Add antique chic to your home workspace

From nostalgic graffitied school desks with lift-up lids to elegant bureaus with myriad cubbyholes and drawers, give working from home some unique character

The home office set-up has become an important part of our lives over the last couple of years. Working from home has become the ‘new normal’ for many people now, so it’s unsurprising to learn that sales of desks have risen dramatically. When the first lockdown happened in 2020, there were reports of people using ironing boards and coffee tables as desks, but many soon upgraded and by autumn of that year furniture retailer John Lewis reported that sales of small desks were up a whopping 73 per cent.

Vintage models have also seen a huge surge in popularity recently. ‘Vintage desks have always been good sellers, but there has definitely been an uplift,’ reveals Helen Shaw of Blue Ticking, who sells preloved desks for kids and adults, and works on an old iroko science lab bench herself. ‘People like the fact that they are using something that is sustainable and full of character and charm. Their various markings tell a story. There is something rather lovely about the little scribblings you may find and trying to imagine the different people that have sat at the desk over the years.’

Helen says that British-made Esavian school desks (see above) always sell fast because of their slick design, as do French desks. ‘Customers seem to go wild for a compass-legged or tubular desk and if it has storage, even better! We also sell a lot of classic wooden desks with lift-up lids to families who want their children to have their own creative/workspace. These work well if space is limited and have been popular for home-schooling.’

Mid-century teachers’ desks are particularly popular with home-workers, because they often have built-in storage drawers and a handy slide-out ‘typewriter shelf’, which provides useful extra desk space when needed.

Compact ‘bureau’ designs – writing desks with fold-down work surfaces – are perfect for smaller spaces and back in vogue now that bulky desktop monitors are a thing of the past and more people have laptops. They often have handy built-in storage compartments and mini drawers too – ideal for stationery or gadgets.

Bureaus also work well in a typical working-from-home scenario: few people have the luxury of a whole spare room to allocate as a home office, so many of us need flexible solutions that can be used for work nine to five, then neatly blend into a living room or bedroom for evenings and weekends.

Self-confessed antiques addict Janet Osborne has always used an antique desk and wouldn’t consider buying a new model. ‘I found my desk at a local auction and I think it’s Edwardian,’ she enthuses. ‘It’s made of oak and has a central drawer plus two pedestals – it would probably have been used in an office. It’s very solid and has a lot of storage space in the drawers, plus plenty of room on the top for the printer and laptop.’

If you want a compact desk that will sit well in a guest bedroom, don’t limit your searches to desks – have a look at vintage marble-topped washstands or dressing-table bases too. They’re designed for bedrooms so are often dainty with turned legs and elegant hardware.

If you decide to upcycle an old desk by painting it, it’s best to leave the top work surface as natural wood, as a painted surface won’t look smart for long if you’re writing and working on it. Lightly sand, then oil or wax the wood to enhance the grain.

‘Working life has changed for many and while some will find themselves back in the office, others will continue to work from home at least part of the week,’ says Helen. ‘So it’s important to find an area away from the kitchen table so you can separate home life from work.’

WORDS: ELLIE TENNANT