10 Great Desk & Chair Combos

Workspaces aren't always the prettiest parts of a home, so we appreciate a well-designed one all the more. It doesn't take much. At minimum, you need a good desk and chair, but that combination can be surprisingly hard to pull off. It's easy to slip into IKEA mode and buy the off-the-shelf set, or mix and match with weird-looking results. In case you need some inspiration, we've rounded up a few well-calculated formulas for chair/desk combos from our favorite home offices...

FIRST ROW
• DIY Desk + Arper Chairs from Tia and Mikko's Masterplan
• Florence Knoll Desk + Eames Executive Chair from Andreas' Greektown Loft
• IKEA Desk + Chair (later replaced with a Red Eames) from Kathryn's Tiny Home Office
• Elfa Workstation + Herman Miller Caper Chair from Melissa and Matt's Design Lab
• DIY Wall-mounted Desk + Eames Shell Chair from Corey, Gustavo, & Kyle's Home

SECOND ROW
• Craigslist Roll-top Desk + Second-hand Chair from Jessica and Erik's Cozy Bungalow
• LAX Series Desk + Emeco 1951 Chair from At Work Design
• Blu Dot Desk 51 + Panton Chair from Wes & Kayla's Apartment
• Aeron Chair + Industrial-style Desk/Shelving from Chuck & Holly's High-School Home
• Homelife Desk + Chair from Ikeahacker's Home Office

Comments (7)

I don't see how any of these would be remotely comfortable for sitting over 20 min. except the Aaron chair. I have the Humanscale Freedom chair with a Le Corbusier LC 6 in y home office I highly recommend this chair.

An Aeron chair is worth every cent. A non-ergonomic chair costs much more in the form of chiropractor/physiotherapy bills.

I'm all for cool-looking design -- even if it isn't always comfortable -- but a desk chair matters too much to buy for looks alone.

All of these are so cute. I love the Craigslist roll top desk.

i love the first photo on the top right. it's a fabulous use of limited space! it's brilliant.

Hi everyone...

I'm new here (though i've been following AT for awhile. I finally decided to join because I think I need...well...THERAPY!. Okay...the issue: a home office desk. I'm living in a part of Florida that isnt' exactly known for amazing middle of the night curbside pieces...this is more....particle board....buy it quick at walmart country. I know this...because I've been trolling clist for three weeks and NEEED a desk. My bf has an affection for roll top desk...me...not so much but I think that it's due in part to never having quite considered one AND the fact that I just came off a year and a half of trying to make random pieces work whilst in NYC. I've learned to reuse and make due with just about everything.

So...I found a roll top and bought it for 100 bucks...thinking...he'll like it...I could learn to love it...most importantly..it has storage! yay! Because even though I'd kill for the reclaimed pine sawhorse desk at anthro...it STILL hasn't any storage and it's $800. No way.

My comment or question..finally...are roll tops completely unfortunate looking? This is not some funky Danish roll top...its pretty traditional. I discovered that the top is particle with a piece of real wood over the top. I've sanded the roughness, but there's not a chance in hell i'm sanding all the way down (because it's not solid wood). I'm thinking I could put funky aqua/brass knobs from anthro and wrought iron pulls for the drawers to make it more...me? *sigh* even then....we're still pretty far in left field, but i'm trying to be positive about it. Oh...as I said...I sanded the rough spots and put one coat of golden oak varnish on it, so that it looked a bit more uniform before attempting to 'distress'. p.s....I love belgian interiors...what could I do to this piece to make it more...rustic?

Thank you;)