The bed you spend one third of your life in, the couch you Netflix on, the kitchen table you hold court at: these are purchases worthy of your time, money and careful consideration.
Your home desk, on the other hand, doesn’t get the same billing.
Whether it’s a lacquered hand-me-down from your parents or an asymmetrical monstrosity from your ex-interior designer, there’s one main culprit for what is most likely a subpar home workspace: you work elsewhere. And besides, who needs to spend time picking out a desk when one can just as easily bring a laptop to the kitchen, porch or — don’t lie, we’ve all done it — toilet?
But you need look no further than Papa Hemingway for your answer. The man is Exhibit A for setting up a dedicated workspace, having famously kept his typwriter at his “work desk” — aka “a square foot of cramped area hemmed in by books on one side and on the other by a newspaper-covered heap of papers, manuscripts, and pamphlets” on top of a bookcase.
So whether you’re trying to punch up your Paris memoir or simply need a space to pay the bills, you deserve a desk that’s more than an afterthought.
To wit, we’ve collected 10 top-notch home desks below, some standing (also a favorite of Hemingway), none from IKEA and all priced competitively at under $1,000.
Autonomous SmartDesk 3 | $499
Artifox Desk 02 | $950
Housefish Pocket Desk | $765
Nazanin Kamali for Case, Celine Desk | $995 (up to $1,295)
Ronan + Erwan Bouroullec for HAY, Copenhague Desk | $795
Fully Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk | $395
Emko Double Drawer 4.9 Desk | $980
The Floyd Desk | $460
Uplift Bamboo Stand Up Desk | $495
Note: If you buy through these links, RealClearLife may earn a small share of the profits.
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