Two Opposing Reasons to use Corner Desks

We live in a college town, and just eight miles down the road is another college town with a larger University. For a couple of years we owned a used furniture and antique store. It seemed that people would regularly come in wanting corner furniture pieces: hutches, entertainment stands and, especially, corner desks. We rarely had them in stock. We were dependent upon buying directly from the public (whatever they brought in to sell), so we did not have a lot of control over used furniture inventory. But, if I could have only ordered one item of used furniture from a supplier in the same manner as I purchased new items, the piece  I would order would be corner desks.

I think that the main reason they were so hard to get a hold of used is because when people bought them, they would keep them longer than a regular style of desk. Corner desks are popular for many reasons. Though it is interesting to note that the two main reasons are opposite each other. They are: 1) corner desks can be a real space saver, and 2) corner desks can offer a lot more work area if you have the floor space.

First, people often do not have the room for a regular desk; they can take up quite a bit of area along a wall. A small corner desk with a hutch on top provides a lot of work space while using very little square footage.  There are shelves for books and paper, and cubby holes for computer programs, games, discs and other peripherals, and sometimes lower shelve for computer towers. The main surface area of a corner desk is deeper than a standard desk. This allows a computer monitor to be set back further or to be pushed back when more room is needed to work longhand.

The other type of common corner desks, which takes up more a lot more space, is good for the person who needs a lot of room to work. This type of corner desks always reminds me of two desks pushed together in a corner. Smaller versions of this type of corner desk is called an L-shaped desk. One of my favorite benefits of this style desk is that you can put your computer on one surface, and with the simple 90° turn of your chair you have a clear work surface for other types of work. The support of one side of this desk style is often a filing cabinet, so though they may take up more floor space, they can still offer some space saving options. Many of these corner desks also have a hutch on top of one side. If you have the space, this is a great style of desk to use, plenty of space for both computer and non-computer work, shelving for books and display items, drawers to keep office supplies organized, and a lower computer tower shelf.

The best things about corner desks is that they come made in a variety of materials (wood, metal & glass, partical board, and I have even seen plastic in cool colors for a child’s room) and styles to fit any budget. Plus, it is hard to find an item that is designed to fit two opposite scenarios: not enough space and plenty of space! Though there are a lot of them out there, I just wish I could have found more used ones when I owned a used funiture store!