Desks: A Buyer’s Guide
Desks: A Buyer’s Guide
For every space and personality, there is a matching office desk. When you’re picking out your new desk, keep in mind the Three Ss:
Size
Shape
Style
Mission Pointe Desk by Kathy Ireland
Desk Size
No one wants to scour the stores for their new desk, bring it to their office, set it up—and find out it doesn’t fit. This is a surprisingly common problem.
Fortunately, it is easy to find out what size desk you need in only a couple of minutes using paper, pencil, and a tape measure.
1. Measure the perimeter of your office area. This will give you the maximum space available for your office desk.
2. Estimate the amount of work surface space you’ll need. Do you use a desktop or laptop computer? Do you need room to draw? To lay out files? Your office desk should contain enough space for you to perform your most intensive daily tasks without leaving you feeling cramped.
Measure the estimated work surface area with your tape measure. If you need a more concrete starting point, you can also measure the size of your current office setup, and revise that number up or down as needed.
You can also get a good idea of how much width you need by taking a relaxed seat in your office chair. Comfortably reach forward with your hands, leaning away from the back of the office chair only slightly. The distance from your body to the tips of your fingers is your maximum comfortable reach. Your office desk probably doesn’t need to be much wider than this. Add a few inches to this total if using computer equipment, and more if the office desk will be doubling as a small conference table.
3. Factor in space for other essentials. Office chairs, bookshelves, and file storage all need a certain amount of room to be used effectively.
- File Cabinets and Lateral Files should be placed so that the drawers can fully extend.
- Bookcases and Bookshelves can be used anywhere in your office, but if you’ll need the contents frequently, they should be placed within a few steps of your desk.
- Your Office Chair’s movement shouldn’t be hampered. Your desk’s size should allow your office chair plenty of room to push out or roll to other surfaces.
You may be able to save space by investing in an office desk with built-in file storage and a hutch with shelving.
4. Use the collected information to estimate a range of desired desk measurements. Comparing these numbers against available office desks can save you time and energy, and keep you from purchasing a desk that ultimately won’t meet your needs.
Tip: Desk size varies widely depending on the model and style. Consider that a big office may feel smaller when furnished with a large U-Shaped Desk or Desk Suite, and smaller offices may be made to feel more spacious with a desk that makes an efficient use of space.
Traditional Desk by Hekman
Desk Shape
There are many different kinds of desk shapes and configurations. Each has its own merits and features that should be taken into account before you purchase your new office desk.
Straight Desk
The Straight Desk is the most traditional desk shape, but it is also the most versatile.
L-Shaped Desk
L-Shaped Desks double your available workspace by extending one side of the traditional straight desk shape.
U-Shaped Desk
U-Shaped Desks make a big, bold statement. These workhorses of the modern office provide three times the space of standard office desks. Their ‘wrap-around’ design keeps the desk surface in close on three sides.
Desk Suite
Desk Suites are made up of several coordinating desk and storage pieces that give your office a full, matched look.
Peninsula Wall
Peninsula Walls feature a rising ‘wall’ made with various storage pieces, including credenzas, lateral files, bookcases, and display cabinets. A desk surface or writing table juts out from one section of the wall.
Reception Desk
Reception Desks offer transaction counters that give customers a place to write checks or fill out paperwork. Privacy panels give paperwork some security and your receptionist a welcome measure of privacy.
Corner Desk
Corner Desks are specifically designed to be placed in room corners. These desks feature a triangular corner desk surface that allows you to fully utilize a room’s corner space.
Mendocino Collection Suite by OSP
Desk Style
Once you know which desk sizes and shapes to look for, you’ll be faced with the most fun and challenging part of shopping for the perfect office desk—finding the perfect style.
Traditional Desks
Traditional Desks are designed to be timeless classics. Most traditional desks feature solid, quality construction with lustrous wood and wood veneers, detailed drawer handles, and surface moldings.
Contemporary Desks
Contemporary Desks combine the latest in office furniture innovations with time-tested knowledge and materials to produce interesting, eye-catching pieces. Look for the use of non-traditional shapes, colors, and levels.
Executive Desks
Executive Desks are made with high-quality materials like solid wood and fine-grain wood veneers. They tend to run to solid, dramatic shapes, and are built for a variety of executive offices, including high-end luxury offices and home offices.
Computer Desks
Computer Desks come in a range of styles and sizes to fit every budget, and are great ways to organize all your equipment. Customized shelves, stands, and racks ensure that your computer equipment stays safe and secure.
Home Office Desks
Home Office Desks tend to offer a softer feeling than commercial desks, and make greater use of rustic influence and contoured designs to let you relax as you telecommute, work on your household budget, or surf the Internet.
No matter what your needs are, finding the perfect office desk can be a challenge. We hope this article helped, and hope you’ll choose from the great selection at BizChair.com for all your Office Desk and Office Accessory needs. Visit our selection of desks here: http://www.bizchair.com/desks.html.
