7 Desks that work wonders in your home office
Offices are strange spaces. There’s no other room where you become a completely different person as you step over the threshold, transforming from mum to Manager, spouse to Specialist, Eve to Executive or David to Director in the subtle shift of just a few centimetres. The home office exists in its own bubble, lightly linked to the house rather than a full integrated part of it. It isn’t concerned with chores. It doesn’t dwell on what’s for dinner. It can’t even contemplate weekend plans. It has one (very obvious) primary purpose: productivity. With such a separate purpose than the rest of the building, offices in the home can also run freely with decoration – not particularly needing to connect with the rest of the house. Modern home office design is about aesthetics, style and comfort, as well as functionality.
The same goes for workspaces out in the wider world. Contemporary offices and workplaces are more than mere utilitarian settings; they’re dynamic extensions of occupational identities, areas where we don't just complete tasks – we excel, innovate, and thrive. They’re not just spaces, they’re tailored environments, meticulously designed to amplify efficiency and creativity to reflect and enhance the way we function best. It doesn’t matter what’s going on outside, within these boundaries, everything is dedicated to the most professional, polished, perfect version of the work-self we can be.
In or out of the home, modern office design comes down to one thing – the desk. This is a personal work HQ, where the 9-5 is lived out, projects flourish, networks are built and voices heard. The desk is where we oversee our empires – be they large or small – it’s mission control, a compact Wall Street, where the professional journey unfolds, develops and prospers. Desks are of vital importance to daily office life, dictating everything from organisation and efficiency to comfort and mood. From neatly nipping away wires to hiding notes/gadgets/chargers/snacks, the platform and storage a desk offers will come to define the orderliness of the working day, making it easier to find the tools we need to stay focused and preventing the accumulation of clutter. Everything is within close reach, designed for optimum ease, from carefully shaped surfaces to platforms, lights, and sockets.
We believe a desk should be extraordinary. A statement – aesthetically, and of professional intent. This is a piece of furniture that should inspire greatness, elevating our surroundings as an expression of excellence and an extension of our identities and aspirations. Base yourself upon an object that is exquisitely crafted, innovative, exciting, and individual, and you'll find your work transcending mere routine. It's not just a desk, it’s a commitment to excellence, a platform designed to support the journey to success.
Our distinctive designer desks are created by the visionaries of the century, each piece serving as a revered piece of art as well as a functional piece. Each curve, line, and carefully chosen material tells the story of innovation, creativity, and design brilliance, making it more than just a platform to toil upon – it's a gateway to a brilliant mind that shaped an era. To choose one of our designer desks is to invite a piece of history into your workspace – a testament to the enduring power of design and the extraordinary stories it continues to tell. Now, let's delve into our shortlist – it’s time to choose the best desk for job.
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1. AJ52 Desk
An iconic Arne Jacobsen signature design, regarded as one of his finest pieces, the AJ52 Society Desk was designed in 1952 at the peak of the Danish architect’s career. Based around a slender tubular frame, the desk has a smooth leather top with an optional glass-fronted letter (or phone?) compartment and built-in conical lamp, while underneath hang a set of six timber drawers. Each section is individually supported by slim metal pipes, imbuing the generously-sized desk with a sense of lightness and elegance.
2. S 285 Desk
If desks can be famous, this one would have a Hollywood star – designed in 1935 by Marcel Breuer, the S 285 is a Bauhaus icon, narrating the movement’s aim to integrate art and technology in design. Harmoniously merging natural materials and gleaming state-of-the-art metal, the desk’s undulating tubular chrome frame calligraphically holds a wooden set of drawers, surface top and additional shelving, touching them so lightly they almost hover.
3. Simoon SIM08 Desk
Off kilter and slightly haphazard, the 2022 Simoon SIM08 Desk by Patricia Urquiola has a friendly, relaxed feel to make even the most stressful of projects a little easier. Part of a collection of tables made from exquisitely polished featherlight glass, the designs are finished with shimmering Murano glass grit in light blue, amethyst, and topaz, giving them a shimmering, ethereal ambiance.
4. Batik Desk
Poised nimbly as if in the middle of a dance, the legs of the Batik Desk created by Andrea Lucatello in 2015 form a set of delicate steel and Canaletto walnut Xs, only lightly supporting the top, so it appears to be partly supported by air itself. Every line considered, it’s compact and ideal for a home office – plus when you’re elsewhere it transforms into a dressing table thanks to a mirror hidden within its timber container.
5. Sigmund Desk
Composed of two luxurious rounded slices of marble suspended on two tiers by a lacquered metal frame, Studio Asaï’s 2019 Sigmund Writing Desk is at once sensual and practical. Bringing creativity and beauty into the workspace, the piece both instructs the sitter to touch and interact with it, while casting a calming, grounded mood to inspire creative greatness.
6. Ninfea Desk
Its curvaceous lines crafted purely from Canaletta walnut and finished with brushed brass detailing, the Ninfea Writing Desk, designed by Niccolò Devetag in 2019, tells the tale of the exquisite. With an off-centre built-in mirror giving it a playful, sculptural feel, its Cuoietto leather surface top is also embellished with a timber disc, under which hides a handy storage compartment, adding to the overall sense of mystery and beguilement the alluring design evokes.
7. Eclipse Desk
Inspired by the ever-pleasing forms of beach pebbles, the 2021-designed Eclipse Desk by Fred Rigby nods to nature with its smooth, asymmetric shape and delightfully dissimilar legs. A combination of highly contrasting powder coated steel and oak, the metal leg hints at the desk’s more functional side as it conceals space for hidden cable storage, while the timber elements bring sculptural gracefulness, closeness to nature and a sense of calm.