Help me shop for built-in desks for a small office

June 16, 2010 1:57 PM

Looking for built-in desks (is that the right search term?). Have an inspirational photo to start from!

My employer is moving to a new office and we are hoping to find some built-in desks that have this look - clean, modern. Basically have a work surface somehow mounted to the wall, with a "dip" for a seat cushion as shown in the photo. How the desk is attached isn't important - we wouldn't need the in-set that appears below the work surface in the photo.

I've contacted the web site where that photo came from for help, but I'm having a tough time knowing what to call this look - searching for "built-in desks" gives me lots on building your own desks or hiring a contractor to build one for you.

I've also tried searching for things like "modular modern office furniture" but that gives me some horrifyingly ugly results. We're also a very small office, so we're not looking for a huge corporate cubicle solution - we just have one or two walls where we're thinking this look will be right. But my Google-fu is failing... Crossing my fingers for the Hive Mind to come through!

posted by pants to shopping (6 answers total)

Usually built-in desks are custom made, based upon the design of the room they're going in and your needs. Thus the whole it being "built-in" part.

My suggestion would be to hire a contractor and have him make what you want.

you might try googling something like: "wall mounted desk"
posted by royalsong at 2:07 PM on June 16, 2010

This is the kind of thing you hire a carpenter to build. I'm pretty certain it's not an off-the-rack item.
posted by adamrice at 2:09 PM on June 16, 2010

I agree that the picture looks like custom made to fit by a carpenter. As an alternative you could check out the major manufactures' websites for their lines and see if anything would suit: Steelcase, Haworth, Herman Miller. Overall the look of offices are going from cubes towards this minimal clean industrial look and Steelcase and Herman Miller have lines that might fit the bill.
posted by clarkie666 at 2:57 PM on June 16, 2010

Getting the integrated bench seating and whatnot is probably the domain of custom carpentry—there can't be a very big market for 16' desk/bench combos— but you can probably get halfway to what you want searching for "wall desk."

Top hits include this wall-mounted desk via uncrate, this desk via ikeahacker, or the seventh image in this series, though I'm not sure if it's in production.
posted by mumkin at 2:59 PM on June 16, 2010

Agreed, hire a good contractor. A major factor in the design is going to be the wall that the work surface will be mounted to. Is it even meant to be a load-bearing wall? Is the wall designed to carry all that weight hanging off one side? How is the wall constructed? If your skill level does not allow you to answer these questions and construct the desk yourself, you really do need to leave this to a contractor. There are often contractors who specialize in office interiors and do this sort of thing all the time, and would be an excellent choice. If you can't find what you want in the yellow pages (how quaint!) or online, take a look around town. Visit some banks or upscale offices, especially if the reception desk is clearly custom and not the usual modular panels and work surfaces. Find out who did their work, and go from there. There are interior designers (and in larger areas, probably office interior specialists) who can point you in the right direction.

Part of our business is office interiors, and I've seen some truly awful DIY work that was unsafe at best.
posted by xedrik at 3:02 PM on June 16, 2010

Thanks everyone. My hunch was that this is something for a contractor, but at least this way we have some more inspirational looks to give them. The Herman Miller looks in particular might work for some of our other office space, if not this particular room... it really nails the "clean / modern" that we are trying for. And, I have some more explanation to go back to my boss and explain just why "built-in" means hire a contractor, not shop online!

Thanks hive...
posted by pants at 8:36 AM on June 17, 2010