I love 3D printing and the possibilities it affords, both for interesting in-place gadgets that would be difficult to manufacture any other way and for practical improvements to my home and workspace. I've got four 3D printers right now, but that's just the ones I kept after passing older models to friends. I've got them set up on a standing desk because that makes it easier to get things to the correct height for maintenance, but it left me with a tricky situation: keeping the chaos of tools and other tech on my desk in check. The problem was also the solution in this case, and after a lot of trial and error with various organizational systems, I've found the ones that work best for me.

Underware 2.0 for better cable management

The best way to tame those unruly cables

Nobody sets out to have a rat king develop from the mass of cables under their desk, but that's what happens all too quickly as new devices are added to your setup. It always starts with a new power strip, then maybe a new monitor, or a charger for your phone, and before long, you've got cables everywhere you try not to look at, which is easy because they're in the shadowy section under your desk.

And that's what Underware is designed to fix. It's a genius system of interlocking mesh that screws onto the underside of your desk as a base layer to push cable covers, power brick holders, or anything else you need to make the underside of your desk an industrial marvel of tidy cables. And as long as you have space left, you can keep adding more cables, or holders to keep USB cable ends in a handy place, or anything else you can think of that will clip onto the base layer.

Just be aware that this will use a LOT of filament, and the flat panels for the underlying openGrid system will expose any issues you have with your printer, such as bed adhesion, warping, corner lift, or anything else that can spoil a deceptively simple print.

Gridfinity for taming my drawers of junk

A quick win that teaches you scaling and parametric design

Ahh, Gridfinity. One of the best examples of a time-saving organization tool that I've ever seen or used. If Underware is for the part of your desk you don't usually look at, Gridfinity is for the parts you see all the time. It's perfect for taming those drawers full of junk (okay, really useful things you haven't found a use for yet) and for stationery or anything else your workflow might need at a moment's notice.

Every aspect is designed parametrically, so you can scale it up to fit the space you have. And it's designed to stack, so it uses every cubic inch of space inside those drawers if you wish. I haven't quite got to that stage because if I cover the bottom layer of bins I'll forget what's in them, but maybe I can set up an inventory system so that I know exactly where everything is. And you don't have to worry if your 3D modeling skills aren't that developed yet, as there is a huge community around this system, and you can often find exactly what you need by searching through existing templates.

Honeycomb storage wall to keep things off my desktop

Make the world into your pegboard

I've always wanted a tool wall, but the existing pegboard solutions bore me. Then I found the Honeycomb Storage Wall, and really, who can resist bestagons, erm, I mean hexagons. Like the previous systems, this is designed as a standard base layer, so you can design and print exactly the add-ons that you need for hanging things on the wall.

It's worth pointing out that this base layer has a front and a back, and if you mount it the wrong way, you're going to have a hard time installing any of the holder attachments. When mounted correctly, there are tiny friction tabs that keep the inserts in place, and a tiny lip that holds them stable. All my 3D printing tools are now hung up on bestagons, and I'm planning out a much larger print farm of the base layer to cover a large section of my garage for further storage.

A mini dumpster for my SD cards

I swear not all of my photos are bad

I never have enough storage for my SD cards, and they were living in about a dozen Altoid tins, doing none of them any favors. But now, with this cute mini dumpster holder, I can slot my SD cards in safely, and chuckle about how terrible 90% of my photos from every photo shoot are.

I feel it's important to remember that fun is an integral part of life, and even when printing organizers and tools you can still inject a little bit of personality. And really, what's more amusing than a tiny dumpster to put on your desk and hold your storage cards? Maybe I'll use a translucent orange filament and print some flames to use as a lid instead of the boring black hinged one.

Studio Loup for stationery and decor

Functional and stylish, which is a combination rarely seen

I love pens, pencils, and pretty much every form of stationery, but I'm also terrible at keeping them organized. Studio Loup has my back though, with over 240 models to print, ranging from planters to pen holders, and anything I might actually want to use for storing gadgets on my desk. I'm not sure how many paperclip trays I actually need, but I'd better print at least 20 to be sure. The only problem here is knowing when to stop, because I only have so much desktop space, and if it gets covered in organizers, it's no better off than when it was chaotic.

Functional 3D prints have saved my desk from the hot mess sitting in my chair

These prints were all discovered after I'd already set up my current desk, so getting the dimensions I needed took a bit more effort. I'm going to be more organized in the future, and the next desk I get will be measured up for Underware before it's put together, so I can print all the requisite openGrid parts and put everything together on the same day. I don't mind planning cable runs after that, since it depends on what's going on top of the desk.

Modular organizational systems with parametric designers are one of the best uses of a 3D printer I can think of, and I'm not going back to having junk drawers full of scattered items that take half an hour to paw through every time I need something. I'm about to measure up the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen next, so I can make custom-fit inserts and throw away the terrible cutlery tray that has followed me through several apartments.