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Good Questions: Rolling, Stowable Home Office Caddy Solution?

cart.jpgHello AT,

I work from home, in a relatively small apartment in nyc where my desk takes up a large portion of our living space. In trying to make things more multifunctional I am replacing my desk with a dining table, so I can move my work away at the end of the day. In order to do this I am looking for some sort of movable filing cabinet / cart. Ideally I would like it to hold my printer, files and telephone (so I can wheel it along and plug it into an outlet), with space to house all the other desk essentials like pen, notepad etc...

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PearsonLloyd designed something called Homer for Knoll in the 90’s (a kind of hot desking solution) but the closest I can find now is the attached from Muji (at MoMA), but it’s just too small, and a little open and “on show”.

Our interior is quite minimalist with several mid century pieces. Any ideas for other carts / systems?

Thanks!! Andy


Dear Andy,

Very good question. We wish we could turn up something that was woody and a little more homey so that it blends into your dining room or wherever else it goes, but these are our best picks. Consider this a starter list only:

kartell oxo computer cart
Anna Castelli Ferrieri's Componibili Storage Units
Hive has a couple more interesting things
Levenger also can be a good source for flexible home office solutions

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Comments (12)

Hi, Andy. Try searching eBay for "modern bar cart" (no quotes, search name and description, in Antiques). The results of that search can be, as you said above, "on show," but the style would surely fit your existing decor, and might be a good place to start.

In particular, eBay item 260102307376 is rather wonderful.

posted by moira on April 4th 2007 at 5:30am
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Sam's Club has one that I bought recently, really it's a prep table but I love it! It's $113 and they ship right to your door.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=158456

posted by I Love Upstate on April 4th 2007 at 5:30am
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a restaurant service cart if you'd like an industrial touch would work. try shopping the bowery for used carts at lower prices.

posted by patrik on April 4th 2007 at 5:36am
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We have the same problem (work from home teeny apartment), so we got this: http://roomandboard.com/rnb/collection.do?method=get&id=7721087&cat=49

I know it's not quite what you are looking for, but it's surprisingly roomy for being very small, and we keep our files and printer hidden inside and out of view.

posted by polina on April 4th 2007 at 5:42am
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Moira, thanks. You're right that item is very nice. I will be tracking that!

Never thought of it as a "bar cart". I grew up in England where something like that would have been called a "hostess trolley", so I haven't been using the right key words for ebay.

posted by AndyJohnson on April 4th 2007 at 5:45am
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Remove your printer from the equation and you'll have more options: set up your printer in a cabinet or closet and have it print wirelessly.

West Elm used to have a small compact cube/desk thing that might work, but they don't seem to carry it anymore.

posted by patrick (the other one) on April 4th 2007 at 6:11am
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I have thought about taking the printer out of the equation by printing wirelessly, but I have a printer/copier/scanner so I can't use it wirelessly. I have thought about buying another printer to use wirelessly, but I'd still need to keep the scanner/ copier one somewhere in the apartment for when I need to scan things (which is probably only a couple of times a week).

Definately an option though.

posted by AndyJohnson on April 4th 2007 at 6:15am
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For someone's future, at Circuit City, we recently saw a printer/copier/scanner that is wireless. It was compact, too. So if you're in the market for one, it can be obtained.

posted by wende in the twin cities on April 4th 2007 at 6:31am
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Andy, maybe something like this:

http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODf032&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1SLEFRN&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1SLEFRN

But I have to say that Moira's suggestion is the best. Someone in the cure is making a printer cozy out of wood and paper to keep it pretty when not in use.

posted by eSusan on April 4th 2007 at 7:14am
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Yeah, the other option is definitely a tailored/Velcro'd skirt around something more utilitarian.

posted by patrick (the other one) on April 4th 2007 at 7:19am
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Microwave carts would work well for this. A lot of them nowadays are open storage as in the picture, but you can still find several that offer hidden storage if you search around. Some even have drawers. We have two microwave carts that we use at home. One houses our tools so we can move from room to room without having to trek back to the garage when making repairs and the other one we use for a mobile coffee station. You might have to cut a small hole in the back for cords, but that isn't usually a big deal.

posted by Beth B. on April 4th 2007 at 8:08am
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While doing some research for a project of my own, I came across these rolling carts. I'm sure they're intended for schools, but I don't see why you couldn't use one at home, too:

http://tinyurl.com/2hjjj8

posted by caitlin on April 4th 2007 at 11:54am
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