Oakywood Felt Workspace Accessories REVIEW

Soft, luxurious workspace accessories to keep you organized and comfortable as you work. 

Oakywood has quickly become one of my favorite accessory companies. They focus on making high-quality wooden products that make consumers’ lives easier. And, even though they primarily have wooden goods in their product catalog, they are also branching out into felt products. I’ve been using three different felt products for a couple of weeks now and I adore them. The Felt & Cork Desk Pad, Cable Organizers, and iPad Case are all premium-level products that certainly dress up any desk space. 

FELT & CORK DESK MAT

The desk pad is made of natural, biodegradable materials including 100 OEKO-TEX Merino Wool Felt and ecological cork (Portuguese Cork). It’s designed to be minimal as well as universal for any workspace. The materials used to make the desk pad make it comfortable, soft, and durable for the user. The cork base prevents the desk mat from shifting and protects the surface of the desk. It’s also renewable and can be extracted without hurting a tree. 

The desk mat is also made with a washable sewing paper called washpapa (“vegan leather”). The mat is available in different sizes – medium and large – to cover specific desk designs. The large measures 11.8″ x 35.4” and is designed to hold a keyboard, mouse, and additional office supplies, while the medium measures 11.8” x 24.4”. The smaller version is only designed to hold a keyboard + mouse or laptop + mouse. There are two different colors – Anthracite and Grey. 

For many years, I used a neoprene desk pad. It was the XL variety that actually covered most of the desk. I have a very fragile desktop – it scratches easily – so I was grateful for the added protection. The only issue with it was that it would slide around on me a lot. So, I was pretty stoked to hear that the cork on the backside of this desk mat was included to prevent that sliding from happening. I must say, that it does a pretty good job of keeping the mat in place. It will move if you force it to, but with standard activity – typing and moving a mouse around – the mat doesn’t budge. I have to admit that I was a little concerned that maybe the mat would be itchy against my skin, but it is surprisingly soft. 

I chose the Anthracite color because I thought it would be a good contrast to my white desktop. And, I was right! I have an external Bluetooth keyboard that is space gray and a Bluetooth mouse that is also dark gray. I think the combination of all the accessories looks really sharp on my desk. Even though I haven’t used the desk mat for very long, it seems to be very durable, but it does shed. I have found myself needing to dust my desk more often while using this felt desk mat. This seems to be a good value for the product you get and its price is comparable to similar felt desk mats in the market. 

FELT CABLE ORGANIZERS

The Felt Cable Organizers are simple loops that are designed to hold your cables together. The set includes three cord organizers – one large and two small. The large loop is intended for long cables like laptop charging cables or extension cables. The smaller loops are meant for USB charging cables and other standard cables. The loops are made of the same merino wool as the Felt & Cork Desk Mat and they match the rest of the Oakywood accessories. The loops measure 6.7 x 1.8” (large) and 4 x 1.2” (small). There are small incisions cut into the loops so that cables can slip through them. They secure cables with a snap closure and they are available in two different colors – anthracite and gray. 

Cable management is very important to me. I try to keep all my cables organized and easy to grab at a moment’s notice. My family is actually getting ready to go on a trip and cable organization makes it easy to just pull what we need as we pack. These loops have a pretty classic design. At first, the criticism I had was that you couldn’t secure your cable on the loop, but then I found the incisions. They are the right size to slip your cables through so that you can always keep the loops with your cable. The cable organizers seem to be sturdy enough to hold the cables tight for travel, but I’m not a big fan of the snap closure. In the set that I have, two of the snaps are easy to open and close while the third sticks quite a bit. I think I would have preferred to see a magnetic closure instead of a snap. Aside from that, I really like the design of these cable organizers. 

FELT IPAD CASE

Part of Oakywood’s Felt collection includes iPad and MacBook sleeves. I have the iPad sleeve and have really enjoyed using it. This sleeve is lightweight and made with the same merino wool as the other felt accessories. The sleeve is handcrafted and designed to protect your devices. The felt is durable and it fits your iPad precisely so that it keeps your tablet safe. The sleeve has an outer pocket that is made from washpapa. This pocket is intended for small accessories such as a charging cable and power adapter. The sleeve is designed to work with iPads 10.5 – 12.9” in size. I happen to have the iPad Pro 12.9” (3-5 GEN) option. So, it measures 9.4 x 11.9”. 

The sleeve is made very well. According to the information on Oakywood’s website, it is made in their workshop in Poland using an ethical, sustainable production process. This is one of the things I really appreciate about Oakywood – their sense of ethical responsibility. Every product they make is sustainable and when a product is purchased, they plant a tree. The iPad sleeve is another really nice piece they design. 

The packaging for this product is slightly confusing in that the box doesn’t reflect what is on the inside. The box reads, “Felt MacBook/iPad Sleeve.” There is a barcode sticker on the back, but it only reads, “Felt & Washpapa Sleeve Anthracite OAK-454” and has the UPC code on it. I did search their website for the “OAK-454” code thinking that maybe it was a product code, but the search brought up two different products – a MacBook Casee and an iPad Case. Based on the overall shape of the case, I was able to discern that it was for an iPad, but the only way I was able to determine exactly which model the case was for was to measure the dimensions of it. While this is really a minor issue, it did contribute to the overall experience for me and I would love to see the barcode sticker indicate which product is in the box since the different iterations are so similar. 

The case itself is very nice. I like the smooth felt interior for the iPad’s protection and I like the exterior pocket for storage. Because the exterior pocket is a flat pocket though, it does contribute to the overall bulk of the case when you are carrying it around. I do also worry about larger items – such as the wall adapter for the iPad – sliding out since it’s an open pocket. That said, this case is really just meant to be a layer of protection for your iPad. It’s not meant to replace larger bags, but it does provide an option for travel when you want a minimal option.

CONCLUSION

Oakywood makes some of the best accessories in the market today. They are natural, unique, and useable. As I mentioned, I love their corporate philosophy of ethical environmental responsibility and I really haven’t met a product from them that I haven’t liked. The iPad Case, Desk Mat, and Cable Organizers are all winners in my book. They really work together to elevate an office workspace from ‘ok’ to ‘exceptional’. 

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