Your morning commute now consists of rolling out of your warm cosy bed, stopping by the kitchen to make a strong cup of coffee (rather than your daily Starbucks) before sitting down at your desk slash dining room table to commence the day’s task list. However, if you’re getting fed up of the kids splattering their breakfast all over your keyboard and the partner coming round with the hoover half way through the afternoon, it may be time that you transform one of your other rooms into your work zone. A stylish office desk that doesn't make your home feel 'corporate' is an essential. But what makes a good home office desk and more importantly what is the best office desk out there right now?
Largely, your style preferences and current home decor will drive the decision as to which office desk is best of you. If you are after the ever-popular Scandi look, simple wooden desks with minimalist storage and thin spindle legs should be your focus. If it's a modern design edge you are looking to achieve, office desks with a gloss finish provide clean lines and minimalist lines (be warned that these need regular cleaning!).
Of course, there are the slightly off-piste choices too... ever thought of combining a treadmill and an office desk? Well someone has! And it provides a surprisingly pragmatic and practical working space, even though it might sound like a gimmick. With the rise in standing office desks and 'walking meetings', combining an element of fitness to your desk choice might be just what the doctor ordered.
However, if you are short on space, opting for a large, cumbersome office desk likely won't cut it, in which case you might want to check out ladder desks which 'climb' the wall and make use of the vertical space you have available rather than imposing a large footprint. Compact desks like these are on the rise as the size of the average living space decreases, so you'll be spoilt for choice on that front. Corner desks are also a great choice for making the most of the room you place your desk in, particularly if you regularly work from home as it allows you not only to split your working space in two (one side for technology, one side for writing) but also enables you to store paperwork etc out of sight as corner desks often come equipped with a lot of storage space.
Be careful to consider the size of a desk before you buy, measure first! This includes taking the height measure from the underside of the desk to the floor. This may seem like a pointless task, but you would be surprised by how many office desks are limiting in terms of what height of office chair you can fit underneath. Not so much of an issue if you are looking to team your desk with a classic, height adjustable office chair, but potentially a challenge if you are planning to use a fixed height chair such as a dining chair or dressing table chair.
Keep reading for our round-up of the best home office desks.
There are usually two types of workers among us - those that sprawl their daily workload across the entire length of their desk and those that like neat and tidy piles. This desk caters for both with its option to swivel it into either a corner or straight design. Whichever way you choose to orientate your desk, there’s two factors that remain as standard. One: the sleek black (or white) exterior creates a highly professional and official-looking desk. Two: the design - the ‘s’ shape shelves provide a stylish place to stack books and folders. The only problem is there’s no cupboard space, which means messy sins cannot be hidden - which isn’t always a bad thing.
There’s no doubt that this desk is for true fitness fanatics but if you’re that way inclined, it can provide the ultimate solution between prioritising keeping fit with finishing your workload. Offering enough surface area for a keyboard and a mouse, there’s plenty of room for your vitals; but when paperwork is involved, you may need to hop over to your traditional desk to feel the true benefits of ample space. What this desk lacks in space it makes up with enginuity. The motor is silent, so it won’t distract you from your task, while it has been programmed to run at optimum walking pace, keeping blood pumping and calories burning while not tiring you out.
Sometimes, there’s not enough room for you to have your own working quarters, so converting a corner of your bedroom into office space is the next best solution. To ensure that your ‘office’ remains completely separate to your sleep time, this ladder desk will keep everything contained. This really is innovation at its best. When square footage is short, build upwards, and that’s exactly what the designers have done here. With desk space large enough for a laptop and a pile of paper, this is one for tidy workers. For everything else, the above shelves should give you enough space to store folders and stationery.
Taking influence from the angular easel design, this desk, though compact, offers a little more room to spread out than our number 3 option. With its simplistic design, you may think that this option is slightly more suited to the kids room, but for adults who need somewhere to perch if they’ve got to do a little overtime, this is the perfect, inexpensive solution. In fact, placed in the lounge, conservatory or dining room, this could double up as a homework and overtime bench, offering a refuge where thinking caps need to be on. With it’s white finish, it offers a clean, linear appearance, making it a neutral choice for traditional or modern homes.
Naturally, with more storage space comes more construction time. But when it’s up and running, it’s a strong, sturdy and spacious desk for working from home. With a name like ‘Estelle’, expect elegance and with its subtle curve and smooth sliding drawers the desk does live up to its label. With its hard wearing oak-effect finish, this desk is perfect for home offices or for separating a corner of the lounge into your own no-go zone while working. Unlike other desks on this list, it doesn’t offer you shelving, but the desk expanse is wide enough for you to purch folders and pencil pots on the surface itself. For the price, you really can’t go wrong.
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