I’ve been looking at the desk shelf and accessories from Balolo. This allows mounting of everything from MagSafe / Watch chargers on the shelf edge, to floating MacBook holders in both open and clamshell configurations.
Does anyone have any experience with this supplier?
I don’t, but John Voorhees at MacStories had a great article about them recently. Tucked Away Nearby: A Refinement of my Desk Setup - MacStories
I really like it. I bought the cockpit setup for my “real” office and liked it so much I basically duplicated it for my home office. The pieces are a little pricey, so I suggest really thinking through how you want the setup so you can include all the pieces in one order. Otherwise, shipping on individual items can make it cost prohibitive.
I love the idea of this, despite it being a bit too expensive for what it is, and I was pricing out what I would do. But then I ran into this with my 2 monitor system.
Do people really run two 27" monitors side by side? I have my main monitor square to where I sit and the second monitor at an angle to the side of it, so when I turn my head to look at it is facing me. Doing a 2 monitor set up on a shelf seems impractical. Am I doing it wrong?
Grovemade was the origin of this style of desk setup (AFAIK), for an alternative:
@ChrisUpchurch bought 3 Studio Displays for with his Mac Studio.
I’d happily take a 27” screen and a secondary 4:3 display for working in Word, as a 16:9 is too short and too wide to make the best use for word processing, and a 27” in Portrait is far too skinny and too tall.
As @geoffaire mentioned, I run three Studio Displays on a shelf (actually a 2x12 with some legs from Ikea screwed into the bottom). I’ve got the outer two displays somewhat angled. They don’t quite face me directly, but they’re not just on the same plane as the center monitor.
Chris – that’s an amazing setup, but you gotta get ONE wallpaper that spans all three monitors. 
Indeed, another very nice but expensive option.
Since making the original post I’ve discovered the new Anker MagGo chargers this has made me reconsider a more modular approach of discrete but replacable components on my desk. Thet just need to be a lot more coorinated than current set-up old/ancient hubs, cables, stands and magsafe chargers.
Fresco does the trick nicely.
While they certainly look good, these fancy desk shelf systems seem wildly expensive for what they really offer in terms of functionality. Some of the attachments for the Balalo are interesting—the increased stability for interacting with touchscreens seems nice—but I’m unsure how much can’t be recreated with some off-the-shelf accessories and a little DIY gumption.
My setup is similar to @ChrisUpchurch’s, using an old wall shelf from IKEA that sits on a couple of 2x4s that I trimmed down to dial in the height and fitment (it sits just high enough that I can slide my trackball underneath). I got a smokin’ deal on one of these Belkin MagSafe chargers, which was the lowest-profile charger of that variety I could find that would let me put my phone in standby mode without blocking my monitor.
I really love the shelf, too, and I was sad to see that IKEA has discontinued them. I’d been considering getting a longer one since I realized how good it is as a desk shelf. It’s a stainless steel Ekby wall shelf that I can attach things to with magnets. Perfect for holding index cards and Apple Watch chargers. My only complaint is that it could be thinner, which would give me more leeway to adjust my monitor height independent of the desk height.
P.S. I did recently get the iPad stand that Vorhees mentions in the MacStories article above, and it’s a winner
