Desks For Home Office – Ultimate Buying Guide 2017

The most important item of home office furniture with the exception of your chair is the desk you’re going to be working at so the more thought that you put into buying a desk or desks for home office use the better suited it will be for your long-term needs. Whether you’re upgrading your current desk or workstation or taking that first tentative step to creating a work from home space, the desk is central to the productivity and creativity you achieve and the comfort you feel during the hours that you work.

Budget constraints aside there are several factors you should consider when buying a desk for your home office.

Home Office Desk Design

• Size and Space
• Overall design and look and feel
• Form and function

Let’s just quickly look at each aspect so we can help you decide the type of desk you are looking for that will best suit the space you have, your home environment and the time you will spend at your desk.

Size and space. The size of your desk and space it fits in will have a huge (excuse the pun) bearing on which desk you choose so the first thing is to measure the space you have available to ensure that we choose a desk suitable for your space. Take a look at our Home Office Design and Setup Guide to give you some ideas.

Overall design and look and feel.  Look around your home, living space or the area you have set aside as a home office and it should be immediately apparent what going to look good and what isn’t. A huge imposing executive style office furniture set isn’t going to look good in a modern contemporary loft. Choose the style of the desk to suit your décor.

Let’s just quickly look at each aspect so we can help you decide the type of desk you are looking for that will best suit the space you have, your home environment and the time you will spend at your desk.

Form and Function. It’s all about space. Do you have enough space for a full-blown home office furniture set with matching everything, are you going to have to fit into a corner of your loft or do you have the room for an integrated L Shaped Desk Home Office With Hutch?

Let’s look at the options.

Corner Desks For Home Office

By far the most versatile desk design for small and limited spaces is the corner desk. Whether you’re looking for a small home computer desk, home desks for small spaces, a desk that will fit into a small den or loft space or a student desk for study or homework a corner desk could be just what you’re looking for. Corner desks for home come in a variety of colors and natural finishes from cherry, walnut, mahogany and including black white and espresso so it’s likely you will find a color and finish to match your existing décor.

Styles include modern and contemporary, utilitarian with glass and steel finish, an elegant corner writing desks and corner computer desks with space for your PC and screen or Laptop.

Modern Home Office Desk

A desk with modern and contemporary sleek clean lines will look good in any airy, light open loft space and open plan work and living area. Modern home office desks are available in a wonderful variety of designs from steel and glass, white hollow core desks, vintage industrial and mid-century.

The advantage of a contemporary designed desk is that with neutral colors on the walls and drapes, a wooden finish floor and a few well-chosen accents the desk itself can transform and become the centerpiece of your home office décor.

Contemporary design is now becoming timeless so a modern home office desk or workstation may be just what you’re looking for if you’re thinking of remodeling or of course to fit with your current lifestyle, interior decoration choices and current home office furnishings.

White Home Office Desk

Nothing says fresh and contemporary like a white desk and they come in many shapes, designs and configurations from small corner computer desk, hollow core designs like the Monarch Specialties Hollow-Core White And Silver Metal Office Desk, large 60” L shaped desks with glass tops, mission style and sub $100 budget desks for student dorm or kids bedroom.

If you’re looking for a desk for your home office that will look fresh and bring light into a room or basement office then a white desk or computer workstation would be a great choice.

“The habits children create reach all the way down to the level of where they should look to find the tools and supplies they need to study. That means children’s work space should be set up so that they do not need to search each day for pencils, erasers or calculators. Children who study at a desk should keep that desk set up the same way each day”

Student Desks For Home

While strictly speak a student desk is not a piece of home office furniture you may want to multi-task, use your desk as a place to work at your job during the day and study for that degree in the evening! Or you may be looking for a cheap home desk for the kids to sit comfortably, get that homework done or study for those all important tests

Art Markman at Edutopia tells us that a desk is a great place for kids to study and we need to create a consistent workspace for study

“The habits children create reach all the way down to the level of where they should look to find the tools and supplies they need to study. That means children’s work space should be set up so that they do not need to search each day for pencils, erasers or calculators. Children who study at a desk should keep that desk set up the same way each day”

And of course, there is nothing better than a good desk with space to organize supplies and workbooks to foster the habit of study without the distractions of games, social media, and TV.

Whilst it’s possible to pay between $200 to $300 for a desk that’s marketed as a ‘student desk’ there are plenty of budget desks available in the budget sub $100 price range for cost-conscious parents and more mature students of course!

Home Computer Desk

If you are specifically shopping for a Home Computer Desk or Small Home Computer Desk then you have a wide variety of choice. What’s really going to help you narrow the choice down is to decide on the features and configuration that you need. The term ‘computer desk’ has many connotations which include at the high-end, a slide out keyboard drawer, a place to store away a desktop computer unit, tuck away printer and wireless router and cable management, and storage for supplies with a price range between $200 to $300.

In essence, though a desk like that would more likely be categorized as a conventional desk

At the other end of the scale, the term computer desk conjures up the picture of a basic budget computer desk with a pullout or slide out keyboard tray and possibly a place to store your desktop CPU and possibly wheels for ease of mobility and moving from room to room. It’s really the budget or cheaper home computer desk that falls below that $150 price range and even down to well under $100 that is likely to be most appealing in this category.

A top of the range L-Shaped desk with a hutch, files draws, and storage becomes its own self-contained workspace and will be the only furniture set that you need, apart from a quality office chair.

L Shaped Desk Home Office

The L-shaped home office desk is probably the most versatile desk configuration you can buy. The all-around adaptability of an L-shaped desk makes it our favorite way to furnish a home office workspace. The desk can sit in a corner, face outwards into a room  from a corner, create a self-contained work environment or become a focal point in a large open space.

A top of the range L-Shaped desk with a hutch, files draws, and storage becomes its own self-contained workspace and will be the only furniture set that you need, apart from a quality office chair. A high-end L-Shaped desk like our favorite, the best-selling Cabot Collection L-Desk and Hutch has matching lateral file cabinets, cube bookcases and conventional 5 shelf bookcases to match the base system. In this way, you build yourself a really well integrated home office furniture set that will look good in your home den or study, but won’t look out of place in your living area or a bedroom and the available storage allows you to keep things tidy and clutter free.

Best Home Office Desk.

So bottom line, what is the best home office desk? As always the decision comes down to the usual big three constraints, budget, space available and design to fit with your existing décor.

Best Home Office Desk Under $100 – 3 Picks

There is a lot of choices here and it’s easy to get lost in the maze because quite frankly there are some appalling quality desks in the under $100 price range.

We are going way below budget here because this is the best home office desk under $50. [fsbProduct asin=’B004CVKVKM’]If you’re looking for something modern, sleek and contemporary then our first choice would be the Altra Parsons Study Desk with built in Drawer. With its clean elegant lines, the  Study Desk large work surface with a nice handy drawer to keeps clutter free and you organized after work is finished and it’s a nice enough size to fit in any room of the house and décor. It’s functional light, easy to assemble and is great  for small space living.

 

Pro’s

Clean, elegant simple lines. Price point

Con’s

For laptop only, no place for desktop

The best home office desk under $100 [fsbProduct asin=’B007TLKL8O’]for sheer style has to be the Altra Stanley Deluxe Parsons Desk with 2 storage cubbies on each side of the Desk for storage of file boxes, binders, books and documents files all within easy reach. Great lines, with an open design that will fit with most modern décor and a spacious work surface at 60”

Pro’s

Styling, lot’s of work surface, elegantly different.

Con’s

Those storage cubbies could get messy. Keep this tidy. Not as compact as the sub $50 Altra Parsons

The best home computer desk under $100? [fsbProduct asin=’B002QGLBI6′]The choice has to be the Sauder Beginnings Student Computer Desk which features a slide-out shelf for a keyboard and a mouse and a dedicated space for your desktop CPU if you’re still a desktop kind of person. Your printer can be conveniently installed on a shelf above and with a small storage cabinet you’re all set and self-contained. Everything you need in one compact unit all at well under $100.

Pro’s

All in one design fits desktop and printer. Well made. Compact

Con’s

Slightly old fashioned design, not that much work area at 39”

Best Home Office Desk Under $200

[fsbProduct asin=’B0019MAUTE’]If you’re looking for the best home office desk under $200 and you want something sleek, modern and contemporary then look no further then the Z-Line Belaire Glass L-Shaped Computer Desk. At its price point of juts under $124 at the time of writing this steel and glass desk represents staggering value. It is well suited to corner placement or with its solid metal frame and reinforced plates on welding joints and powder coated finish this desk will look superb in any open plan work and living space. The tempered glass surfaces provide over 70” of total workspace.

Pro’s

Contemporary design, flexible configuration, large work area

Con’s

Needs room, won’t suit all décor

Best Home Office Desk Under $200 – Traditional choice

[fsbProduct asin=’B002QGQH9O’]The Sauder Graham Hill Desk in a lustrous autumn maple finish is our choice if you’re looking for a home desk with a more conservative, traditional look and feel with a modern and well-designed elegance. The desk work surface has a very durable ‘granite’ look and with its Ever sheen top coat gives a clear, hard-wearing finish that resists heat, stains and scratches. Both of the drawers use Sauder’s patented T-lock assembly system. The lower drawer which has full extension slides is designed to hold letter-sized hanging files

Pro’s

Made in the USA. Large 47” x 20” work surface. Cool looking easy-clean faux granite top, file storage

Con’s

Not designed for desktop computer use, laptop only. We cheated; it’s just over $200!

Best Home Office Desk Under $300

[fsbProduct asin=’B005EOL812′]There’s a fairly easy pick here because the Cabot Collection 60″ L-Desk is so versatile with a huge work area in its l shaped format with 60″ on either side of the L and plenty of storage space including a hanging file drawer and a cabinet for a desktop CPU or accessories storage. Cabot has gone a long way to providing a fully integrated home office furniture system with this range and this desk can be built added to with matching pieces to provide a complete office suite of matching furniture.

The desk includes an integrated 4-port USB hub, cabinet with stylish fluted glass door and the aforementioned file drawer with durable ball-bearing drawer slides for letter, legal or AA-sized files

Pro’s

A Huge amount of space with a small footprint, matching bookshelves, file drawers, and hutches. Tech-Friendly.

Con’s

L-shape doesn’t suit everybody. Not for small rooms