Favorites

Now that you’re expected to work from almost anywhere—your sofa, an airplane, a rickshaw in Kathmandu—and your “desktop” fits in the palm of your hand, are actual desks still necessary? We thought it over, called in six of our favorites, and came away answering, emphatically, yes! Desks are more than places to park your unopened bills or pound away at your laptop; they are receptacles for your creative dreams, holding the promise of inspiration and focused attention every time you pull up a chair. (And you can’t really say that about the kitchen table.) Check out six modern, stylish desks here. Photo by Peter Belanger.

Unlike its solid front, the back of Creekbluff Studio opens to the outdoors with large windows, floor-to-ceiling glass doors, and a patio tucked between tree canopies which overlook the nearby creek.

Originally intended as a play structure for the couple's daughter, the tea house instead became an office, stocked with Charles and Ray Eames-designed furniture in honor of the nearby Eames House.

"My girlfriend, Laura, and I both draw by hand. She sketches and then those drawings end up becoming wooden sculpture. I have a rather larger drafting table that my dad made. We live in a one-bedroom apartment with a healthy collection of books, magazines, and vinyl, among other things. At first I wanted to design her a drawing table, but with the clutter in our apartment and its small size, I realized a writing desk was more in order—a desk that had some storage for organization and a place to put a laptop or to sketch at, but nothing with as large of a footprint as a drafting table."

New York resident Lawrence Weiner sits at his day lit desk. The bare walls are perfect for tacking up new projects, and the steel ductwork gives the space an industrious feel. Photo by: Dean Kaufman

Office

I designed this desk and Michael helped me make it when I was at Pratt. Michael and I went to Pennsylvania to get the slab of walnut; it was a great day. The photos are a mix of family photos. I love to have pictures of family members throughout their lives, not just what they were to me. For instance, I have a wonderful picture of my grandmother in her teens in New York, one of her with her three kids (including my mother), and one taken in my aunt when she was in the tub reading a book in her 90s. All the pictures remind me of a happy, deep, or funny, moment. Sometimes I could swear they wink at me! -Sophie Demenge

Artek Domus Chair - Birch