Desks

Choosing a home office desk

A home office desk has to do two jobs: give you a surface you want to sit at every day, and look like furniture when you walk past it in a living room, bedroom or hallway. The desks here are solid timber and painted pieces made for the home rather than the office fit-out, with drawers for the paperwork and the cables, and finishes that match the rest of the house.

Writing desk, executive desk or desk and hutch

A writing desk is the simplest: a top on four legs with one or two drawers, 120 to 140 cm wide, that fits in a bedroom, a living room corner or under a window and leaves the room feeling open. An executive desk is wider and deeper, 150 to 180 cm, with six or more drawers in two pedestals and room for two screens; it suits a dedicated study and anchors the room the way a dining table anchors a dining room. A desk with hutch adds shelves and pigeonholes above the desk, so the files, books and printer sit within reach without a separate bookcase; it needs a wall rather than the middle of a room.

Size and height

Desk height is 73 to 76 cm, which suits most chairs and people. Allow 60 cm of clear knee space between the drawers and 100 to 110 cm behind the desk for the chair to roll back. A 120 cm desk takes a laptop and a notebook; 150 cm takes a monitor, a laptop and space to write; 180 cm takes two screens. Check the depth too: 60 cm is enough for a laptop, and 70 to 80 cm keeps a monitor at a comfortable distance.

Timber or white, and what goes with it

A solid timber desk in oak, Marri or reclaimed timber suits a traditional study and pairs with a timber bookcase or a leather armchair for reading. A white desk with timber top or black hardware is the Hamptons and coastal choice and sits happily in a bedroom or an open-plan living room. Finish the space with a table lamp on the desk, a rug under the chair, and a mirror or art above the desk if it faces a wall.

See them in a Perth showroom

The Furniture Gallery is WA owned and family run, with showrooms across Perth and regional WA. Sit at the desks, open the drawers and compare the timbers and whites, then measure the piece against your room. When you have chosen, add it to your cart and enter your postcode for a delivery price; our white-glove delivery team will carry it in, set it up and take the packaging away.