The desk in the home workspace should be invested in the same way a bedroom should be invested in — if you’re giving the work from home life a go, you’ll be in that workspace for as many hours as you will your bed. A great many factors are considered when choosing what sort of desk you’ll build a home workspace around — square footage, need for storage, durability and looks — and the mountain of options out there hold an answer for virtually any living situation. The trouble is finding that answer. We explore the best in as many varieties as we can in our guide to the best desks you can find online in 2018.
Walker Edison Soreno 3-Piece Corner Desk
Lustrous, fairly lightweight powder-coated steel, this desk may not scream C-suite executive, but room for a computer that’s not boxed in and plenty of table space to get shit done, it’s apparent why this blacked-out L desk is one of the best-selling on Amazon. Oh, and it’s incredibly, stupidly cheap.
Ikea Besta Burs Desk
Ikea’s consistent blend of no-fuss designs are, in general, anti-statement pieces. That’s not a knock against them, like this desk, not everything needs to pull your eye when entering a room. This one is much easier to assemble than most of Ikea’s stuff, has two wide drawers to limit clutter on the desktop.
Poppin Key Desk
Poppin’s affordable, cleanly-designed office gear is designed to do a job for a long time and not make a big to do about it. The Key desk rides the line between a compact and normal-sized desk, has a drawer for storage and can be assembled in short order (and without tools). It also comes with a pretty decent warranty and is made with a nice powder-coated steel.
Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk
Wirecutter called it “Sturdier, better looking, and covered with a longer warranty than many desks costing more than $1,500.” Fully’s lineup of office products is practical, forward-thinking and centered entirely around products that adapt to your setting and mood. Its Jarvis desk lifts up or down with ease, and packs an impressive 350-pound weight capacity. This is a desk that understands you want the option of standing while working, but not be required to do so.
Akron St. Reader Desk
It’s a rare thing for any solid white oak furniture to be affordable, but this desk manages it while striking a classic look as well. Akron Street’s Reader desk sets up a bit like a larger version of the old schoolhouse desks your grandparents used in grade school. At under 40 inches in width and for an oddly affordable $395, it’s compact, sturdy and cheap enough to be your work HQ for more than a few moves.
The Floyd Desk
This is a big, wide desk that comes in flurry of color options and reeks minimalism. Floyd’s wares are sturdy — the desk is birchwood, linoleum and cold-rolled steel. They also delivery lightning fast (same-day in some cities), come with a 10-year warranty and assemble in minutes and without the need for tools. Push this desk up against a wall and get to work.
Blue Lounge StudioDesk
Cable clutter is a quietly maddening visual. Bluelounge’s StudioDesk has what amounts to a trapdoor for up to four devices built into the center of the desk, obscuring unsightly wires and cords and making you seem more put together. It comes in two sizes and with some pretty stellar birchwood detailing.
CB2 Drommen Desk
A blend of the architect and drawing desks (they’re pretty close anyway) and an upright piano, the Drommen by CB2 is storage-forward and sturdy as can be. Its V-legs, extra-wide desktop space (58 inches), three drawers and three cubbies are all made out of a hardwearing, sustainable acacia wood. Throw a bright-colored task lamp on it and some sketch pads and you’re halfway to being a sketch artist.
West Elm Mid-Century Wall Desk
Wall desks are the compromise between folks with small living spaces, but high demand for storage. West Elm’s narrow mid-century wall desk is only 38 inches wide, but features a seat-level drawer a standing height cabinet with space inside and to stack stuff on top. The side-to-side-sliding cabinet doors and the and light-colored wood look is clean and simple mid-century. Pair it with its matching bookshelf and you’ve got an ideal mini-office.
Article Taiga Smoke Desk
This is a lot of desk for well under $1,000. Article’s Taiga Smoke desk sports a solid oak body, heavy iron legs, two drawers and a decent-sized cabinet. The internet-only brand has no storefront and isn’t taking up real estate in stuffy department stores, so the prices you’re getting are far closer to the true value of the product.
Schoolhouse Foundry Desk
Schoolhouse is based in Portland, Oregon and started out making old things new. Now, they make new things the old way in hopes it’ll stand the test of frequent changes in sceneery and taste. The Foundry Desk takes a cue from a time where work was done at a bench, and by hand. The desktop is maplewood and the base is a hand-shaped powder-coated steel.
Celine Desk
This spread-leg desk is the product of Good Design and Design Plus Award-winning furniture designer from Iran, Nazanin Kamali. Beyond an open cubby and large drawer, it’s characterized by its blend of mid-century shape, connical legs and compact size.
Artifox Desk 02
Tech meets tradition. Artifox’s Desk 02 (which also comes in walnut and a lighter oak) is made black with ink and given a sattin finish. The desk features a cable management system, a headphone hook and a clever felt cable grip keeps cords in place. The desk arrives in separate parts and can be assembled in short order.
Rejuvenation Lowell Desk
Portland, Oregon’s Rejuvenation was founded in the ’70s and, until they were acquired by Williams-Sonoma a few years back, specialized in making old designs new. The Lowell desk is just that — a mid-century design brought to the 21st century, but not in a showy modernist way. Brass details, ashwood and completely made in the U.S., the price tag is a product of supreme craftsmanship and materials that don’t completely suck.
Herman Miller Airia Desk
Recommending the Airia desk by Ayako Takase and Cutter Hutton is a bit of a cliché now, but it’s impossible to ignore. Rounded edges, loads of clever storage (cork-lined drawers, people), a solid walnut desktop frame, powder-coated aluminum legs and an absolutely timeless design (though designed less than a decade ago) make for the ultimate home workspace. Oh, and it won a Good Design Award the year it was released.