The prospect of retirement doesn’t just signal the end of a career; it offers the chance to recalibrate and re-prioritize in life.
6 Clever Built-In Desks
March 2, 2015
Even the tiniest corner or the most awkward wall can become a workspace. May the following integrated desks from projects in our pages inspire you to carve out a quiet space of your own.
In this Napa, California, restoration, a John Baldessari photograph rests on a shelf above a built-in desk just around the corner from the kitchen.
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Originally appeared in The Midcentury Home That Maintains Its Quirkiness After All These Years
Surrounded on all sides by a sweeping Canadian hayfield, the 23.2 House is an angular ode to rural life. Out of “respect for the beams and their history,” Designer Omer Arbel insisted that not a single reclaimed plank—still marked by nailheads and chipped paint—be cut nor altered during construction, which gave the home its striking geometric motif. Here, a tiny family member posts up at the built-in desk in the middle of the living room.
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Originally appeared in Modern Angular Rural Family Home in Canada
Architectural designer Alan Y. L. Chan's New York apartment measures just over 400 square feet. When rolled across the apartment, the table serves as an extension of the concrete desk, partially tucking underneath to extend the work surface and create an interplay of materials. “Each part must serve multiple functions,” says Chan.
Originally appeared in Domestic Ribbon
The bedroom in this renovated Malibu trailer allows for a tiny niche for a built-in wood desk. The target painting is by Alia Penner.
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Originally appeared in A Modern Beachside Trailer Home in Malibu
When fantasizing about the ultimate home office, the owner of this project, a digitally fabricated design in London, imagined something sleek and sculptural that would conceal all the cords and contraptions that clutter most desks. To bring this vision to life, architect Alvin Huang and his team at Synthesis Design and Architecture hung sheets of CNC-milled birch—fabricated by local firm Cutting Edge—from the wall to form a continuous three-dimensional form.
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Originally appeared in Hidden in Plain View
Architect Drew Lang designed a house for his family in the Hudson Woods development north of New York City. A yellow Pedestal filing cabinet by USM is tucked under a built-in desk in the guest bedroom. The leather-back chair was designed by Michael Robbins, a furniture designer based in New York's Hudson Valley.
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Originally appeared in An Enclave of Modern Cottages in New York's Hudson Valley
In this Napa, California, restoration, a John Baldessari photograph rests on a shelf above a built-in desk just around the corner from the kitchen.
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