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Home office desk has to do double duty

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published July 20, 2007

At 36, Amber Fleming works at three businesses from her new home in Seven Oaks: She's a Realtor for RE/MAX, the creator of the Bitchin' Kitten www.bitchin-kitten.com a hip, feminine line of clothes and accessories for female bikers and runs her own online travel referral company.

So Fleming needs a home office desk that not only works for her needs, but looks good in her 2006 home.

"I opted for a custom built desk," she said, explaining that she hired Closet Depot to construct a built-in cherry-wood desk that complements her floors and kitchen cabinetry.

It also provides enough file cabinets, drawers and space for paperwork for every business, as well as computer hardware and a large printer.

"I looked at places like Office Depot and although I saw some things I liked, nothing was quite big enough or right," she said.

Fleming also wanted her office, tucked in a converted third bedroom and den, to be a place that was pleasing visually in context with the rest of her home - not just an eclectic blend of mismatched office furniture.

"Even the silver stainless knobs match those in my kitchen," Fleming says.

These days there are more options than ever for home office desks. Whether it's meant for a sleek laptop or a desk computer and accompanying office equipment, the idea is to find a desk that combines the perfect blend of efficiency and good looks.

"We're finding that a lot of times the home office desk means different things to different people," says Diane Kokoska, a spokeswoman for Ikea, the international Swedish home goods company known for products that meld good design and function.

Kokoska says that people incorporate functional desks into their home decor for one of two reasons: Either they work from home or they need a dedicated space for managing household tasks, such as paying bills.

"Often people are incorporating their desks into a bedroom, dining room or rec room and the challenge is to create an accessible functional work space that also looks good," Kokoska says. "There are many options now that don't look like an office - like homier finishes that integrate into a home decor."

Options include store-bought desk systems that coordinate with matching storage pieces to keep clutter at a minimum as well as customized components like built-in cabinets and drawers to add storage.

"It's really a personal preference when you talk about the home desk," she explains, noting that some people don't mind a completely open desk where paperwork is allowed to remain out in the open, while others prefer to hide their work when the day is done.

If you want a home desk that doesn't draw attention to itself, the computer hutch and armoire is a good option, particularly in a multiuse room, she says. If you're tight on space, consider a "hideaway" corner armoire, which fits nicely into an unused corner of the room and can be closed up to hide a work mess.

Jay Tenuta of La Bella Interiors in Odessa says that every homeowner should budget for a good-looking, functional desk that can be well-integrated into the rest of the home.

"They help us in an ever-busy world to have some sort of organization in our personal space," he says, so when you're finished with work, you're not left looking at "bills, appointments and unsightly clutter."

"The latest - and it's about time - is that manufacturers are now treating home office spaces more seriously than ever" both for everyday use as well as for customers who work or run a business from home.

The furniture company Hooker is featuring a small-office collection line that coordinate with its other line of furnishings for the living room and dining room, Tenuta says.

Another company, Collzione Europa, is featuring an office collection made of sleek dark wood and outfitted with casters for easy mobility.

"The Italians have an edge on modern classic design," he says.

The Milan Collection features cherry wood and frosted glass office furnishings that integrate electric components to eliminate all the hanging cords, as well as integrated speakers for an iPod and attached privacy panels that can be raised and lowered with a touch of a button.

Elizabeth Bettendorf can be reached at ebettendorf@hotmail.com.

[Last modified July 19, 2007, 08:02:15]