The Best Small (Yet Stylish) Desks, According to Cool People

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Sarah Brown,Voguecontributing editor (and the magazine’s former beauty director), likes lap desks that can move from the couch to the bed to the floor. She got her first one years ago for around $20 at Staples, concerned about “radiating the lower half of your body forhourswhen putting a laptop directly on your lap — it’s a dangerous, bad idea.” She’s gone through a couple over the years, and this memory foam cushioned lap desk is the latest. Beyond looking “pretty decent,” she likes that it has a slot for holding one’s phone or iPad. “Even if you’ve got a plush office setup at home, I recommend getting a lap desk, because there are going to be those times you feel like working in bed or on the couch,” Brown says.

Architectural designer and bloggerSade Akinsanyasays she purchased a version of this tray table from a Laura Ashley store a few years ago, and it “has been well used ever since.” She reaches for it often: “When I want to work from bed, when I want to eat and watch Netflix, when I want to photograph something.”

Meredith Talusan, author of memoirFairest,has used wooden laptop desks for over a decade (“since at least the mid-2000s”) and currently has this model, which she loves so much she traveled with it to Guatemala and the Philippines. “I like that it tilts and has that piece of wood that stops your laptop from falling down, and even has a little drawer to keep your stuff,” Talusan says.

You don’t have to be a pro to build your own dream desk — and you don’t have to spend a fortune, either.Medina Grillo, author ofHome Sweet Rented Home, suggests a surface like this Ikea tabletop paired with whatever sort of base you like, whether that’s standard table legs, a filing cabinet, or sawhorses. Grillo cut hers at an angle to fit into a small nook underneath her living room staircase, which now serves as her family’s “homework station.” It’s balanced on a stack of drawers “to make it look like a built-in desk.”

Andi Bartz, author ofThe Herd, uses the same Ikea tabletop, which she has propped atop two metaltrestles. “Because I live in such a small apartment — a 380-square-foot studio — it’s important that all my furniture doesn’t take up a lot of visual space,” she explains. “My desk keeps the studio feeling more open than a big, blocky desk against the wall would.” And even though the workstation is small, the wood slab feels spacious. “I can spread out without it taking up my whole apartment.”

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Susan Dominus, staff writer forThe New York Times Magazine, likes this cheap, compact Ikea piece so much, she owns not one but two (and raved about iton Twitterlast month). “It seemed like a good desk for a 10-year-old boy, which is the original person for whom I purchased this desk,” she says. “At some point, I decided I really wanted to work in my nice sunny bedroom, and there’s this little corner where only a small desk would fit, so I stole my son’s desk” before buying a second Micke. She says the white finish “feels clean, bright, efficient, and friendly.” It’s surprisingly spacious; despite feeling quite cozy, “the desk seems strangely big, wide, and deep for its size, and the drawer is surprisingly capacious, just big enough for everything you’d need,” Dominus says. (It would make a great grooming nook, she notes: “If I were a different kind of person, I’d be using it as a vanity, with a big mirror and perfume bottles on it.”)

If your daily grind involves work that’s less digital (staring at a laptop) and more analog (handwriting), consider a portable writing desk. “Over time, I’ve steadily switched to only working with pen and paper or occasionally an iPad when I’m not working at a desk,” Talusan says, and this wooden option — about as wide as a legal pad is long — works well for a writing medium that’s more compact than a laptop. Plus it has a drawer and cubbies to store your supplies.

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Fentonassembled and shot this Murphy-style desk forParentsmagazineyears ago and says that it “was nicer quality than I would have thought for the price” and has the space-saving benefit of folding up and stowing away neatly against the wall. One caveat: You’ll likely need a pro to properly mount it, “especially if you have old plaster walls, as many pre-war buildings do,” Fenton notes.

If you can’t spare the wall space for a traditional desk but have a free corner to fill, Fenton suggests a triangular desk, which makes “an often underutilized part of any room instantly super-functional.” She uses a vintage version similar to this unfinished wood option. If you’re looking for a finished, painted alternative,this very similar onecomes in three muted pastel shades and is just $120.

Khalea Underwood, global editorial manager for MAC Cosmetics, recommends this acrylic-top, metal-base folding table that she bought after discovering that her “vintage coffee table is a bit too low to use as a workstation.” Underwood says she uses it “as a desk, table, and workstation” and when not in use, it can be folded up and stored; plus its transparent top and thin legs give it a lighter visual footprint useful for small spaces.

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Timothy Brown, founder of NYC-based design firmTimothy Brown Studio, calls this West Elm piece, an interpretation of thedesign classic Parsons table, his “favorite compact desk, hands down,” adding that “the size is perfect, the design is ageless, the construction is solid, and it’s very easy to use in any room.” It’s a piece he has used for himself and for “countless” clients.

Vogue’s Sarah Brown is a fan. “Some desks you want to hide away,” she says, but “the Parsons just looks like a white table so it’s not necessarily too office-looking.” Because it only has “one little drawer,” she recommends supplementing it with additional storage space, such as bookshelves on the wall above the desk or a filing cabinet beside it.

Interior designerLiz Caanhas used West Elm’s petite two-door desk in multiple projects. She likes that the model is “on the more contemporary side but works in a range of room styles” — an acacia-veneer style would fit in a mid-century office, and the design also comes in classic white with bronze-finished drawer pulls.

Another smart wall-mounted option — albeit slightly more expensive than the Ikea set —is this Kernel shelving system with a built-in compact desk that comes recommended by Talusan. “Bells and whistles like drawers or shelves will make the desk less portable, so if you’re getting something modular, it might be worth getting the basic model first, then adding accessories as you go along,” she says. In addition to the Kernel option, Talusan likes this slightly pricierDesign Within Reach String Shelvessetup(one of ourfavorite gifts for new homeowners), which she calls “a perfect example of expensive minimalism.”

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Or, if you’re prone to clutter, consider a secretary desk, a style with a drop-leaf writing surface recommended by Fenton, Caan, andThe Perfect Escapeauthor Leah Konen. “They have the distinct advantage of letting you close the door on work at the end of the day,” Fenton says, which means they’re great at hiding a messy desk. Fenton notes that they’re “often small and not too office-y looking,” making them a good option for a living room or bedroom. Her antique secretary desk looks like this West Elm piece. Konen and Caan also recommend looking for antiques; Konen stumbled on herprized maple secretary deskat an auction in upstate New York, and Caan pointed us toward a (now sold out) teak desk on the vintage site 1stdibs, whichhas plenty of other secretaries in stock— fromFrench desks with intricate wood inlaytospace-age Danish teak.