apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

you know you're going to start something with bringing up Walmart, but thanks for the pic! i've been looking for a small computer desk for my house..this will be added to my list of possibles :)

love the shape, not crazy about the orange and the fact its from walmart.

It looks like an animal. The opening is the mouth the "pulls" are the eyes.

It might look good but it's probably a rickety, disposable piece of junk, made out of toxic chemicals in China by 12-year-old political dissidents.

It might look good but it's probably a rickety, disposable piece of junk, made out of toxic chemicals in China by 12-year-old political dissidents.....

You mean just like at AT darling IKEA???

I kind of like it actually.

and not all their stuff is rickety. This table for instance is one I bought because it folds down. Target sells it for more money and twice as much shipping. The chairs are ... best used sober, but the table is neat. My friend kept her chairs, I returned mine and use the would be chair storage to store other things. The alcohol that makes the chairs unsafe for instance. It's a great little table and it was only like $114 once the chairs were returned. No shipping with site to store and they'd let me return the chairs...

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5691071

Sure it's cute but where do you put the consumer guilt and shame?

yeuch. reminds me of a desk at an inschool detention center. and NO, i didn't have detention..my mom ran the room! :)

and i agree on walmart hating. however, for some like my pooooor self, walmart's the only store in a 50 mile radius that i can get to without dumping $30 of gas in my car for ONE trip.

What is the advantage of living so far away from stores?

Anyway, the desk is kind of fug. It reminds me of dorm furniture. I realize a lot of popularity with the modern movement was accessibility by the masses, that's exactly what this desk looks like. It doesn't look like my desk, it looks like a desk they'd have imposed on everyone, institution-style.

I like the look, but I'd never get it since it's from Wal-Mart. I refuse to even step foot in their stores because of their corporate philosophy and business practices. Not to mention what they do to small towns all over the US.

To me it looks exactly like it came from Wal-Mart.

It's actually called a Stockholm Desk.... my, that's.... subtle.





cough

walmart bashing never really makes sense to me.

affordable design does.

thanks for posting.

The press-board and exposed hardware alone suggest wal-mart. Wal-mart has for some time been offering gruesome imitations of mid-century design. Christ the desk is ugly, and the fact that it tries to ape something original and beautiful makes it worse.

Come on people, don't beat around the bush, just say what you really think. Furniture snobs are alive and well at AT, and I thought they were growing up. Don't like the desk much.

Doesn't IKEA have a line of furniture called "Stockholm"? And don't they also make a lot of things out of particle board? hate Walmart if you want but hate it for reasons that make sense.

I would love to be able to spend $1800 on a desk like this: http://www.dwr.com/product/categories/workspace/worktop-tables/nelson-swag-leg-desk.do
But even if I saved for months I still wouldnt be able to afford it. I'm very happy that AT pointed out this stylish, affordable solution.

I just bought an awesome tv stand on their site that was MUCH sturdier than I imagined it would be and I swear they made a mistake w/ the price b/c I saw the same exact one on other sites for 3 times as much.

The desk above is not my style and neither is the ever popular Walmart hateration but it's decent looking desk and most importantly, it's affordable! I can't afford an $800 desk or a $3000 dining room table (maybe one day!) so for now, I buy wherever I can satisfy my eyes AND my wallet.

Is price tag the only consideration for some of you? For a low price you're getting what? A flimsy knockoff made of press-board, fabricated in a sweatshop, sold in a store that undermines local businesses. Having principles doesn't make me a "furniture snob" I want a better world, and for me that isn't measured by where I can get the cheapest stuff.

Compare to: http://www.kerfdesign.com

i'm not anti-walmart but i'm anti-particle board. cute stuff though. i love the trolly.

I kind of like it. Brent, if you don't have much money, price has to be the main consideration. Then, yeah, you save for a few years until you can afford a nice replacement.

Ikea has good environmental and labor policies, so comparing them to Wal-Mart is inaccurate.

This desk is, in fact, made with PVC, one of the more toxic substances that people somehow continue to use. The website doesn't indicate where it is made outside the US.

"Is price tag the only consideration for some of you?"

Sometimes yes actually it is. I'd rather not put myself in debt to furnish my home and even with "design within reach," I can't afford the $1800 desk someone linked. So yes, sometimes the price is the only thing I'm considering. When I can, I prefer to get an item on sale, second hand, or re purpose what I already have.

Frankly, Walmart is no worse then Target or Kmart or any of the other giant stores out there. It's just more in style to be a Walmart hater.

Ok... I admit I bought the storage unit and, say what you will about Wal-Mart, this thing has three great things going for it: Price (including free shipping to a store near me), completely STURDY construction (logical instructions), and it's extremely snazzy (the orange is very mellow and attractive).

I am very happy with it and the truth is... if that bookcase were still in stock(holm) I'd buy that too!

Oh, and by the way... IKEA is currently raping the forests of Siberia... so... pick your poison.

"It might look good but it's probably a rickety, disposable piece of junk, made out of toxic chemicals in China by 12-year-old political dissidents....."

"You mean just like at AT darling IKEA???"

For the record, I don't buy particle board furniture anywhere, not even IKEA. Actually, since I live hundreds of miles from the nearest IKEA, I don't buy anything there.

Sorry, hon, your snark missed the target.

I am a single parent with an immediate need for a modest desk that fits in the small condo I am buying as part of a major downsizing. Oh, and I'm losing my job due to a corporate restructuring. I need a place to put my computer and files while I look for work (and so my kids have a place to do their homework). This desk is looking pretty good to me right now.

Meanwhile, while all of you self-righteous know-it-alls snub your noses at Wal-Mart (because I'm sure NOTHING in your homes was procured in anything but the most honorable fair-trade ways), I am making choices in my life that do make a difference--walking or biking instead of driving, shopping locally for food and anything else I can, and cutting my carbon footprint in half. Sorry I can't do more. Now excuse me while I go look for a full-time job with health care in a depressed market...

......

why hasn't anyone proposed a DIY of this? Some of the hardware and perhaps the metal base might be hard to find, but it can be adapted into a total DIY project that even a beginne could handle once they have the plans.

It's nothing but straight lines and for those so damned anti particle board but want a somewhat modern feel to it, can either use plywood (which might fit the style better than you'd like to think) or real wood.

quit bi***ing.

Other than that, it's just not my style.

As for the $1800 desk, I DON'T consider that really "design within reach".

I went with the Mission style desk and bookcases from office max, (About $150 for the desk and 2 bookcases when i got it) and had a side chair salvaged and reupholstered with a beautiful embossed geometric leather i bought on ebay for $15 (reupholstering was about another $200).

I then bought a sizable original piece of artwork from a local art school for about $500, and hung it on the wall.

For the about HALF of the cost of the the $1800 desk, I furnished my office and now own some really unique pieces.

I'll probably furnish my living room next on the cash I "saved" by not buying that desk.

Thanks but no thanks.

I honestly don't like the desk but why walmart bash? I'm sure we've all been in there and I am not going to stop because I may look 'poor' doing that. At least that's how some people on here are making it seem.

As far as I am concerned, boycotting Walmart (or any other store publicly known as not having any social conscience) is not about not wanting to look poor. It's about making my part as a member of society and stopping giving money to big companies who exploit underpaid people (adults AND children) and treat them like sh... How do you think Walmart can offer products as such low prices??? Somebody has to pay for that and it's not you and certainly not Walmart. But who cares about the people in those far away countries as long as you get what you want, right?
I was born in a third world country where some big US and French brands have their stuff made for a couple of dollars (salary included and forget about employee benefits and health insurance or normal work hours) and then they sell them in "developped" countries for 100 dollars.
It's true that many other stores are as questionable as Walmart and we don't know all of them, but whenever we do know, we should take a stand for those that can't (and please, don't tell me they should work elsewhere if they are not happy with their working conditions).

madsarah -- you rock! you took the words right out of my mouth!

Sigh.... Yes, I'm sure if Wal-Mart weren't employing those children in third world countries, all those children would be lawyers and doctors and investment bankers. Right.

Oh, and I'm also sure that all those people in middle-of-nowhere America really did prefer having to drive 50 miles to the nearest town for life necessities.

I wonder what the soapboxes, that so many of the commenters on here like to stand on, are made from...

I have to say, the ugliness of that desk is probably the most unethical thing about it...

I bet you if you said the desk was made by "Le Fill-In-The-Blank von Mc-Blank-erson" who designs furniture in TrendyNordicCountry-land, everyone would be like, "oooh! aaahh! I've got to have one where can I get it?" The answer would no doubt be from some store with a weird name that you would only be able to find in like 12 cities in the world and the desk would sell for 750 dollars. No one would question where it came from, who made it, or what carcinogen it contained.
But wait, GOTCHA! It's from WALMART! And there flies the comments. I know Wally World isn't the greatest company, in terms of social conscience and I don't necessarily LOVE Walmart, but I know some people (with consciences) who just cannot afford to shop anywhere else. It's one of those corners we've socially and capitalistically backed ourselves into.

All that being said, the desk is ugly and my iBook would be ashamed to even sit on it.

I think it is cute. I am sure you could paint the color parts anything you wanted. I like the multi-pupose side bins - In/Out boxes, storage, etc. I also like the cubby on top. I can see rigging that up as a recharging station. I like the legs with the flat bottom where I can put cushy slides for wood floors or plastic ones for carpet. Material construction not withstanding and my very teeny tiny budget big in my mind.... I like it. It is blocky and probably a good design to IKEAhack, but with little money and no skills in hacking furniture, I would buy it if I needed a desk right this minute.