This ’90s Kitchen Staple Is Being Replaced with Something Far More Practical (and Fun!)

Growing up in the ’90s, there were a few features in my friends’ homes that absolutely amazed me — things like unfinished basements, backyard trampolines, and, for the lucky few, TVs in their bedrooms that they could watch anytime (that also got cable.)

But the one ’90s home feature that truly captivated me was the little kitchen nook with a built-in desk. I vividly remember the first time I saw one at a friend’s house — complete with a desktop computer and a color-coded family calendar and a glossy tiled workspace. As a kid who loved doing homework, played newspaper reporter instead of house, and had a well-worn day planner, it all seemed so official and novel to me.

I had almost forgotten about the kitchen desk workspace trend until my husband and I were shopping for homes last spring, and I saw several glassed-wall spaces staged like offices right off kitchens, which is perhaps a modern-day iteration of the trend in new builds. 

But the kitchen nook, surrounded with built-in wood cabinets, as my nostalgic memory remembers, is officially on the endangered species list, something that I confirmed recently with home experts. 

“One item we are seeing done away with in a lot of renovations is the ’90s and early 2000s kitchen desk,” says Emily Waldmann, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman in Austin, Texas. “This was usually a place where the landline phone, yellow pages, and the family calendar all lived, and now that we all have cell phones in our pockets, this has gone to the wayside.” 

These days, if people need to pop open their laptop to make a grocery list from recipes they’ve saved online, they’re usually doing so at the kitchen island. There’s no longer a need to have our dial-up internet powered desktops next to the home phone to prevent someone from disrupting our connection, either — which is something my fellow elder millennials will remember. 

Homeowners, Waldmann says, are taking back that kitchen desk square footage and using it to give either more counter space, more pantry space, or more storage for all the newer modern appliances like air fryers, pressure cookers, and vitamixers, she says.

What was once a designated drop zone for mail and home organization and sometimes held the “family computer” in the ’90s and early 2000s now just feels like wasted space, adds Jodi Peterman, CEO and Owner of Elizabeth Erin Designs.

Laptops and mobile work have made them obsolete, and homeowners, she’s noticed, are instead opting instead for walk-in pantries or coffee bars, she says.

If a dedicated work zone is needed, then a proper home office or a flex space that can be used for other purposes is the new normal, according to Peterman.

Another renovation trend? A lot of those old kitchen desks are being transformed into at-home wine bars or built-in minibars as of late, says Alecia Taylor, designer at Cabinet Now.

Now that’s a home feature that would wow me as an adult — because my color-coded calendar can live on my Google Drive.