Two lives, several screens, one bespoke desk
Tired of putting up with a badly organised workspace, Gemma dreamed of an ergonomic desk that would maximise the available room and help her achieve a better work-life balance.
None of the big furniture retailers had the desk Gemma Smith needed for her home office. As a radiologist, she has several screens to look at, as well as her personal computer.
Gemma came to us with a clear design brief, which developed after visiting her home in Weetwood, Leeds, to take measurements and look at the space. The main specifications were:
L-shaped
the desk should provide distinct areas for personal and professional screen time.
Heating
the design would have to accommodate a radiator on one of the office walls.
Flexibility
Gemma wanted the desk to be attached to the walls but appear to be freestanding.
Durable
the desktops would have to be easy to maintain and stand up to heavy use.
Overlapping desktops
As Gemma suggested, an L-shaped desk would be best for optimising the available space and for creating two distinct areas. But it’d have to accommodate a radiator somehow – a ‘problem’ which we soon saw as an opportunity, with it leading to us creating staggered desktops, which further helped differentiate between her work and personal spaces.
Airflow
To prevent the desk from trapping heat from the radiator on the window wall – something which would result in both heat inefficiency and damage to the melamine the desk was built from – we created a cut-out on the back panel of the desk and incorporated an air vent at the back of the desktop to release the rising warm air.
‘Shadow gaps’
Although the desk was made to fit Gemma’s office to a tee, it had to be freestanding, in keeping with Gemma’s wishes – and yet, she wanted us to be able to attach the desk to the wall. With no scribes (cut-outs to make the furniture fit snuggly around things like skirting boards and window ledges), the challenge was to create furniture that would only leave what looked like ‘shadow gaps’ around the edges, making the desk appear to ‘float’.
Filing cabinets
With Gemma spending a lot of time working from home, she had a lot of files to store, meaning we had to incorporate filing cabinets that would stand up to frequent use – and we achieved this using oak-effect melamine for the entire project and the Blum hardware we’ve come to depend on, which comes with a lifetime guarantee.
Testimonial
“Tom made a bespoke desk for my office. He listened carefully to my requirements and designed a beautiful, ergonomic desk which has created a perfect, functional space in my office. His attention to detail, both in design and installation, is notable. I would recommend Tom without reservation.”
Gemma Smith
The story continues…
Enjoying the benefits of her newly transformed home office, Gemma was keen to press ahead with other projects she and her husband, Ian, had been considering – including a replacement for their existing freestanding dresser and dining table.
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Materials & Finish
- Cabinetry – Egger Light Winchester Oak H3382 Melamine
- Framework – MRMDF with a spray paint finish (F&B Dovetail)
- Drinks prep surface – Premium black granite
Hardware
- Blum soft close hinges
- Blum Movento drawer runners
- Loox LED lighting
- Lara polished chrome cabinet knobs
