While flipping through a Dwell issue, we came across a home featured with an upstairs attic turned home office. Their small space solution for a desk was a kneeling desk
We instantly became interested in the kneeling desk because it makes us think of the Japanese Seiza bench and desk setup. We've seen a couple kneeling desk setups and they vary but have the same basics. Back in college I visited a friend's apartment and his kneeling desk setup was quite interesting. The floor was covered with wrestling mats from his earlier days on his school's wrestling team and his desk, which was about a couple inches shorter than a coffee table, was placed on top, with a cushion in front for a seat. You can really make a kneeling desk out of whatever pieces of furniture you want.
Here are some choices of desks and poufs or floor pillows you can use to create a kneeling desk setup on your own:
Desk Options
Scando Coffee Table: My sister has this coffee table in her apartment and when I visited we used it as a coffee table of course, but also as a dining table to sit on the floor and eat or even to work on our laptops. Multifunctional pieces of furniture are always a good idea in small spaces, and this Scando coffee table is a beautifully designed piece that works for many uses, including a kneeling desk.
Mealbox: Mealbox is a Japanese style dining table that can be put away into a box, including all the stools. How's that for space saving? Mealbox can be used as a kneeling desk for one person, but can also be used for up to four if needed. It's a good spot for a study hall session and then clear off the table for dinner afterwards.
Klubbo: If you just want to stick to an extremely simple one-person solution, you can also try one of IKEA's coffee tables. I like the one's with an ash veneer. You can easily use these as coffee tables, small desks or nightstands.
Seat Options
There are so many floor cushions and color poufs to choose from. Here are three of our favorites.
Blockprint Chartreuse Floor Pillow
(Images: 1. West Elm, 2. DesignPublic, 3. Igland Design, 4. IKEA, 5. West Elm, 6. Anthropologie, 7. CB2)
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Do you mean a desk that would be used to pay an occasional bill, or one that would be used for a regular work day? This would cause back strain for most people in the USA if it was used as a desk for work. It may work better in Japan, where people are socialized into sitting this way. But even there, workplaces don't use such desks. More to the point, in countries where AT readers are located, most people would not have the ab strength and habits to make this work for any but occasional use.
My 13 yr old daughter just described to me a kneeling desk - its something she wants. Both my teenage kids have desks in their rooms, nice desk chairs with height adjustment, but they both do their homework on the floor. The 16 yr old took the kitchen's step stool, now the 13 yr old wants something nicer - and I'm sure she'd jump at a chance for the scando coffee table as her desk.
I don't think this is directed toward people who are looking for office furniture, or who need a solution for their work from home jobs.
I actually think this idea could be a nice alternative for someone who doesn't want to go the full-sized-desk and-office-chair route. It might actually help keep some people from spending your entire day on the computer, which is a plus! But I do agree that if you don't have good posture to begin with, this may not be the best solution for you.
Oops - I meant "their entire day on the computer"
Heh, it's comments like that that let you know how addicted westerners are to our chairs! :P
I actually do a lot of my work with an Ikea Lack table and my laptop. And we're talking hours of photo work, so it's not like I'm only paying bills for a few minutes. It's suprisingly comfy! I find floor cushions are a wee bit less comfortable than simple carpet, but it probably depends on your kneeling method. For folks who don't have young knees (I'm slowly getting there) a really low ergonomic knee stool would probably be awesome.
Yeah, I believe that this post was meant to be for someone who doesn't have a lot of space, I really wouldn't mind to sit on a cushon and on the floor, I also do my homework on the floor most of the time, place my laptop on my legs and have all my books around me, something like this would be wonderful, it wouldn't hurt my back because I am always either laying on the floor with my back on the wall or the couch, don't freak out, it's not to replace the typical desk, not a bad idea.
I tried a desk like this last summer when I moved into a new place, because I love to sit cross legged and couldn't find a chair with a wide enough seat to be comfortable doing so. Btw, it only took me about five days to get used to sitting this way vs a regular chair and about three weeks to become totally addicted to it, however, there were complications.
Seemed like a great idea until two spiders the size of quarters then one the size of a silver dollar ran across the floor right behind me in a single evening (had some weather stripping to do on the front door) while I was typing away and I realized I had apparently invaded their habitat.
Now I sit on a sort of hard topped ottoman I made myself at a regular height desk, seems to be working, when spiders find their way in they are at least back on their own level and I'm on mine.
QUOTE: I love to sit cross legged and couldn't find a chair with a wide enough seat to be comfortable doing so
@LUXLVN: If you ever do find such a chair, please do share
I've had my "desk" on the floor for several years now. The computer sits on a low table and I sit on a floor cushion (I don't actually kneel; my feet fall asleep if I kneel for too long, though it does promote better posture). I can be on the computer for hours at a time with this setup. I like it not only for the comfort, but it also keeps the desk/computer from dominating the room.
This would not work for an older person even as an 'occasional' desk. It's hard on the knees and as someone else pointed out, hard on the back too even if you do have a strong core.
In reply to, SASHA2. I'm not sure where you think most AT readers are from, but coming from a large city (New York), where space is limited in most apartments you'd be surprised at how this forces you to change your behavior and perception of furniture. To you, these lowered coffee tables might pose a problem- however, when you put a little creativity and thought in it to addressing the back issues (pillows, perhaps, that can support your back if you position the table near a wall)- I am sure you'd be able to find some sort of solution. I agree with most commenters that this wouldn't be the ideal desk- but I think the author was referring to this as one solution is you don't have space for a desk. And as others have pointed out-it's not uncommon and they've been working like this.
The tone of your post reminds me that those who don't live in largely populated cities in the US can't seem to get away from the notion that "America is bigger and better", but your post also made me laugh to think that you would think that these desks were made for the office environment. ;) I completely agree with you- most workplaces in the US or Japan probably would not be using these desks in an office environment. Socialized or not, I think most offices (not referring to "home offices") probably have regular desks. Funny thought though! Thanks for sharing.
Personally, I can't get down onto the floor - arthritis. But when it comes to something similiar - I find sitting on a bed, with a stand-alone breakfast tray is similiar and you can use it all day way easy. (That's the breakfast tray with legs thingy)
Something like this that could be stable on top of a bed would be brill.
I love this!! All through HS I had set up an old thin coffee table as my desk with a meditation pillow to sit on, these are so much classier then that. @luxlvn please please share! I sit the same way too (even on air plane thanks to being really short), and chairs are never big enough nor comfortable enough to sit for very long like that.
Only for the young and spry! Since I'm neither (and have bone spurs in both knees, making kneeling excruciating) I'd rather save space by sitting on the sofa with some kind of tray table (maybe one of those cantilevered ones) with my laptop or paperwork. Luckily I have the space for a small desk... (OK, it's an IKEA table just the size for my computer setup -- I do my rare actual paperwork in the living room.)
Anyhow, for those of you who can function with kneeling desks, more power to you!