apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Flat doors are best unless you put a sheet of acrylic or glass over the top!

Maybe I'm spoiled living so close to the Herman Miller factory (and factory outlet store) but I can't believe that these desks don't have nicer legs.

Architecture students have been doing this for a long time to remedy the inadequate drafting tables schools give them. The best is to get two doors and a 2x4. You place one door flat on the legs then attach the 2x4 on top of the door. Hinge the top door to the 2x4 and you have a slanted desk top (or add another 2x4 for a level surface) and the top can lift up to reveal storage space underneath.

I agree with tashar - the first photo with the paneled door as a desk is kind of silly. Especially with the hinges left on and facing out, for anything to get snagged on.

Also, these are all almost definitely solid-core doors, not hollow core doors. Hollow core doors are so lightweight that they would be awkward as desktops. Also, the surface material is very cheap and would get extremely gross if you ever got perspiration from your hand on it.

Okay, I actually read the articles, and they all used hollow-core doors but treated the surface in various ways. So my criticism of the surfacing material is not as valid in these cases. But I still think having a hollow desk would feel strangely flimsy... like if you sat down in the middle of it the whole thing would snap in half. Or if you had a heavy computer monitor, it would fall through the desk in the middle of the night, etc.

I have been using a hallowed out door supported by two small walmart shelves as my desk for two years now, and it works great. It holds up quite well to my two record players, 4 stereo speakers and clunky desktop computer.

I have actually been doing this for 5 years. For me it's not about the cheap solution - it's more about the amount of space. Door desks are huge! What I ended up doing was painting the door black, and holding it up with two black filing cabinets on each end.

My door is a solid wood door purchased from a hardware store, and it holds up quite well : 1 crt monitor, 1 flat panel, a printer, sound system, two cpus...

Yeah, with a solid-core door, I would think you could jump up and down on it and it would be fine. We actually used them as desks at an architecture firm I worked at years ago, and they were basically bullet-proof. And gigantic, great for building models, or spreading out large sets of drawings. Maybe a bit too large for most NYC apartments.

Hollow core doors work well for short term use,like party tables.They are light and easy to carry to and from storage.
Been using them as party tables for more than 10 years.

Can anyone identify the lighting fixture in the third photo?

Devonian - That's the Potence lamp by Jean Prouve.