Beginnings Three-Shelf Bookcase can clean up your hot-desking office. When assembled (it doesn’t come this way unless you pay extra), the bookshelf measures 35.28 inches tall, 11.45 inches wide, and 24.56 inches long.
Its engineered wood construction, combined with its limited warranty good for a year, makes this a smart purchase. The finish, which is called Highland Oak, adds warmth and appeal to this simple bookcase. The two shelves can be adjusted for a customizable fit.
4. Cubbies
If you have a bigger office that’s trying hot desking for the first time, cubbies could be a great solution. You can let employees keep some personal items here, or your cubbies could be the backbone of a drop-off system.
With this, each cubby can be assigned to an employee. As your staff finished up assignments, if the employee they needed wasn’t in the office, they could drop the documents off in their cubby. Then, that employee could pick up the docs the next day. It’s a creative idea that could make your hot-desking arrangement a success.
Contender 30-Cubby Wooden Storage Unit
To make an idea like the above work, you’d need a sizable cubby, and this one from Contender is just about perfect. It has 30 cubbies in all built into a wooden storage unit. That unit is made of Baltic birch plywood that’s 11-ply and 5/8 inches thick.
The entire storage unit has a depth of 12 inches, a width of 50 ¾ inches, and a height of 33 7/8 inches. To increase the lifespan of the product, Contender finishes each wooden storage unit with Tuff-Gloss, a UV product. This will also keep stains at bay.
Bankers Box Nine-Compartment Cubby Storage
A much simpler solution that may suit some offices is the Bankers Box cubby storage. It only has nine cubbies rather than 30, but it also takes up far less room. It measures 13 inches deep, 28 ¼ inches wide, and 16 inches tall.
The corrugated material used to construct the cubbies has several layers for toughness. You’ll also find identification and labeling channels, plus the bright blue exterior is a nice touch as well.
5. Credenzas
For items larger than what can fit in cubbyholes and won’t fit neatly on a bookshelf, you can likely keep them in a credenza. You may opt for a credenza at each workstation, allowing employees to share for the duration of their shift.
Modway Render Mid-Century Modern Two-Tier Display Stand
This credenza from Modway gives off positive retro vibes, which is why it’s referred to as mid-century. The entire thing measures 27 inches high, 37.5 inches wide, and 13.5 inches long. Its walnut finish is timeless and appealing.
There are four units for keeping your hot-desking office more organized, including dual diagonal slatted doors that slide open and closed. These also provide security if you’re keeping private documents in the credenza.
The right shelf is adjustable in the bottom half, allowing you to maximize the available space. Tapered legs streamline this credenza’s profile and keep it from being too much of a space hog. Modway’s credenza is made of particleboard for the frame and has walnut grain laminate surfaces.
Sauder Adept Storage Credenza
Another good pick from Sauder is their Adept Storage Credenza. This, too, has the brand’s engineered wood construction with a finish made from Craftsman Oak. It implements the cubbyhole design, but in a sturdy credenza that’s 125 pounds and measures 58.2 inches by 17.2 inches by 36.3 inches.
The shelves, of which there are three, can be adjusted to open or shrink the three rows of three cubbyholes (you get nine cubbies in all). The top row has slots for ID labels or tags.
6. Lockers
Although it may feel a bit like being back in school, lockers are a private, secure storage option that may appeal to you as you begin your company’s hot-desking trial. You can place lockers in the entry hall or somewhere else where employees clock or check-in. Then, they can store personal items and come back for these at the end of the day.
MECOLOR Metal Office and Home Locker Cabinets
You get several lockers in one with this set from MECOLOR on Amazon. How many cabinets are up to you, with the smallest amount being two and the largest amount nine. Do keep in mind that the size of each cubby does shrink with the more you add on.
That’s because the size of the cabinet does not change. It’s always 17.7 inches deep, 35.5 inches wide, and 36.4 inches tall. Made of cold-rolled steel, MECOLOR finishes each of their lockers with an electrostatic powder coating that’s eco-friendly. The doors for each cubby include a robber pin with anti-collision technology.
You also get a key per cubby that can fold for even more significant space savings. You will have to assemble the cabinet yourself.
Salsbury Industries Five-Tier Box-Style Standard Metal Locker
We also think the Salsbury Industries Five-Tier Box-Style Standard Metal Locker is worth considering for your office. A pick on Amazon with quite a high rating, this locker comes in three colors: tan, gray, and bright blue. When assembled, the locker measures 12 inches deep, 66 inches tall, and 12 inches wide. Each compartment is 12 inches deep, 12 inches tall, and 12 inches wide.
You can use either traditional key locks or even electronic locks, depending on your personal preference. Inside the locker cubby, is a steel hasp for accepting key padlocks or key combinations as well.
Related Questions
How do you organize office supplies at work?
Do you feel like you’re drowning in clutter at work, and now hot-desking has made it worse? You’re going to want to work on your organization game, stat. To do so, take advantage of file folders, drawers, credenzas, and the like for keeping things tidy. Also, stash your personal effects out of sight, as this only clutter up your space even more.
What are the three types of filing systems?
As you organize your hot-desking workstation, you may use a filing system. Not all these systems are the same, with three types generally recognized. These are alphanumeric, numeric, and alphabetical. With the numeric filing, you organize by number, and with alphabetical, it’s by the letters of the alphabet, often A to Z. An alphanumerical filing system combines numbers and letters.
