Looking for a contemporary workspace.

June 24, 2007 4:07 PM

I'm looking for a cool but usable computer desk for my new place.

I'm moving to a new place and am tired of the disaster that has passed for a computer desk for the last few years. I need something with a contemporary-ish design and well made; I'm particularly concerned with getting rid of the insightly fire hazard of all my cables ending up in a big mashed-up pile on the floor behind the desk. Space or shelves for a printer, etc, also would be great. If there are matching bookshelves that would be a plus but not necessary.

I've been looking online but have yet to find anything that really grabbed me. Any ideas?

posted by Justinian to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

I am a very big fan of the IKEA Jerker desks; there are a couple of different varieties, but the ones with the shelves would suit you better. They are extensible, have adjustable shelves, and the main desk area provides a very large workspace. They're cheap, too -- I think I paid about $120 each for the two I have. (Here are some pictures of people's Jerker setups on Flickr.)

I just looked at IKEA's web site, though, so unless you live near a store or someplace people might offer one on Cragislist, they might not be available.
posted by camcgee at 4:32 PM on June 24, 2007

Despite my knee-jerk reaction to hate everything they make, the Bedford desks at Pottery Barn are really nice. I am in the process of deciding what configuration I want, but they have pretty much anything you could need. I have checked them out in the showroom and they are sturdy and well made.

See them here.
posted by feloniousmonk at 4:39 PM on June 24, 2007

Several people make cable trays that you can screw in under (or behind) a desk. Ikea sells one that works with their desks. Or you can go the DIY route: http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/declutter_your.html
posted by dws at 4:44 PM on June 24, 2007

Do you have a price range?
posted by The Deej at 4:49 PM on June 24, 2007

Anthro
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:53 PM on June 24, 2007

Response by poster: Ah, I knew I was leaving something out Deej. I spend a lot of time at the computer desk so I'm quite willing to pay for quality. Don't worry about price, within reason. That said, I won't pay just to get some sort of cachet from an expensive desk. I'll buy a $120 Ikea desk if it's better than a $1200 designer desk.

Thanks for the ideas so far, I am checking them out.
posted by Justinian at 5:24 PM on June 24, 2007

Here are some more you might want to check out:

Biomorph

Zip Contemporary Italian Glass Desk

D2 Pocket desk

Nail Zimmerman's Partner 100 Series

Lian Li aluminum desk, available here, among other places
posted by jeri at 6:27 PM on June 24, 2007

Well, that should have been Neil Zimmerman.
posted by jeri at 7:35 PM on June 24, 2007

IKEA doesn't seem to sell the Jerker anymore. If you're looking for a nice desk that'll fit in a small space, though, I like the Frederick desk, and I'm sitting at one right now.
posted by SansPoint at 7:46 PM on June 24, 2007

Probably not cool, but I've liked my Ikea Mikael, with an added keyboard platform. The pictures of it empty don't do much to convey its size or how much useful shelf space it has. It doesn't offer anything in the way of built-in cable runs, though (but it'd be easy to improvise your own.)
posted by Zed_Lopez at 7:55 PM on June 24, 2007

I like this glass one.

And this wood and glass one.
posted by The Deej at 8:49 PM on June 24, 2007

Lifehacker did a series recently on workstations, where readers sent in their photos. You might browse through there and get some ideas.
posted by happyturtle at 12:28 AM on June 25, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions; I can't mark a best answer because I don't know which I'm going to go with yet but there are quite a few good ideas here.
posted by Justinian at 4:15 PM on June 25, 2007

This is a bit late, but I just found another one: the Autopilot Workstation made from certified sustainable wood. It's on back order, though.
posted by jeri at 9:05 AM on July 2, 2007