5 Affordable Upgrades That Transform Any Gaming Desk

1. Backlight your desk so it still works after dark

If your desk looks good in-game but terrible when the monitor goes dark, this fixes it.

Mount an LED strip along the back edge of the desk, facing the wall. The light bounces off the wall and glows around the monitor instead of glaring at you.

Skip the front edge. Direct light reads as harsh, and you'll switch it off within a day.

Start with warm white at half brightness. Add color later, once the placement feels right.

More on getting the mood right in our late-night gaming setup guide.

2. Hide the cables in twenty minutes

Every desk has cables. Most desks look like the cables are winning.

One sleeve running from the desk to the floor hides the worst of it. Adhesive clips under the desk stop individual cables from dangling.

Stick the power strip under the desk too. You stop kicking it, and the floor clears.

3. Swap to a desk-sized mouse pad

The small black rectangle works, but it reads like office furniture. A desk-sized pad covers the whole work zone and gives your wrist more room.

Pick a print you actually like. It's the biggest single visual change you can make for the money.

See the gaming XL mouse pads collection, and if you're deciding between sizes, read our desk mats vs mouse pads comparison.

4. Add one shelf item that isn't practical

Everything on a gaming desk has a job: monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset stand. Add one thing that's just there to look good.

A figure from a game you love works. It tells people what you play before you say a word.

Browse the figures collection for a piece that fits your shelf.

5. Put a rug under your chair zone

A small rug under the desk marks where the setup begins and ends. It also stops the chair from sliding around and scuffing the floor.

Pick a 3x5 size that fits the room. It covers the chair path without swallowing the desk.

The NTBED game console area rug is made for exactly this spot. For a tighter room, see how we fit a setup into a small bedroom makeover.

The 5-minute version

Do one this weekend and take a before photo.

• Backlight behind the desk, facing the wall
• One cable sleeve + clips + under-desk power strip
• A desk-sized mouse pad
• One non-practical shelf item
• A rug under the chair zone

You'll want the after photo in a month.

If you had $50 to change one thing about your gaming setup today, what would you spend it on?