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A desk is a pretty much essential piece of furniture for every house or flat. If you work from home, owning a desk will mean you don’t have to clear the dining table of your laptop at the end of each day or have to occupy the sofa for hours at a time. Even if you work out of the house, having a dedicated surface for your online organising, browsing, and shopping is a great idea. We’ve found the best choices.
Pros:
- Space for storage
- Smart look
- Durable material
Cons:
- Limited desk space
- Assembly required
Ideal for a small home, this neat desk has the proportions that allow it to fit into a corner or be located in a hall or landing if necessary. The desktop provides sufficient space for a laptop or would fit a keyboard with the monitor positioned on the top shelf. With a lower shelf plus a nook on the desk, there’s room for files, and more so you can keep everything you need together.
Pros:
- Folds away
- Easy to transport
- Minimal style
Cons:
- No storage
- Better for laptops
If you’re looking for a desk that will keep any space feeling open and airy, this design fits the bill with its lightweight style. It has a solid metal frame to give it strength and the desktop is made from stable MDF with an oak texture finish. Foldable, it’s ideal for renters and frequent house movers, or students.
Pros:
- Space for two monitors
- Anti-scratch surface
- Monitor stand included
Cons:
- Self assembly needed
- No shelves
When you need a sizeable work area but want minimal intrusion into the rest of the room, an L-shaped desk can be a great solution because it fits into a corner. This desk has a warm wood-effect finish and is made from MDF with sturdy metal legs. It comes with a monitor stand to allow you to put a screen at eye level, and there’s room for documents or a second laptop or desktop computer.
Pros:
- Deep shelves
- Room for paperwork
- Floor-protecting feet
Cons:
- Has to be put together
- No hidden storage
Stay tidy with this desk, which offers two shelves for documents, files, books, and stationery. The top shelf is removable to allow a computer tower to be kept off the floor if one of these is part of your set-up. The rear shelf will put a monitor at eye level, and there’s more storage space underneath.
Pros:
- Easily portable
- Powder-coated steel frame
- Doubles as a speaker’s podium
Cons:
- Laptop use only
This desk offers the option to stand up and work, but it can be lowered to a seated height and adjusted from 103 to 125 centimetres (cm). It can be moved around on casters, but they’re lockable to keep it securely in place once it’s where you want it. The lower shelf takes a maximum weight of 10 kilograms (kg) while the top shelf will hold up to 20kg.
Pros:
- Anti-scratch top
- Ideal for adults or teens
- Made from durable materials
Cons:
- No shelves
- Needs to be assembled
If it’s a generous desktop you need the most, check out this simple but spacious desk design. It measures 120 by 60 by 75cm to fit extras like a printer and papers along with a computer, keyboard, and mouse. With a brown tabletop and black metal frame, it could complement loft-style interiors or a modern country scheme.
Bottom line
Why you can trust Real Homes
A dedicated desk makes working or browsing more comfortable and convenient. Out top pick is the Furinno 14054DWN computer desk. It has compact dimensions to fit into a small room or a nook in a larger one. There’s space for a laptop or a desktop computer plus documents.
Prefer to stand to work? The BONTEC Mobile Table is sized for a laptop and can be adjusted to suit your height. It can be lowered to use with a chair as well.
Why trust us?
At Real Homes, we recommend the best products to enhance your life. As expert curators, we handpick products based on quality and usefulness to positively impact your day-to-day, from cart to doorstep. We take our responsibility seriously — testing products, reading reviews, and sourcing knowledgeable outlets to ensure our selections are worthy of your time and money. We deliver detailed product overviews, balancing objective information with subjective opinions, so making the best choice for your home and lifestyle is as easy as possible.
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Sarah is a freelance journalist and editor writing for websites, national newspapers, and magazines. She’s spent most of her journalistic career specialising in homes – long enough to see fridges become smart, decorating fashions embrace both minimalism and maximalism, and interiors that blur the indoor/outdoor link become a must-have. She loves testing the latest home appliances, revealing the trends in furnishings and fittings for every room, and investigating the benefits, costs and practicalities of home improvement. It's no big surprise that she likes to put what she writes about into practice, and is a serial house revamper. For Realhomes.com, Sarah reviews coffee machines and vacuum cleaners, taking them through their paces at home to give us an honest, real life review and comparison of every model.