help! i’m looking for a mini-desk
Basically, for the past two years, I have kept my computer on a wooden step-stool and am sick of sitting on the floor in front of it when I type! My apartment is super-tiny so I don’t have room for anything full-sized. Any suggestions for where to look for cute desks for small spaces? I am totally open to using a side table or some other non-desk item, as long as I can pull a chair up. Thanks! — Jane
Hi Jane! Thanks for your email. First of all, it is not healthy to be sitting on the floor while you type! You must get a desk and chair, preferably something that is ergonomically correct. We totally understand the space dilemma, and have a few suggestions for you. Once you find the desk that suits you, you must get a chair that’s at the just the right the height (adjustable would be best!). Here’s a few ideas.
Now, we know this one is pricey, but lets just look at it for inspiration. Room and Board’s Nelson Swag Leg Desk is a modern marvel. It’s small and delicate and perfectly functionable. It’s also pricey — $1745. A more affordable option is West Elm’s Cadman workstation, $199, that’s only a 30″ square. (Note: they look so good in the photos because there are no WIRES! Where did they go? Our desks don’t look like that.) A couple of other very affordable options — though they are not official desks so you have to make sure they will be comfy for you — are at Ikea. How ’bout Mella table, $60 for 29″ square or the Drop Leaf table, $40, and it’s about 18″ wide? Over at CB2 we found this 2×2 high table, $149, which could work well with a stool. And, as you mentioned, here is a side table from West Elm that has pull out writing desk, $199, but we’re not convinced it would actually get the job done.
Did we miss any? Let us know if you have mini-desk ideas for Jane! Thanks.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:02 am
I just bought this great desk from Crate and Barrel which is only 30″ wide and sticks out about 20″ from the wall. The two shelves above are great for small books and framed photos. Someday I’d love to have the matching bookshelves, but for now, this is all the space I can afford to spend on a desk. (My previous desk was a folding tray table!)
January 25th, 2007 at 8:25 am
i’ve been using an ikea lack sofa table as computer desk for about 3 years. i think it was $29 when i bought it. i have an old desktop with a 15″ monitor. recently, my dad and i went to home depot and bought a keyboard shelf kit and this has freed up a lot of space. but since jane has a laptop, not needed. it’s 17″ deep and i think 47″ long. maybe not small enough, but maybe small enough and a very very cheap solution. i also bought a $30 plastic yet comfortable and chic chair from target.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I also live in a tiny, tiny space, so I can relate. The trick, I’ve found, is realizing that the crucial dimension isn’t so much width as it is *depth*. Most people can find a foot or two of unoccupied wall space: it’s how much the object projects into the room that’s the problem. So, I’d suggest looking at floating, wall-mounted shelves and buying one of those to use as a desk instead. (I got some nice, moulding-style ones from Pottery Barn recently.) The beauty of a wall-mounted shelf/desk is that it makes the space seem bigger than a traditional desk/table would since there’s are no legs to create a visual obstruction underneath. Pair it with a slim chair that tucks underneath (or can be used as a kitchen chair) when not in use, or even with a folding chair that you can put in a closet or slide under a bed when you’re not working. Seriously, it doesn’t get any more minimal than this.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I think this one from West Elm is a particularly smart design http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODf032&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1SLEFRN&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1SLEFRN
January 25th, 2007 at 10:25 am
One more Ikea suggestion would be the mounted-to-the-wall tables they have — you can put them up at whatever height is ergonomically sensible for you, and they fold down and out of the way when not in use, which is great for when you have a small space to contend with.
There are two visible on the website — INGO, at $19.99, and NORBO, at $29.99. Of the two, NORBO is only marginally larger.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:27 am
And I forgot to mention that the drop-leaf wall mounted tables at Ikea could also be easily decorated to suit your space in all manner of ways, being generally untreated or easily readied for paint/decoupage/fabric/whatever by a bit of sanding.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:31 am
We had a similar problem of trying to get a functional desk into a very small space, and we ended up building a very narrow wall-mounted desktop. Here are the pictures from the building process: http://flickr.com/photos/queso/sets/72157594339165519/ and here is a picture of how it looks now: http://flickr.com/photos/queso/313581469/ My husband wrote a blog post about the whole process: http://www.doingitourselves.com/2006/10/the_study_now_1000_more_usable.php
We found this to be the most space-conscious option for us, by far!
January 25th, 2007 at 10:34 am
check out this mini desk, its awesome!
http://cribcandy.com/all/f31bb14f52dde610a8ead53d1cd1fb9e&pageoffset=0
January 25th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I have the crate+barrel desk that ktbuffy mentioned – I had to give up my study when we had a baby 2 years ago and put this tiny desk into our already tiny tv room. It looks and functions great. (One hidden screw anchors it to the wall so it won’t slide away!)
January 25th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Careful with the wall-mounted shelves, however…my walls could never hold a shelf with any significant weight piled on (and I do pile significant weight on my workspaces!)
I bought the shelf system from Container Store; the bottom level is 30 inch deep shelves which currently serves as my desktop station.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Like many people, I have the same problem. I ended up getting this Mikael desk from IKEA simply because I needed something right away and I’m a student [ie, poor]. But honestly, I haven’t had any trouble with it, it’s done me well, and it’s only $40. Also, as mentioned above, the depth is a big thing, but folded up, this only sticks out 20 inches, which is awesome. My only problem is that my monitor takes up most of the desk space, but if you have a flat panel [lucky] then it’s really no problem.
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15600&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=11535&langId=-1&categoryId=16131&chosenPartNumber=10063916
January 25th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
i saw what ktbuffy posted a few days ago on my search for my perfect desk and really loved it (although it was way too small for my needs)
the only thing is what about dust????? hehehehe
January 26th, 2007 at 6:26 am
Jennifer – our walls couldn’t hold any amount of weight either, so we used ledger boarders screwed into the studs (http://flickr.com/photos/queso/275898732/in/set-72157594339165519/) and also screwed the angle supports underneath directly into the studs (http://flickr.com/photos/queso/276660214/in/set-72157594339165519/). It’s *very* sturdy!
January 26th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Audrey -
I just feel in love with Pledge wipes, and plan on using them everywhere! Well, ok, maybe not on my floor anymore, not after a few near misses with sliding across the room!
But the wipes work great on the Crate & Barrel desk, and I got a nifty cloth from The Container Store to dust my computer and other electronics.
January 26th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Hey Shannon — that is a great idea thank you! I actually have a kittycat loft that uses the same technique, I just never thought about incorporating it into this type of project.
Love, love, love your work space, btw!
January 26th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I think the West Elm desk is the same one sold at the now-defunct Hold Everything. Anyway it looks the same as the one we bought at HE. It’s not huge, but it’s a solid little desk. Wall-mounted is cool, but it may not be a winner if you have a CRT screen. If you have an LCD, mount it on the wall and plop a keyboard in front of it.
January 29th, 2007 at 8:15 am
I had the same situation, we always kept a computer in the living room and i just didn’t want all of the cords and everything out on the coffee table all the time… We got the Ikea Alve secretary desk, great price, very minimal lines, we got it in red for a fun color and you can close it up to hide all the stuff! http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10103&storeId=12&langId=-1&productId=11477
February 6th, 2007 at 7:06 am
[...] A week or so ago, Jane wrote in asking for suggestions for a mini-desk. We had a few ideas, and so did you. Here’s what Jane ended up with, and we must say we’re impressed. She totally scored! [...]
March 29th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
i am looking for a mini desk perfer cherry to go in a small bedroom. i already have the chair.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:41 am
[...] know that we have a weakness for compact, multi-functional pieces of furniture — especially desks. So this new Studio Compact Office really speaks to us. We love its clean lines when closed, hiding [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 6:30 am
[...] P.S. Looking for more small desk ideas? Check out this oldie but goodie post! [...]