Hi all, I've been away for a while and things have changed a lot. Long story short, I'm now single living in a smaller apartment, and once my house sells I am getting new furniture. That leading to the topic, my old beloved wardrobe desk broke as a friend and I were trying to get it up the stairs to my apartment. I was wondering if anyone here could point me in the direction of a nice writing desk. I have only a few things for the space: my laptop, need of a small space for notebooks or such to be out while typing, and perhaps a shelf for reference books that I have. The space available is approximately 4.5 feet wide. If you can help me out that'd be great. PM me if necessary. Thanks all!
I don't really have a budget because I'll have plenty of spending cash from my house. And I was asking to see what others are using because I have looked on Amazon and Walmart and furniture stores. But I wanted to see what has been working for others
I'm using a kitchen table for my desk. it's not the best choice. I should probably just suck it up and buy a cheap desk from IKEA.
I use a solid wood desk...it weighs a lot and it's pretty big. Take a trip to your local furniture store? It's probably best to try this stuff out in person.
Along the same line as @Homer Potvin, I literally have a panel of wood (courtesy of a failed IKEA project) that I prop up on my knees like a laptop tray. Im considering modifying it so my laptop doesn't slip. I'm too cheap and lazy to buy a REAL laptop tray or even a desk, but the wood panel works fine for me. Plus, it's portable I can sit on the couch and write... sit outside... sit in bed.
After various wooden desks over the years, I've ended up at a plastic folding table I originally bought for outside. I have it pushed against a wall in my basement hideaway. It's got ample space for my Chromebook plus a small knickknack cabinet I built, atop which sit some old family photos and a laughing Buddha atop a rock. To my left on the table are a bunch of rocks I've salvaged from walks, and further on is a file cabinet with a lamp atop it. To my right on the table is a box I built to fill with paper copies of stories, atop which sits my printer. In front of the box are ragged pile of old photos I am in the process of digitizing. Further to the right is a bookshelf with some favorites, and some ostensibly useful books, like a poetry collection, the Chicago Manual of Style, a Roget's etc. Also beside my Chromebook, on the right, I have a Daruma doll with one eye filled in, symbolizing that I have not yet accomplished whatever it is I am to do. On the walls before me are various old parchments of long ago and now irrelevant accomplishments, like my diplomas, law degree and admission to various courts, etc. Plus some old B&W photos of a young man I no longer remember. I have no real point to posting all this detail, except to suggest that whatever desk you use is probably ultimately irrelevant. You will likely fill it with detritus, and ideally you will crank out some interesting stuff regardless of from where you crank it. IMHO
Might check out new desks today. Buying all new stuff. We got the mattress yesterday, couch today (maybe), desk somewhere down the line. Can't beat Labor Day sales though.
I like a big desk with plenty of work space, so I use one of these: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-6-Foot-Centerfold-Folding-Table-White/46368979 Cheap and sturdy. Two monitors, keyboard, mouse pad, legal pad, and a mug full of pens. The computer and printer are on a shelf behind the table.
I made mine... My house is set up like the 1930's, so I have a lot of antiques, but nothing matched. Then it dawned on me that I could paint the bottoms, and then apply new Black Cherry wood to the tops, and make seven pieces of furniture …match. But I needed a desk. So I bought some kitchen table legs at Home Depot, some boards, a piece of plywood, and then layered the top with that Black Cherry I had kicking around. It took me a few hours and $60, but I got a rugged desk that matches. I added up the costs if I had bought all 7 pieces of furniture instead of painting and making new tops, and I saved about $3500 over buying them. Total cost with everything was about less than $200.
I have a great, little desk made out of reclaimed wood by my lover. Still, for some reason, I seem to do better writing at the kitchen table.
I'm also using a kitchen table and dying to get either a standing desk or a convertible one as a healthier alternative to constant sitting.
I used to like having a huge desk with plenty of space to place everything I need on it. Now I detest it--it has become distracting. I want a small desk/space to write on, but most desks are ugly and the way they occupy space is ugly. I write on the dining table . . . for now.
A desk is a desk is a desk. With cash no object, I'd say the chair is where it's at. Armrests apadded, gas levers, French curve range in the lumbar, tilt it like a dentist, and a frictionless 360 on the swivel. Seriously, been mid-write and have had to spring up for de-thrombosing my pins and needles pricked legs.
My desk is a small dining table with my laptop on it. The laptop is surrounded by the worst mess in a very messy house. I tend to nest wherever I write, not nest like a mother-to-be, nest like a muskrat.
I need to get me a desk. I am moving to a new place in 2 weeks and this has been on my mind a lot recently. I am not sure what I am going to do.
