You might think this category of workplace furniture would be a real yawner. But this year, several companies stepped up to change the way we think about office storage units. These pieces don’t just help you keep it together; they help you do it in style.

Get “Beside” Yourself

The Beside line from Haworth features modular storage above and below the worksurface. This system is not cubicle panel-based, but it does have a central spine dividing work spaces. The peek-a-boo styling of the desktop bins keeps the spine from looking like a solid wall. The filing drawer down below is lockable for holding private company documents as well as personal belongings.

The red, white and black paint job on the model shown here would look at home in a train depot. But you might pick a slightly more muted palette for your workspace. The tri-tone effect does give you lots of possibilities to play with as far as branding is concerned. Put darker or brighter colors close to the bottom and the lighter colors at the top for the most grounded look. White is a good central color from a design standpoint, but it might not be the best hue for the areas that get the most contact. It tends to show marks.

“Cubit” Storage are Totally Square

If you read the story of the building of Noah’s ark in Sunday school as a kid, you may well have asked “How big is a cubit?” We don’t know the exact measurement of a cubit in ancient times, but we do know what a modern “Cubit” looks like thanks to OSI Furniture. These blocky storage units can be configured in a variety of geometric patterns to fit your available space. Get some big stickers in primary colors and you could even decorate your storage area to look like a giant Rubik’s Cube. Or, find a stuffed Q*Bert to inhabit this cute cube structure. The retro references just keep on coming, don’t they?