Having a built-in desk in your kitchen seems to be a “grass is always greener” kind of thing. The closet thing that I have to a desk is this spot at the far end of our kitchen with shallow cabinetry and a butcher block countertop. It’s the spot where we end up piling unread mail and keeping our family charging station and (when I finally get around to it..) it will eventually house a little coffee bar.
But it’s certainly not a spot to sit down to go through the mail and pay bills or do a quick look-up on the laptop and I’d love to have a kitchen desk for that.
So I would think that people with kitchen desks would love them and use them all of the time but most of my friends who have them don’t use their desk for anything other than a spot where mail and clutter collects. I recently got an email from a reader, Susan, who wrote asking for some advice on the common problem of what to do with that tricky kitchen desk area:
Here’s a pic of Susan’s desk nook area that she graciously allowed me to share:
So how can you turn your dust-collecting kitchen desk into a more functional, usable space? (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure available {here})
1. Get a desk chair. Because the truth is that you’ll never actually use the desk as a desk unless you have a chair. And don’t just buy any old chair – get one that you love and that adds style and personality to your kitchen. Unlike when you’re buying chairs for a dining table, you only need a single chair for a desk so now is the time to get that chair that you’ve always loved but couldn’t afford if you needed 4 or 6 of them. And pay attention to how the back of the chair looks since that’s the side that you’ll see the most:
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| Style at Home |
Often you can find the perfect chair on Craigslist or flea markets but if you strike out there, these are a few of the chairs that I’ve been eyeing that would look great at a kitchen desk (note: some of the below links are affiliate links):
Just make sure that if you choose a chair with arms, you measure your chair and desk to make sure the arms will fit underneath your desk so that the chair can be pushed all of the way in and not disrupt the flow of traffic in the kitchen. If there is an issue with very little space in front of the desk, you could also choose an x-bench or low stool that can be tucked completely underneath.
2. Add a large bulletin board to the wall above the desk. Bulletin boards are fairly easy and inexpensive to make in a customized size and can be left as plain cork like in {this gorgeous kitchen} or covered in fabric (and nailhead trim if you want to get fancy) like in {this pretty kitchen} or {this one}. And if you want an even simpler DIY, find a frame you like that fits in your space, cut a piece of cork board to fit, cover it with fabric and adhere it to your frame (tutorial {here}). Once you have a bulletin board in your kitchen, you’ll wonder how you lived without it. It’s perfect for pinning up letters to mail, bills to pay, field trip permission slips, coupons, or anything else that tends to get lost in the paperwork piles we all have.
3. If you have open shelving above the desk area, add some accessories that you love along with some baskets or storage boxes to contain clutter for a look similar to these living room shelves:
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| Pottery Barn |
Use some of those baskets to store your favorite cookbooks and most used spices if you don’t have other open shelving in your kitchen:
5. A kitchen desk is the perfect place for a family charging station – you can add a power strip to one of the drawers to create a hidden charging station like in {this kitchen} or create a charging station to add to the desktop (tutorial {here}):
I’d love to hear your thoughts about having a desk in your kitchen – do you love it or hate it? Any other tips or advice you’d like to share with Susan or anyone else who has a kitchen desk that’s collecting dust?
Anonymous says
June 26, 2014 at 7:40 amI would give my eye teeth for a desk again! Had one in our last home (23 years) but when we built 9 years ago, open concept wouldn’t accommodate one. That area was truly my command central, even had a deep file drawer for bills and records. Must have been before my time, cause I put cork on the back of the cabinet doors above for those notes. Can’t stand clutter so a framed cork board wouldn’t work for me.
Love your suggestions Kris.
Denise
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
June 26, 2014 at 11:09 pmLove the idea of a file drawer as part of the desk – would be perfect for receipts, bills, etc. And the cork on the back of the cabinet doors is a great idea too – I keep a calendar on the back of a set of mine and love having it accessible but hidden when the doors are closed. Glad your with me on my kitchen desk envy 🙂
Vel Criste says
June 26, 2014 at 8:54 amI LOVE OURS! And I agree with all your suggestions Kris! Ours is MY command center, that’s where all the homework and notes from school gets dropped off and as you probably saw in the past, I try to prettify and organize it all the time! Nowadays, my hubs is into the aquarium phase with the boys so it houses a small aquarium too. gotta compromise with them you know. 🙂
Patty Day @Pattys Epiphanies says
June 26, 2014 at 9:25 amGreat ideas on how to “dress up” the kitchen desk! Builders loved them in the 80’s and 90’s! I was selling new construction then and the buyers thought they would use them constantly!!! I don’t think they ever did!
pam {simple details} says
June 26, 2014 at 10:28 amWe do have one, and I LOVE it because it’s all behind doors 🙂 and the keyboard slides out! Although I must say our kitchen island is the ‘desk’ of choice for some members of the family!
Carrie @ Cosy Carolina Interiors says
June 26, 2014 at 12:38 pmGreat tips! I love the chairs you have selected especially that Macau from Ballard. 🙂
[email protected] says
June 26, 2014 at 4:42 pmI totally agree that it is a grass is always greener thing. I don’t have a desk in the kitchen but know it would just create clutter with my young kids. You offer chic and practical solutions. It presents a great opportunity to splurge on your dream chair since you are only buying one (I think my husband would disagree!)
Simply LKJ says
June 26, 2014 at 5:46 pmGreat ideas Kris! We have one, and while I no longer sit at it (our little princess, aka Cairn, has her crate underneath…fits perfectly and is out of the way) I do use it to house our changing station and go to items such as pens, paper, phone directories, go to gadgets like our tape measure and batteries. Ours hand open cubbies and glass doors above originally and we had our cabinet maker a few years ago add a drop down door for the cubbies and solid doors. Keep the mess of papers looking neat in the cubbies and we now store all our much used cookbooks in the cabinets. I always loved having a stool that I could store under the desk out of the way (it is close to our walkway by the dining room) before we put her crate there. We have considered having the 3 drawers turned into a built in beverage center as well. Need to talk to my cabinet guy about that one.
Lisa @ Shine Your Light says
June 26, 2014 at 9:17 pmI had one in my last house and it was a junk collector, but that’s because it wasn’t very efficient. I would love a desk area that could house our home printer, and a file drawer for bills, as well as those USB port outlets you shared a while back. I hate clutter here and there and need a place to stash stuff out of site but still acsessible. All that cabinetry in your butcher block area! I love it. I would LIVE there!!!
Tracy Laverty says
June 27, 2014 at 9:26 amI so need these inspirations! My kitchen desk area is not ready to be shown because I’m still figuring out a better system. I LOVE your charging station you made- brilliant. Thanks for some good ideas. By the way, your kitchen is gorgeous. I love the butcher block you put in.
Dawn says
November 25, 2014 at 2:20 pmI *wish* I had a desk in my kitchen. I clutter up the counter or the dining room table because I don’t have one (I’m sitting @ the dining room table right now & have papers spread all over!). On the must-have list for the next house, whenever that might be…
Kristen says
October 28, 2016 at 6:56 pmI’m torn if I should yank mine out or not. We do use it sometimes, but it is a junk collector, but where will we put phones, laptops, etc without it. Doing renovations now and I can’t decide. Wondering if people are putting them in new kitchens or are they dated? I’d love some feedback
Kris Jarrett says
November 3, 2016 at 11:16 pmHi Kristen,
I’ve seen new homes both with and without desks but I don’t think they’re as popular now as they used to be. I had one in our old house but don’t in our current one and while I thought I’d miss it, I honestly don’t. However, our home office is right off of our kitchen so that makes a difference!
Kristen says
November 4, 2016 at 1:01 amThanks so much for your input. I think I’ll keep it and just update it, I’m afraid I’ll regret it since I have my own business and my office is upstairs, which isn’t always convenient.
Katherine says
January 16, 2017 at 7:16 pmThis is a great post, so glad to find it! We have a desk in our kitchen and it has just never been practical. We are thinking of replacing it. With cabinets that are functional but now you have given me some good ideas for charging station, etc. thank you!
Kris Jarrett says
January 24, 2017 at 6:26 pmGlad you enjoyed the post Katherine!
Barb says
March 26, 2017 at 2:08 pmMy desk is only a few feet from the dining room table so a chair is impractical. It does seem to collect junk.
Kris Jarrett says
March 28, 2017 at 11:20 pmI had the same problem in our old house!
Bridy Madill says
September 17, 2018 at 11:44 pmThank you for the blog post! We are renovating out kitchen and I am having a lot of doubts about adding in the desk unit to the new design. I currently have a desk and use it all the time (sitting at it right now). I am trying to decide if I will regret not having one or regret having one. My other option is to use that space as a large pantry and storage area, but I won’t have a desk. Your blog made me realise that if you have a desk and use it, keep it! Hopefully if we ever sell the house the buyers will see the value in the desk as much as I do.
Kris Jarrett says
October 3, 2018 at 10:58 pmI totally agree! If it’s something you love and use all the time, I would make your kitchen your own and keep it!
Kristin Kiddy says
September 15, 2019 at 10:17 amI wanted to continue comments on this blog post into 2019 so that people can see that the kitchen desk STILL has not become passe. I recently remodeled my kitchen (this would be the 5th kitchen I’ve done in my life) and I put in another desk. I have always had a desk in the kitchen and I have always used it. It is were my computer is (I am typing from it now). I always put in a file drawer for storing papers and a cabinet for housing cookbooks etc. I have to admit, it gets cluttered as it is a work space. But I love the central location of it. My husband has an office for his job… he works from home. There is plenty of room for me in there, but I find it too remote for me to get my work done since I am usually cooking, doing laundry, or just wanting to be in the heart of the home while I work. I worried that I had made a “design” mistake when I saw a bunch of posts online that the kitchen desk is a 90’s dinosaur. I was happy to read all the comments here of so many people that still enjoy their desks. Add me to the list!