A few years ago, amid pandemic boredom, tech YouTube became overrun with new channels and videos highlighting the best desk “setups” and showing off all the gadgets, lights, and styling elements you could buy to make your desk Instagram-worthy. They had tips for managing cables and inspiration for microdisplays, and the desks they showed off looked either minimalist, very wooden, covered in rainbow lights, or very anime-heavy.

Though I’ve stopped routinely watching these YouTube channels and scrolling r/Battlestations, I still care about having a beautiful place to work every day and don’t mind buying the occasional product to make it look better.

It seems the Instagram ad algorithm started picking this up, and Balolo’s ad spend worked, as I was directed to their desk setup kit. And having tried it, it’s nice, but it’s also a reminder that sometimes things are more desirable in the pictures than in real life.

For those whose feeds aren’t flooded with their advertising: Balolo is a German company that makes high-quality wooden desk accessories anchored around its central “Cockpit Setup.” Available in a large or medium size, it’s a wooden shelf that sits on your desk in either American Walnut, Oak, or “All Black” wood, and underneath are various mounting points using a standardized connection.

So, sure, it’s a desk shelf; but with a few included screws, you can add a phone stand or wireless charger; a shelf that draws can slide into; a tablet or laptop holder; and other parts to help organize your desk.

It’s a simple concept, but done well, with each part matching the material and design of the main setup and easily connecting for it. The kit motivates you to buy all the parts you need, creating a single unified setup that tidies up your desk and then can be adjusted to your liking in the future. Plus, all of it is made in Germany, out of beautiful woods, and feels solid.

But also, it is expensive and fundamentally a simple object.

It’s just a desk shelf, and though the design and materials are more integrated than options you can find on Amazon, the large version is $240, without any attachments — which are expensive. Their phone holder is $35. Their laptop dock is $55. The mounted tray is $90. Add a few of these, as you ought to if you buy their setup, and you’re looking at an expensive check-out; and I sense that a lot of that money is just paying for their Instagram advertising. Oh, and then there are import duties to pay on top of the quoted price, which Balolo doesn’t disclose are not included in the price.

Is it worth that? Maybe. It’s helped me tidy up my desk more, particularly for the switcher, DAC, AMP, and Thunderbolt dock that were previously sitting out. It looks chic, is well built, and it’s nice to buy a product that wasn’t made in Communist China. But there are other solutions that are almost as nice and cost far less, even if they won’t look as pretty for Instagram.