Top 25 Best Famous Classic Luxury Designer Desks

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." - John le Carré.

"This desk of mine is one at which a man may die, but from which he cannot resign." - Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?" - Laurence J. Peter.

"I've always prided myself on my discipline as a writer. I do it like a job. I get up in the morning and go to my desk." - Salman Rushdie.

A DESK is a generally wooded piece of furniture and a type of useful table often used in a school or office setting for various academic or professional activities such as reading or writing on or using a computer.

Desks often have one or more drawers, compartments, or pigeon holes to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on (though there are some exceptions, such as a partners desk). Not all desks have the form of a table. For instance, an armoire desk is a desk built within a large wardrobe-like cabinet, and a portable desk is light enough to be placed on a person's lap. Since many people lean on a desk while using it, a desk must be sturdy. Desks were first made from wood, but are slowly being converted into harder materials that last longer.

Until the late 1980s, desks remained a place for paperwork and business negotiation, though at the end of this decade, the personal computer was taking hold in large and medium sized businesses. New office suites included a "knee hole" credenza which was a place for a terminal or personal computer and keyboard tray. Soon new office designs also included "U-shape" suites which added a bridge worksurface between the back credenza and front desk. During the North American recession of the early 1990s, many manager and executive workers had to do word processing and other functions previously completed by typing pools and secretaries. This necessitated a more central placement of the computer on these "U-shape" suite desk systems.

With computers abounding, "computer paper" became an office staple. The beginning of this paper boom gave birth to the dream of the "paperless office", in which all information would appear on computer monitors. However, the ease of printing personal documents and the lack of comfort with reading text on computer monitors led to a great deal of document printing. The need for paperwork space vied with the rising desk space taken up by computer monitors, CPUs, printers, scanners, and other peripherals. As well, the need for more space led some desk companies to attach some items to the modesty panel at the back of the desk, such as multi-outlets and cabling.

Through the "tech boom" of the 1990s, office worker numbers skyrocketed along with the cost of office space rent. The cubicle desk became widely accepted in North America as an economical way of putting more desk workers in the same space without actually shrinking the size of their working surfaces. The cubicle walls have become new place for workers to affix papers and other items once left on the horizontal desktop surface. Even computer monitor frames themselves are used to attach reminder notes and business cards.

Early in the 2000s, private office workers found that their side and back computer-placing furniture made it hard to show the contents of a computer screen to guests or co-workers. Manufacturers have responded to this issue by creating "Forward Facing" desks where computer monitors are placed on the front of the "U-shape" workstation. This forward computer monitor placement promotes a clearer sight-line to greet colleagues, increases computer screen privacy and allows for common viewing of information displayed on a screen.

Desk Resources & Historic Desks

• 10 top INGENIOUS DESK DESIGNS EVERY REMOTE WORKER NEEDS IN THEIR HOME OFFICE - "Having a great desk is really important! Simply a ‘good’ desk won’t do either. A great desk helps us work comfortably and effectively. It puts us in the right mindset, helping us achieve our daily productivity goals and checkmark all the tasks on our to-do list! We’ve curated a collection of innovative, highly functional, and aesthetically pleasing desk designs, that will end your hunt for a great desk once and for all! There’s a perfect desk in here for everyone."
• 10 TOP PRODUCTS DESIGNED FOR TOP NOTCH STORAGE & ORGANIZATION OF YOUR DESK - "A cluttered desk can really be the worst thing to start your day with! It hampers your productivity and completely bogs down your mind, making it difficult to complete even the simplest of tasks. This is where I find desk organizers and other storage solutions to be ideal. We’ve collected a range of functional, practical, and aesthetically pleasing products that will organize your desk completely, while also storing away all your essentials efficiently."
• 15 best desks for 2023 - Houzz.
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• A Custom Desk for a Private Jet That Takes 1,000-Plus Hours to Create - from Bomhoff Limited in Tucson, Arizona. Built on a subtly curved composite frame, it had a quarter-sawn American-walnut veneer with five coats of proprietary finish as well as leather-lined drawers and hidden door tracks on the sides.
• Altwork Station is expensive marvel of desk engineering - engadget.
• An Aristocrat’s Grandson, a Precious Desk & a Storage Unit in Queens - "Christian Agostino von Hassell lost a trove of family heirlooms intertwined with European history when he encountered New York’s unforgiving laws governing storage lockers."
• best desks & how to adorn them - The Telegraph.
• best LED desk lamp - "After testing 15 models, these are your best three choices."
• Billionaire Jeff Bezos still uses a homemade scrappy door desk from the early days of launching Amazon - "Jeff Bezos might be a billionaire, but to this day, he still uses a homemade scrappy door desk from Amazon's early days in the 1990s. The Amazon founder's fiancée Lauren Sanchez posted a photo on Instagram over the weekend, which shows Bezos working from a laptop on the door desk. The desk have since become a symbol of Amazon's culture and are now used across its offices."
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• Bureau du Roi - also known as Louis XV's roll-top secretary (French: Secrétaire à cylindre de Louis XV), is the richly ornamented royal cylinder desk which was constructed at the end of Louis XV's reign.
• C&O desk - one of only six desks ever used by a President of the United States in the Oval Office. Built around 1920, is one of four desks built for the owners of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O).
• Corsair’s first standing desk is a huge & expandable all-in-one - "The Platform:6 will be available sometime in the fourth quarter."
• DESK - Wikipedia.
• Fully’s Jarvis standing desk is good, but its customer service is even better - "The company went above and beyond what I expected."
• Gillows of Lancaster and London - (1730-). Was an English furniture making firm based in Lancaster, Lancashire, and in London. By the mid-18th century the firm was one of the leading cabinet-makers in Lancaster.
• Herman Miller tries to cash in on our activity-tracking obsession - "Because we’re going to die from sitting at our desks all day."
• Historic writer's desk could be 'knackered' old fake - "The desk of the writer Dr Samuel Johnson is to be returned to his former London home for the first time in more than 260 years."
• Holland & Sons - (1803-1942). Became from 1843 one of the largest and most successful cabinet makers, and a rival to Gillows of Lancaster and London.
• How to organize your desk at home - "It's time to clean up your work-from-home setup."
• How to stay awake & alert at your desk - "The compulsion to doze off at your desk has perhaps never been stronger. How can we keep our eyes open when we’re worked to the bone?"
• I bought this $20 accessory to organize my gadgets & it’s a game changer - "Within reach but no longer cluttering up my desk."
• Ikea’s $39.99 pad adds built-in wireless charging to almost any table - "The Sjömärke puts a Wireless Qi charging hotspot underneath the surface of your wood or plastic furniture."
• Lego 8-Stud Desk Drawer - "This 2×4, rectangular LEGO brick-shaped drawer sits neatly on desks or shelves to provide convenient, easy-access storage for a variety of uses. It’s ideal for use in offices, kids’ rooms, bathrooms and anywhere else that needs to be tidy and organized. The 8 oversized studs on the top surface mean colorful, customized storage systems can be built and adapted to suit changing storage needs."
• List of desk forms & types - Wikipedia.
• List of Oval Office desks - United States presidents have used six different desks in the Oval Office, their executive office. In addition to the Resolute desk, used by all U.S. presidents since 1993, other occupants of the office have used the Theodore Roosevelt desk, the Hoover desk, the Johnson desk, the Wilson desk, and the C&O desk.
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• Louis Vuitton Stokowski Writing Desk Trunk - "The secretary was conceived and made exclusively for the orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski to correspond to his work and travel habits. It has become over time a legendary object." Size: 95×40×45cm.
• Luxury Desks - as of May 4, 2023: 454 Results. Houzz.
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• Napoleon's Desk - at Stadtgeschichtliche Museum Leipzig, Germany.
• Partners desk - Wikipedia.
• Portable desk - Wikipedia.
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• Resolute desk - large, nineteenth-century partners' desk often chosen by presidents of the United States for use in the White House Oval Office as the Oval Office desk.
• Rolltop desk - Wikipedia.
• SECRETARY DESK - Wikipedia.
• Secrets of a Perfect Desk Lunch | How to Make a Healthy Work Lunch - "The goal with a midday meal is to consume the right mix of lean protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. That generally works out to about 25 percent protein, 25 percent unsaturated fats and 50 percent complex carbohydrates. Here’s how to make it happen."
• SOON YOUR DESK WILL BE A COMPUTER TOO - Wired.
• Study shows how sitting for 8 hours a day can affect your stroke risk - "Adults under 60 who spend most of their days sitting have a higher risk of stroke compared to those who spend more time being physically active, a new study finds."
• The new rules of eating al desko - "Is there a right and wrong way to lunch at your desk? Should you even be doing it at all? Experts and office workers weigh in."
• The real reason most late night talk show hosts sit behind a desk - "'It's less democratic, less egalitarian, if someone is sitting behind a desk in an elevated position, and his guests are not equal in stature in terms of how they're being seated,' production designer Keith Raywood said. Media scholar and professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University Robert Thompson points out the setup 'leaves the guests to be fully exposed.' Cavett, whose talk show slots included late night, preferred to sit more casually on comfortable chairs with his guests, putting them on equal ground."
• The Treadmill Desk Might Really Be Worth It - "Research shows they can indeed deliver fitness benefits while you work - but only if you use them wisely. Experts have long known that extended inactivity can be bad for your body, increasing your risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and other illnesses."
• This all-in-one smart desk has three screens & a built-in scanner - The Verge.
• THIS MINIMAL IKEA-WORTHY CABINET DOUBLES UP AS AN ERGONOMIC DESK FOR YOUR HOME OFFICE - Yanko Design.
• THIS MINIMAL IKEA-WORTHY FOLDING DESK DOUBLES UP AS A DECORATIVE SHELF - "Designed by Daniel Garcia Sanchez for Woodendot, the Alada folding desk is a nifty space-saving desk that doubles up as a super cute decorative shelf. Within seconds you can transform the Alada desk into a display shelf that can hold your favorite souvenirs from picture frames to even potted little plants."
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• THREE-SIX DESK HAS CIRCUMFERENTIAL METAL INLAY FOR STORAGE - Yanko Design.
• Why Standing Desks Are Overrated - "They’re not cures for anything, and standing is not exercise."
• Wilson desk - large mahogany desk used by Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the Oval Office as their Oval Office desk.

Top 25 Best Famous Classic Luxury Designer Desks

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• AJ Wrinting Desk - designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1971 for the Danish National Bank.
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• Amish Avenue - "Solid Wood Desks handcrafted by Amish artisans. We carry a wide selection of executive desks, roll top desks, and writing desks. Available in solid oak, cherry, maple, hickory, rustic cherry, rustic hickory, rustic quarter sawn oak, and quarter sawn oak. All of our desks are made in America, and all have free delivery."
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• Aram - "London's best modern furniture store since 1964." The clean lines and sleek materials of our contemporary designer desks lend a touch of elegance to your working environment or home office. Our modern desks are more than mere workstations, they are an expression of personal style. All designs are genuine, authorised editions made by renowned brands to the highest quality. Choose pieces from designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer, Poul Kjaerholm and Franco Albini or combine a Haller desk with the USM modular storage system.
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• ARMANI / CASA - founded in 2000. "Elegant desk inspired by the Art Déco taste, featuring roundedtop edges and tapered legs. The central compartment in between the drawers has a cable hole, while a small support to hold electric devices is located underneath the top. Justin is a limited edition of 40 numbered pieces that celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Armani brand; the numbered plate can be found in the internal part of the left drawer. This version features a top in Water Green Thin Leather and a Grey Tamo structure. The drawers can be closed with GA logo metal keys. The internal of the drawers is enriched with a pad in Water Green Thin Leather."
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• Artemest - since 2015. "Luxury Italian Furniture." Exclusive desks and unique writing tables in walnut, glass and more premium materials, handmade in Italy. Browse through a curated selection of pieces created by the best designer and artisans.
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• Arteriors - "Founded by Mark Moussa in 1987, Arteriors is a leader in sophisticated lighting, furniture, wall décor and accessories, beloved by discerning interior designers and retailers worldwide."
• AUTHENTIC MODELS - since 1968. "Our desks are made to travel well and offer maximum comfort and space in a minimal floor area. Drawers to house the crew’s papers, sealed sailing instructions, logbooks, charts, instruments and a pair of flintlock pistols. Brass corners to protect from damage when being moved around. Sturdy construction, made of cherry and maple and leather insert top."
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• Azucena - since 1947. "Made in Italy design furniture."
• B&B ITALIA - since 1966. AC Executive desk.
• boca do lobo - "Boca do Lobo was founded in 2005 and, early-on, it committed to reinterpret ancient techniques of fine craftsmanship to create unexpected pieces of contemporary design. Each creation carries the legacy of centuries of craftsmanship."
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• Bodil KjÆr Executive Desk - designed 1959.
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• Carl Hansen CH110 Desk - "A distinctive design with intricate details." In the CH110 desk, Wegner illustrates another side of his talent for furniture design in the gathering of the table top, rails and two slender drawers into one large veneered element, resting upon two slim supporting legs in stainless flat steel. The drawers are equipped with delicate, distinctive handles in stainless steel and finished with dovetail joints. Each one is practically divided with one equipped with a small tray with a rounded bottom intended for storing small, precious things. The CH110 desk was created in 1970 as a part of Wegner’s CH100 Series, which was relaunched in 2008 in celebration of Carl Hansen & Søn’s 100th anniversary.
• Cassina Ospite Table - "Table, extendable to the desired length (maximum 300 cm.), by slide-in panels on special support glides. The table is composed of three elements: - double trestle in chrome plated steel at one side of the base - rectangular unit in matt white painted wood, to contain the sliding panels, at the opposite side - top covered in washable, black special material."
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• Cocobolo Desk - by Don Shoemaker.
• Copenhagen Joinery - since 2006. "Handmade Furniture."
• Corsair - since 1994. "Elevate Your Workspace - CORSAIR Announces Platform:6 Modular Computer Desk."
• dePlain - "Why don’t mix business and pleasure? A pleasant working environment is key to getting the most out of employees. Working in a pleasant environment definitely makes the difference. Decorating an office with style and care should not be solely for the benefit of aesthetics but is a real incentive to productivity. Deplain.com offers a wide range of office furniture including desks, chairs, chairs, dressers, bookcases, shelves, sofas for waiting rooms, and more. Give to your office the comforts of home, choose the best design office furniture such as Kairos, Vitra, Cassina, Lema and much more." 19 luxury desks.
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• Dymitr Malcew Gravity Desk - since 2018. Gravity desk. Rectangular office desk with electric motion. Against the gravity but with a stability and comfort - the Gravity line takes the idea of a executive desk to a whole new level.
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• Eames Desk Unit - designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1949.
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• Finn Juhl Diplomat Desk - designed by Danish designer Finn Juhl c. 1965. Rosewood "Diplomat Series" desk with 4 drawers and 2 pull out writing areas, aluminium pulls.
• GEORGE NELSON HOME DESK - designed in 1958 and manufactured by Vitra.
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• GUBI Desks - "Designed in 1952 by Greta M. Grossman, but named the 62 Desk as it was deemed to be ten years ahead of its time. The 62 Desk appears characteristically light in weight and appears to defy gravity with its quirky asymmetric line and slender metal legs balancing on small wooden feet, a characteristic trait of its designer." So many of us have brought the office into our homes, and GUBI’s desks ensure that our approach to form, materials, craftsmanship and aesthetics are not compromised by the need for a functional and ergonomic workspace.
• Herman Miller - since 1905. "Desks and Workspaces."
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• Jacques étagère - "The perfect blend of simplicity and glamour, modern and traditional. Warm brass accents and topstitched french blue leather adds a nouveau nautical feel to a luxe clear acrylic frame. Its generous scale and durable materials make this desk as functional as it is fabulous. The perfect blend of simplicity and glamour, modern and traditional—right at home in a bachelor's bungalow or a fashionista's flat."
• JONATHAN ADLER - since 1998. "Get down to seriously chic business." Modern desks.
• KATAKANA WRITING DESK - handmade by Dare Studio.
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• Knoll - since 1938. "Work from home."
• LIGNE ROSET - since 1860.
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• LINLEY - since 1985. "A good desk is a vital piece for every person’s office and work space. Designed to add a sleek touch to your workspace. From Classic to Evolution to Bespoke LINLEY desks are crafted in a selection of woods including walnut and eucalyptus, like other signature LINLEY pieces, the desks are created with the upmost attention to every detail."
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• Louis Vuitton Stokowski Writing Desk Trunk - "The secretary was conceived and made exclusively for the orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski to correspond to his work and travel habits. It has become over time a legendary object." Size: 95×40×45cm.
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• LUZZO BESPOKE - since 2003. Bugatti Grand Prix car inspired desk incorporates retractable monitor, height adjustment, self closing lockable drawers.
• MANUFACTURE DE LUXE - "Exceptional Fine Furnishings."
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• Martin Szekely - Oak desk and its small secretaire, 1987.
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• Maxalto - "Max designed by Antonio Citterio for Maxalto is a desk with flap top and drawers. Structure in bright chromed, bronzed nickel painted or black chromed steel. Top available in brushed light oak, brushed black oak, grey oak or natural wengè."
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• Molteni & C - since 1934. "Contemporary Designer Home Office Solutions."
• Nest - since 2003. Modern office desks.
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• Nicholas Haslam Ltd - established in 1980. All desks.
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• Parnian - "World's Most Expensive Custom Desk by Parnian: US$200,000+." It retails for about US$200,000 and makes use of 6 different types of exotic wood as well as a custom cast piece of glass. "Live Like You Mean It."
• Phillips Collection - since 1983. "Every piece a conversation." Phillips Collection has been defining global style for over thirty years with our organic contemporary furnishings.
• Poliform - "The Concorde desk by Emmanuel Gallina embodies a contemporary vision for intellectuality. A primary shape that emphasizes the natural quality of wood, Concorde boasts a light silhouette expressed in an essential way."
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• POLTRONA FRAU - since 1912. "Meticulously crafted down to the finest detail and highly functional, Poltrona Frau office and meeting tables transmit a sense of efficiency and understated, modern elegance as soon as you set eyes on them. Thanks to an attentive study of proportions and the possibility of creating modular islands, they are more compact, guaranteeing users an agile and contemporary workspace."
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• Rechteck - all models.
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• Riva 1920 - "Made in Italy." The writing desks are still very popular today to take advantage of the small spaces characterized by functionality and good taste. Used since the Middle Ages, Riva 1920 manages to reinterpret them in such a way as to make them real contemporary design complements. The modern Riva 1920 wooden desks, in fact, equipped with drawers assembled with dovetail joints, are versatile and ideal for domestic corners used for study, work, or for the office, giving a touch of class and refinement to these settings. Available with or without the characteristic tilting part, depending on the needs, they can be in cherry, elm, walnut and oak wood. The woods come from controlled and programmed cuts.
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• Robert van Embricqs’ geometric wall hanging swiftly unravels to form a workstation - "Decorative yet functional, Robert van Embricqs’ Flow Wall Desk transforms from a geometric piece of art on the wall to a cozy workspace in one swift motion. Initially hung as a flat canvas of slender beams of wood arranged in a simple geometric pattern, the furniture object elegantly unfolds like a spiraling caterpillar to find its functional form."
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• RUD. RASMUSSEN - Danish Art Furniture since 1869.
• Sawkille Co. - since 2010. "Sawkille Co. design takes its creative drive from relationships to traditional, experimental and personal frameworks. A deep appreciation and study of the historic has allowed us to learn and develop our distinct furniture expression. From this cross pollination of influences our designs reflect our unique stories, symbols and associations."
• Simpsons London - "Made in England. Leather desks; bespoke designer desks.
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• SWAINE London Bespoke - since 1750. "250 Years' of British Craftsmanship."
• Thonet - since 1819. "More than a piece of furniture." The tubular steel desk S 285: an important piece of contemporary history. It is as though Marcel Breuer had anticipated today’s home offices and mobile computers: The compact tubular steel desk S 285 that he designed is an elegant companion for modern lifestyle and work. Marcel Breuer’s tubular steel desk S 285 for Thonet is a successful example of the programmatic Bauhaus claim to combine art and technology into a new entity.
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• Vimercati - "Luxury Classic Furniture." An elegant and functional office rich of refined details: classic Empire style office of the Ermitage collection is composed of a mahogany writing table with leather top and details in gold leaf, coordinated glass showcase and sideboard and a comfortable swivel armchair in mahogany and leather with rich golden carvings
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• Vitra Home Desk - "High-quality materials emphasise the graceful refinement of the Home Desk by George Nelson, originally designed in 1958 as a lady's writing table. Today the compact desk tends to be used in home offices, where it adds an appealing decorative accent with its multicoloured compartments."
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• WALTER KNOLL - since 1865. "Meeting tables, conference tables, individual workstations, executive desks - agile table systems for modern work, meetings and conferences. In the boardroom, conference room, or home office. Prestigious design is combined with a functional approach."
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• Woodendot - since 2013. "Award-winning and sustainable furniture designs to create warm, distinctive and timeless spaces. Designed and crafted in Spain, delivered worldwide."
• THIS MINIMAL IKEA-WORTHY FOLDING DESK DOUBLES UP AS A DECORATIVE SHELF - "Designed by Daniel Garcia Sanchez for Woodendot, the Alada folding desk is a nifty space-saving desk that doubles up as a super cute decorative shelf. Within seconds you can transform the Alada desk into a display shelf that can hold your favorite souvenirs from picture frames to even potted little plants."
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• Zanotta