Who says you must have a desk for your home office?
My client loves her butcherblock kitchen table. Setting up her new home office she chose to use this as her desk. It is just the right size for her space and she enjoys its durable natural material.
This table desk is sleek and attractive. It has been retro-fitted with grommets for cable management.
Sometime the best work surface is a table or a tabletop.
You have a greater choice in sizes and materials than you do with a standard desk. And the quality and price is better than what you can find at most office supply stores.
You can use a table you already own or purchase one that is the right fit. (A word of caution – or bias – square or rectangular tables work much better than round tables. It is easier to position your computer and peripherals and easier to spread out your papers and have them within reach. Round tables require you to place things a stretch away.)
You can make a desk out of mix and match tabletops or countertops or even solid wood shelving, depending on your needs, taste and budget.
This requires some DIY skills (or as a dear friend calls it DYI: “do-yourself-in”) IKEA has pre-drilled holes, but if you are doing a hack then you will need a drill. You can get a solid tabletop or countertop you love and saw it to fit your space. Then oil, stain or paint it to suit your fancy. On a personal note, I assembled an IKEA table as a craft table for myself and all I needed was a screw driver and 15 minutes. TaDah!
You can attach mix and match table legs or support the desk with a short filing cabinet. Make sure the cabinet plus the thickness of the top come to the correct height for good ergonomics . Or place a mobile filing cabinet under your desk/table – just make sure you have clearance. Some leg systems are adjustable, great if you are petite or very tall. The desk fits you not vice versa.
A solid wood table/desk top is solid enough to attach a keyboard tray or cable organizer to the underside.
A post in Apartment Therapy about using IKEA butcherblock counter tops and table legs has great how-to information. Be sure to scroll down and read the comments – readers shared helpful ideas and links.
IKEA for DIY , or The Door Store for a TDT (They Do It) custom desk.
If you want help setting up a home office that is attractive and works for you, contact Linda
Or, Check out Linda’s book The Smarter Home Office: 8 Simple Steps to Increase Your Income, Inspiration and Comfort. Available on Amazon and Kindle
photo by blupics
