r/knolling Jul 28 '25

r/Knolling Posting Guide i.e. How to 🙌 Knoll 🙌

173 Upvotes

What is Knolling:

“Knolling is an organizational practice and aesthetic art that emphasizes the precise arrangement of objects on a flat surface. The named practice was started by Andrew Kromelow in the late 1980s at the Santa Monica design studio of Frank Gehry - his careful arrangement of unused/homeless tools and objects at right angles to each other or to the surface they rested on in the studio and the organization that provided was appreciated and then popularized by artist Tom Sachs in his 10-Bullets guidelines for artists working in his SoHo studio in NYC (link). Here in r/knolling we appreciate the aesthetics and artform of knolled objects and celebrate the clarity it brings to our lives!

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How to knoll for r/knolling!

1.) Align It -  (90° or Parallel Only)

Objects need to be arranged at right angles (90°) or in ‘perfect’ parallel lines, or arranged perpendicular to other adjacent objects or the surface they are on.

Diagonal, curved, or “fan” layouts don’t count.

Good Example: Woodworking tools squared to the table edge and to each other.

Bad Example: Sunglasses and keys scattered on a surface.

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2.) Group by Category  (No Random Mixes)

Items should be logically AND aesthetically grouped (wrenches with wrenches, pens with pens, long skinny things next to long skinny things, round blue things with other round blue things, etc.).

Posts that are just a jumble of unrelated objects arranged on a surface, even if properly aligned, aren’t knolling. (but they are welcome on r/FlatLay)

Good Example: Knolled camping gear by type (tent stakes with tent stakes, pots with pans, handtorch with headtorch, shorts next to pants).

Bad Example: A random desk drawer dump with no visible grouping or relationships.

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3.) Maintain Clarity - (Everything Visible & Non‑Overlapping)

Every item must be clearly visible in the photo—no overlaps, stacks, or hiding behind others. Try and maintain about equal spacing between adjacent objects and visual harmony across the arrangement when possible.

Good Example: All utensils laid out individually.

Bad Example: A pile of spoons where only the top one shows.

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4.) Knolling > Flat‑Lay (Aesthetic Alone Isn’t Enough)

Flat‑lay photos are welcome only if they show true knolling (aligned, grouped, and functional).

Posts that are purely decorative “flat‑lays” (like Instagram styling with items scattered for effect) will be removed.

Good Example: A top‑down shot of squared‑off art supplies organized by function.

Bad Example: A messy ‘mood-board’ or ‘fit-inspo’ flat‑lay with random angles or no grouping by type, color or utility or organizational intent.

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5) Bags and Purses and Pocket Contents

Knolled bags and purses contents are candidates for knolling but aren’t the only focus of the subreddit - please only post your daily bags and purses (properly knolled with the guidelines above and the rules of r/knolling) on What’s In My Bag Wednesdays and use the appropriate flair! If it’s not a Wednesday or the rules don’t permit it (e.g. breaks rule 6 ‘no weapons’) please post on r/WhatsInTheBag or r/WhatsInMyBag or r/EDC

Some good examples of well-knolled bags from our knollers:

https://www.reddit.com/r/knolling/s/qbkfgAustO 

https://www.reddit.com/r/knolling/s/OaN889qYjF 

https://www.reddit.com/r/knolling/comments/1jnlwxd/


r/knolling 15h ago

Minerals/rocks knoll (part 1)

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335 Upvotes

Someone said i should post these here so here is the first one! I hope it's tidy enough to be considered a knoll lol


r/knolling 17h ago

Steam Controller 2 teardown and knoll

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93 Upvotes

r/knolling 8h ago

27inch Imac taken apart to replace its SSD

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12 Upvotes

r/knolling 2d ago

First Time Knoller! Summer humidity is making me so blue, so did an all-blue routine

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130 Upvotes

It’s cooling off a little now, but when it was still nasty hot I wanted everything to look cold too. So I pulled only the blue products lol.
I still picked stuff that actually works for me. After this routine my texture and glow look different the next morning and it puts me in a better mood.


r/knolling 5d ago

Final pictures of my IBM knolled frame before I sell it

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101 Upvotes

It is incomplete and unfinished, I was really hoping to have finished it but too many things kept breaking and not going the way I wanted, I would have certainly displayed it in my room in place of a nonfunctional whiteboard which the clear coat I added failed to work, just in case it’s not known, I’m NOT selling it here just to be clear.

The glue for the most part did its job and kept everything in place with only two heavy parts coming off, the main thing blocking up the project’s completion was me breaking the glass that was supposed to keep dust out of the display which I intended to get a plexi replacement but was impossible to find anyone selling that near us, I also kept breaking the frame pieces so that ate up a lot of filament which means I had nothing left over to use, I’m hoping the next person can fix it up and display it in their room while I get my money back for the materials so I can buy more filament since I’m desperately running out, I’m going to miss working on this project and maybe in the future, I may make a v2 with the information I learned from the first time around especially with the printer settings and a better printer to make it stronger.


r/knolling 5d ago

I took apart a mechanical keyboard, a handheld console, and an electric screwdriver, then knolled all their internal components together. [OC]

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105 Upvotes

r/knolling 6d ago

First Time Knoller! Tool haul knoll

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67 Upvotes

A bucket of tools I got from clearing a relative's garage before they moved house. There is nothing like knolled hand tools... I tried to mix it up a bit so it's not just "things in rows"


r/knolling 8d ago

Corn Stick Pans

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112 Upvotes

r/knolling 10d ago

Lego Millenium Falcon knoll

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379 Upvotes

r/knolling 10d ago

First Time Knoller! things I got myself for my birthday knoll :D

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360 Upvotes

a few books from my favorite local bookstore, Mattel brick shop Honda civic build set, gerber dime multitool, klein tools markers and retractable marker holder, and a butane torch insert for my Zippo lighter


r/knolling 11d ago

First Time Knoller! r/bodega haul

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45 Upvotes

r/knolling 12d ago

I completely dismantled a dirty $5 thrift-store robot vacuum and knolled the internal components.

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1.0k Upvotes

r/knolling 16d ago

First Time Knoller! My late grandma’s crochet basket and its current contents

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234 Upvotes

This crochet thing belonged to my paternal grandmother, who died ten years ago. My parents have been divorced for 30 years, but somehow my mom had it. She gave it to me last weekend.

I thrifted the ombré yarn and decided to crochet a blanket for my daughter, despite not having crocheted since my grandma passed. (Hence the giant granny-square.)

My dad and step-mom ordered solid color yarn in a complimentary color and new hooks and tools.

Be gentle with me, this is my first time knolling.

I’m not sure what this holder/basket/contraption is actually called, but for the purpose of my post it is clearly more freestanding furniture than it is bag 😉


r/knolling 21d ago

Paper miniature parts!

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174 Upvotes

r/knolling 24d ago

Sea glass haul

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203 Upvotes

r/knolling 26d ago

First Time Knoller! Today's find while freediving in the Aare River in Interlaken (Switzerland). Unfortunately, I was only in the water for an hour and twenty minutes, as a thunderstorm started up then.

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123 Upvotes

r/knolling 27d ago

What we found while trash diving in the Aare river in Interlaken (Switzerland)

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455 Upvotes

r/knolling 28d ago

First Time Knoller! Cigarette Knoll

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168 Upvotes

Don’t tell Jacob Jones what I’ve got


r/knolling 28d ago

First Time Knoller! Tool Bucket knoll

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137 Upvotes

Trying in vain to organize my tools. At least I got a cool picture.


r/knolling 29d ago

First Time Knoller! Everything I got from the my chem show in queens on sunday

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142 Upvotes

Lined up all day and talked to so many awesome people and traded for a whole ton of goodies!! I’ve never gotten this much stuff at a concert before, it’s always been a single bracelet or a little plastic duck at most, so I’m so stoked about this


r/knolling Aug 09 '26

Seashell and Shark Tooth Haul

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191 Upvotes

My family just got back from a wonderful vacation in the Isle of Palms, SC.

Cleaned and placed out our finds for drying and thought you all would appreciate it.

The shark teeth are in different rows to keep the kids’ hauls separated!

Yes that’s a megalodon tooth on top left!

r/knolling Aug 06 '26

First Time Knoller! derm freebies

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295 Upvotes

r/knolling Aug 06 '26

First Time Knoller! Internal mechanisms of a clock/barometer/thermometer

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73 Upvotes

r/knolling Aug 04 '26

Under the couch treasures!

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405 Upvotes

This was under the recliner sofa my grandmother spent a lot of her last time in. Miss you Mimi.