I’ve found that even if I’m working off a desk that was my family’s kitchen table in the 70’s and my chair is less than ergonomic, little design details make me smile every time I sit down to work. Some of my favorite online spots for home office coolness:

See Jane Work has an outstanding collection of goodies that make work more beautiful. I love the vintage wire desk trays and the modern patterned corkboards from NotNeutral.

Red Stamp Cards is a great site for stylish stationery, but they’ve also got a sweet little office supplies category with no generic marbled composition books in sight. The Thomas Paul collection is particularly drool-worthy, with great-looking pencil cups, file folders, and maybe the nicest mouse pads I’ve ever seen.

Museum stores are always a smart bet for those cool desktop details. The steel and aluminum fan-like Note Holder” from MoMA is great for organizing those pressing letters and bills, and I love love love the porcupine paperclip holderfrom Alessi that’s a far cry from the standard middle management cubicle accessory.

At the SFMOMA, I found this awesome set of artist-designed wastebaskets (I know!) for just $15 each. They’re biodegradable to boot. Clearly there’s something clever line in here about the irony of throwing away the garbage can, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

Next stop: The dream desk. If only I could find that one for $15 too.