For people who care about their desk, the keyboard and the mat under it are the centre of everything. They sit directly in front of you, in every photograph of the setup, and they touch. Get the pairing right and the whole desk looks considered. Get it wrong and an expensive keyboard looks lost on the wrong background.
There is a simple way to think about it.
One leads, one supports
Two busy things side by side compete. Decide which is the star.
- If the mat is the star: a detailed, colourful artwork mat with a plain keyboard on it. White, black or grey keys, or a single colour. The keyboard frames the art.
- If the keyboard is the star: a keycap set in several colours, or with novelty keys, on a plain, dark or soft mat. The mat is the stage.
Our mats are artwork, so most of the advice here is for the first case. Keep in mind that the keyboard covers the middle of the mat. On a full-size mat, the art shows mainly at the sides, above and below, and round the mouse.
Four ways to match
1. Take the accent colour
Find the colour in the mat that appears in small amounts and catches the eye. Use it for a few keys: Escape, Enter, the arrows, the space bar. Keep the rest neutral. This is the easiest method and nearly always works.
2. Take two colours
Use the mat's two main colours across the board: one for the letter keys and one for the modifier keys round the edge. This gives a matched, made-for-each-other look.
3. Go neutral
White, black, grey or cream keycaps go with any mat. If you change mats often, this is the practical choice.
4. Contrast on purpose
Choose the opposite of the mat's main colour. Orange keys on a blue mat. It is striking, and it needs confidence. Use it in small amounts.
The 60-30-10 idea helps. The mat and desk are the 60, the keyboard the 30 and the accent keys the 10. See the 60-30-10 colour rule.
Light or dark keys?
- On a dark mat, light keycaps stand out and dark ones blend in. White or cream keys on a dark space mat look crisp. Black keys on a black mat give a stealthy look, with only the lighting showing.
- On a pale mat, dark keys stand out. White keys on a pale mat give a soft, all-light look, which suits a cosy setup.
For photographs, some contrast between keyboard and mat is helpful. Without it the keyboard disappears.
Don't forget the case
The body of the keyboard is a colour too. A black, white, silver or coloured case sits between the keys and the mat. A case that matches the mat's main colour makes the keyboard seem to grow out of it. A case that contrasts gives the keyboard an outline.
Backlighting counts as a colour
If your keys light up, the light is part of the scheme.
- Set it to one colour taken from the mat. A static colour, not a cycle.
- Or white. White light suits any mat and shows the print truly.
- Turn it down. Strong coloured light spills onto the mat and tints the artwork round the keyboard.
- Keys that let light through the legends glow in the colour you choose. Solid keys show light only round their edges.
See RGB lighting and neon art.
Pairings for our mats
Purple Pink Wormhole
A purple and pink spiral with a black centre. See the artwork.
- Safe: black keys with pink or purple accent keys.
- Matched: white letter keys with purple modifiers.
- Lighting: magenta or violet.
Cyber Wave Escape
A teal wireframe grid under a streaked blue sky. See the artwork.
- Safe: black or dark grey keys.
- Matched: navy keys with teal or cyan accents.
- Contrast: a few pink or orange accent keys, for a synthwave look.
- Lighting: cyan.
Japanese City Punk FX.3
A red and pink neon alley. See the artwork.
- Safe: black keys with red accents.
- Matched: white and red, or black and pink.
- Lighting: red or hot pink.
Blue Mountain Fog
Pale teal pines in cloud. See the artwork.
- Safe: white or cream keys.
- Matched: white with soft teal or sage modifiers.
- Contrast: dark grey keys, for definition.
- Lighting: white, or none.
Liquid Metal Mist Pink
A soft violet and blue abstract. See the artwork.
- Safe: white keys.
- Matched: white with lavender modifiers. This is one of the best pairings for pastel keycap sets.
- Lighting: soft violet or white.
Cosmic Deer and Frost Owl
Pale blue and white winter scenes. See Cosmic Deer and Frost Owl.
- Safe: white keys.
- Matched: white with ice blue or navy modifiers.
Blue Flame Skull
A pale blue skull with dark blue flames on silver grey. See the artwork.
- Safe: black keys.
- Matched: grey or silver keys with cobalt accents.
- Lighting: blue or aqua.
Vaporwave Spiral Galaxy
A neon green and blue galaxy on black. See the artwork.
- Safe: black keys.
- Matched: black with green accents, in the manner of an old terminal.
- Lighting: green.
See all desk mats.
Size and placement
- The mat should be wider than the keyboard, with room for the mouse. A compact keyboard on the medium mat, 23.6 × 13.8 inches, leaves generous mouse space. A full-size keyboard wants the large mat, 31.5 × 15.5 inches.
- A smaller keyboard shows more of the art. A 60 or 65 percent board leaves the mat's design much more visible than a full-size one.
- Think about where the keyboard sits on the design. If the mat has a subject, such as an animal or a figure, slide the keyboard so that the subject shows beside it and isn't hidden under it.
- Angle. Many people set the keyboard at a slight angle. It shows more of the mat as well.
See the desk mat size guide.
The rest of the desk
- The mouse: match it to the keyboard case, or to the mat's accent colour.
- The cable: a coiled cable in the accent colour is a small detail that ties things together.
- A wrist rest: in the base colour, or in wood.
- The wall: art behind the monitor in the same palette finishes the picture. See desk mat and wall art pairings.
If you own several keycap sets
Keyboard enthusiasts often do. A mat is a cheap way to give each set a new setting. Two or three mats, rotated with the keycaps, make one keyboard feel like several. See rotating art through the seasons.
Common mistakes
- A busy keyboard on a busy mat.
- Rainbow lighting over a mat with its own colour scheme.
- No contrast. The keyboard vanishes into the mat.
- The subject of the mat hidden under the keyboard.
- Near misses. A purple that is almost the mat's purple looks worse than a clear contrast. Match closely, or don't match.
For more, see choosing a desk mat by colour scheme, a purple setup, start to finish and the cozy gaming setup.