Most Irish home offices aren't offices at all. They're a corner of the bedroom, a box room that also holds the hoover, or a gap under the stairs. A full-size desk won't fit, but a good small desk will, and it can make a tight space feel like a proper place to work.
Here's how to pick the right small desk for your room, with our picks for bedrooms, box rooms, study corners and spaces where there's barely any floor at all.
How to choose a small desk
1. Measure the space, then measure the gap behind it
Measure the wall or corner where the desk will go, and leave at least 70 cm to 1 metre behind it so you can pull your chair out. In a box room, that gap is often what decides the desk size, not the wall.
2. Width: 80 to 100 cm for most people
A desk 80 cm wide fits a laptop, a mouse and a mug. Go to 100 cm if you use a separate monitor, or if a child or teenager needs room for books as well as a screen. Under 70 cm works for a laptop-only setup.
3. Depth: 40 to 60 cm
Shallow desks (40 to 50 cm) suit landings, hallways and the end of a bed. If you use a monitor, aim for 50 to 60 cm so the screen isn't too close to your eyes.
4. Storage on the desk, not beside it
In a small room, a desk with a shelf, cupboard or bookcase built in saves you buying a separate unit. Look for storage that goes up, not out.
5. Colour matters more in a small room
A white desk reflects light and looks lighter than wood or black, which helps in a north-facing bedroom or a box room with a small window.
Our small desk picks
Best white desk for a bedroom
The compact desk with storage shelf (90 cm, white gloss) has a shelf under the desktop for a laptop, notebooks or a printer, and the gloss finish keeps a bedroom bright. If you want something even smaller, the 80 cm compact computer desk with shelf fits beside a bed or under a window.
Best study desk
For homework or study, the simple computer desk (100 × 60 cm, white) gives enough room for books and a screen side by side. The fold-away desk with bookcase and whiteboard is a good choice for a teenager's room, with shelves for books and a whiteboard for timetables. It also comes with a chalkboard in dark grey.
Best small desk with storage
The compact computer desk with keyboard tray and cupboard (100 × 52 cm, also in walnut) packs a pull-out keyboard tray, a cupboard and a space for a PC tower into a desk that still fits a bedroom wall.
Best small corner desk
Corners are the most wasted space in most rooms. The small corner desk with bookcase sets up as an L-shape or a straight desk, so it moves with you if you change rooms. It also comes in black.
Best desk for a box room
If the room has to be a bedroom or a spare room after work, a wall desk that folds away is hard to beat. The compact fold-down wall desk is only 64 cm wide and folds flat against the wall, with 3 compartments to hide your laptop and paperwork. See the full range of fold down and wall mounted desks.
Best small desk if you can't drill
Renting? The folding desk on wheels (80 cm) folds flat and rolls behind a door or into a wardrobe. For working from the sofa or bed, the mobile sit-stand laptop desk has a tilting top and adjusts from sitting to standing height.
Make a small desk work harder
- Raise your screen. A monitor riser or laptop stand frees up desk space underneath and helps your neck.
- Use the wall. Floating shelves above the desk hold everything you don't need every day. Our small space storage ideas have more tips.
- Get cables off the desk. A few cable clips and a tray under the desk make a small desk look tidy and bigger.
- Pick a compact chair. A chair without wide arms tucks fully under the desk. See our best office chairs for working from home.
Setting up in a bedroom or box room? Read our office in bedroom ideas and box room office ideas, or browse all small desks. Want the full list of what to buy? See our work from home essentials checklist. Every desk ships from an EU warehouse with tracked delivery across Ireland, free on orders of €75 or more.