Tapetes de escritorio

Desk mats come in three useful sizes, and the one people regret is almost always the small one.

• Mouse pad size: roughly 25 by 20 cm, for a mouse and nothing else.
• Medium, around 46 by 33 cm: a laptop, or a keyboard with the mouse alongside.
• Full desk, 80 cm and up: keyboard, mouse, notebook and coffee, with the whole working area covered.

Measure the width of your desk and subtract about 10 cm for breathing room at each end.

Optical and laser mice both track on leather without a problem. The surface is matte rather than glossy, which is what a sensor needs, and the slight give of the hide makes long sessions easier on the wrist than glass or bare wood.

The mat does not slide around because leather of this weight holds its own position on a desk. Nothing is stuck to the underside, so it lifts off cleanly when you want the desk back.

A mat that curls at the corners is a mat cut from leather that was too thin, or one that was rolled for shipping and never given the chance to settle.

Ours are cut from a single thick panel with a sanded and sealed edge rather than a stitched border, so there is no seam to lift. If yours arrives with a curl from the tube, lay it flat with a book on each corner overnight and it stays flat afterwards.

A desk mat is a large flat piece of leather with no seams or hardware to look at, which makes it the product where the hide itself shows most. Grain, shading and the odd healed scar are all visible, and no two mats are the same.

It will also collect its own marks: a lighter patch where your forearm rests, a darker one under the mouse. After a year the mat reads like a map of how you work. People who want a surface that stays identical to the photograph should buy felt instead.

What happens if I spill coffee on it? Blot it, do not rub, and let it dry away from heat. A ring may show. On the darker shades it usually blends within a few weeks.

Can it be cut to size? Not by us, and we would rather you ordered the size that fits than trimmed one at home.

Does it work with a standing desk? Yes. The weight of the leather keeps it in place through the height change.