Does anyone else always seem to end up with a clutter of messy icons on their computer desktop? If that’s you, today’s solution might just be your jam! I’ll show you how to create a beautiful custom desktop organiser like this one using Canva (a free online design tool) in under 10 minutes. Then you’ll always have a place for your icons.
I first stumbled across this brilliant idea from the lovely Laura of iHeart Planners, so full credit to Laura for the original concept. I’ve made a few tweaks to take our desktop organization from fabulously functional to truly beautiful, using a different method that is super-easy and will make you look like a professional graphic designer in no time.
To get us started, I created three beautiful desktop wallpapers which you can download for free (for personal use only please). You can use them as-is, or take it a step further and customise them to sort out that desktop clutter, as I’ll show you how to do in this post.
First, download your designs and save them to your computer in a place you’ll remember.
Now, let’s go to Canva.com. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one (it’s free and only takes a couple of seconds.) We’re going to get started with creating a design. Click on “Use custom dimensions”. (Watch for the red arrows in the screen shots to follow!)
Here’s where you need to insert the dimensions of your computer monitor screen, in pixels. The easiest way to find out this information is to click through to www.whatismyscreenresolution.com, and your screen resolution will automatically pop up for you.
Insert these dimensions into Canva. So, I would put 1440 x 900.
Next, click on “Uploads” in the sidebar menu, then click the big green button that says “upload your own images.” From your files, select one of the wallpaper designs you just downloaded and saved to your computer.
Re-size the image to fit the canvas by clicking and dragging. You’ll have to be fairly exact.
Now we’re going to add some boxes for our icons. Go to “Search” in the sidebar menu, then click “Shapes.”
Select the light gray box in the top row. You’ll see a transparent box appear on your canvas.
Re-size the box to whatever size you like. You can also alter the level of transparency by clicking the little blue down-arrow and moving the slider. I set mine at 70%.
You can copy and paste your boxes, or add additional ones in different sizes to make whatever configuration you’d like. Handy grid-lines snap to the outside edges when you’re positioning your boxes, to help you line up the edges accurately.
For this example, I went with three boxes along the bottom of my desktop. Next, click “Text” in the sidebar menu, and scroll down until you see a text treatment you like. I selected from a group of simple banners.
You can customise the colors easily by clicking the palette button. A range of extra options will pop up, or click the little plus sign to view the entire colour wheel.
If you do select from the colour wheel, make sure you copy the hex code down the bottom so you can replicate the colour for your next title (just paste it into the same box next time you open the colour wheel.)
Once you’ve finished adding your titles, click “Download” and then select “Image: high quality (PNG)”. This maintains a high resolution so your design displays crisp and clear on your computer monitor.
Save your download, then apply it to your desktop. You’re done!
Here’s how my design turned out once I categorised all those icons I had floating around.
And just as an example of the different layouts you could try, here’s another design I came up with. You can customise your design to fit your needs perfectly, no matter what categories you might want to use to organise your icons.
I also set the original downloadable designs as my screen-savers, so I have something pretty and completely clutter-free to look at in between work sessions.
Having a pretty desktop has really been the final decorating touch I needed to complete my study makeover. (If you’re new here, click through to see my complete home office reveal, as well as the tutorial for that gold paint-pen feature wall!)
I hope that helps someone else tame their desktop clutter once and for all. Thanks for reading, and happy desktop organising, friends!
Linked up at these parties this week!
this idea is genius. i have never seen anyone do this before and love the idea so much. thank you for giving a step by step. my computer desktop is always littered with items that should be in folders but i like this idea even more. i went ahead and shared on my facebook page so others can benefit! thank you!
That’s pretty cool! I should totally do this 🙂
This post is totally awesome! The websit eis also easy to use. Thank you so much!
I love this! Thank you for a nice step-by-step process. I have not used Canva in a couple of years, I forgot how easy it is to use 🙂 Loving your website in general and it has really inspired me to get more creative.