Almost all of us are working from home, and we’re always looking out for various ways to brighten up our boring home office situation. Though we may not be able to provide a change of environment for ourselves, how about a change in furniture? An innovative and intriguing work desk can prove to be highly functional, comfortable, as well as a delight to work on. A desk can determine our attitude towards work, as well as the course of our workday. Hence, we’ve curated a collection of super functional and fun desk designs to to make your work from home situation more enjoyable!
Meet the ‘Chaise Renversée’ – a desk that can also transform into a long chair by the famous French architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier. The literal translation of Chaise Renversée is ‘chair overturned’, I love how simply the French put everything. Since we are all cooped up in our homes, we are constantly finding ways to optimize space. Especially if you live in a city, you are likely to have everyday objects that are modular so that you have a functional space. Our current situation and the need to be flexible within a small space is exactly what inspired Gerlier to design the Chaise Renversée. It is the perfect blend of work from home and Netflix from home into one piece of modern furniture, it provides a stable table area to work and can then transform into the ‘Chaise Lounge’ when you want to relax.
This desk by Yeg Design Studio is called Clock and I want you to keep that in mind for the rest of this story. Clock was designed to be compact and fit in the growing trend of smaller living spaces. The designer wanted to create something that seamlessly blended into our workdays (especially when working from home!) without disrupting our office hours or eating habits. The hybrid station converts food waste into energy to power itself wirelessly but also includes the systems to be plugged into a wall if needed. It is an innovative product that combines technology and functionality to sustainably manage waste and encourage more people to shift to natural/renewable energy sources.
The Pill Writing Desk by Emco really challenges a lot of fundamental notions of desk-design, if it were. With an unusual shape that’s eye-catching when closed and functional when open, the Pill manages to behave like furniture but looks a little like minimalist art. The circular desk comes firmly wall-mounted, which makes it comparable to a wall-hung painting rather than a 4-legged floor-resting desk. The desk’s pill-inspired design is divided into three units. The upper semicircle serves as a writing space with enough storage for your belongings (including your laptop), while the lower quadrants act as a pair of cabinets for other items you may need to store.
CableTread, a standing desk with a built-in cable organizer was conceived with San Francisco-based e.ventures, where Tom Gielselmann recruited Nick Allen to develop a “circuit-board desk.” A clever reinterpretation of the circuit board’s purpose, it makes sense that the organizational scheme for CableTread’s underbelly mimics the electric roadways of circuit boards since both seem to make some sense out of an intimidating mess. The gut of CableTread, the underside of the standing desk, also carries an embedded Mac Mini, two defined mounts for USB accessories, a power strip with six feet worth of cord extension, cable slack management, and a flush mount heigh control assist button, all in addition to the desk’s physical wireframing.
Titled the Work/Sleep Balance, this morphing piece of home decor is ideal for tiny apartments, serving two purposes within a small footprint. The desk top is large enough to accommodate most of your work accouterments, while the cabinet on the side features a collapsible tri-axial bed frame that opens up to become a base for the mattress, which rolls right up and slides into a compartment in the desk’s back. The transformation takes around 2-3 minutes, allowing you to efficiently use your space to work during the day, and catch some shut-eye during the night!
The Shelter desk is a project that is coming to life because the designer was on a quest for the perfect desk. If you are someone who loves to have a clean, organized, clutter-free desk then this is the one for you! It was designed keeping in mind all the devices, wires, and accessories that live on our workstations, however, Shelter still remains minimal while maximizing the value of a desk. There are three slim drawers on the front side that are big enough to store your gadgets, like tablets or laptops. The back drawer was designed for you to hide all your cables and chargers. But the beauty of this desk lies in the curved drawers that give this desk its fluidity while retaining the functionality of the design.
Elmer looks like a simple storage cabinet, and though it is one, it also doubles up as a desk! The multifunctional piece primarily showcases a lot of iRESISTUB’s metalwork, with a sturdy black metal frame and two long metal legs. A squarish wooden door with rounded edges occupies the portion above the legs. When the door is shut, Elmer looks like a regular cabinet, upon which you can place miscellaneous items. However, once you open it, it reveals spacious storage space, with the door functioning as a neat little desk. Within the compact storage area, you can place your books, stationery items, folders, and maybe even a tiny plant or two! The working surface is large enough to accommodate a laptop, books, or other documents.
The Terrarium Desk is a wall-mounted desktop that integrates a removable plant terrarium, providing a mental respite for those of us in need. Round’s design is wall-mountable and incorporates plenty of storage space for clutter that would otherwise claim space on our desktops. At the desk’s focal point, Round placed his glass terrarium, which includes a warm light for cozy night viewings or brighter workspaces during the day. While the light can be dimmed, the terrarium itself is always in sight, whether the desk is opened or closed. When closed, the desk’s minimal front face hinges at and displays the plant life inside the terrarium. When opened, the desk’s terrarium promotes your focus by stimulating brain function and emitting oxygen as well as positive carbons.
This desk design by Alejandro Sticotti in partnership with Sudacas is a workstation harmoniously rolled into a spacious shelving system. A clean wooden station serves as a desk, whereas a ladder-like shelving unit rising above and below the desk, functions as a storage space for your books, magazines, stationery, and other miscellaneous items. Minimal and delicate, I wouldn’t mind this desk in my work from home office!
The rustic, artist-in-studio appeal of DUAL hits home with the wooden chair’s natural pine finish and stainless steel stool attachment, offering a finished look that is both familiar and clean. The overall function of the chair is relatively easy to understand. When the stool attachment is stacked on top of the chair, the backrest can rise to its highest position to offer optimal support for your posture. The chair’s seat comes equipped with notches that coincide with and frame the stool attachment’s legs for easy stacking and the extra space between the chair’s seat and the stool attachment also functions as storage space for things like your laptop or lunch bag. In order for the user to transform the chair into a desk setup, complete with a table and chair, then the stool attachment simply slides into the largest cavity on the chair’s seat. With the stool attachment securely positioned in front of and attached to the chair, the backrest also slides down to meet the user’s new seated height.
