My cabinets are being installed and I had a kitchen desk area installed and expect to love it. It will be desk height. I have Kountry Kraft cabinets and they sell an upper cabinet with cubbies and the insides of the doors have a cork-like (but better ) material on them. I look foward to a clutter-free desk area b/c of these cabinets!

I also have double file cabinet drawers and a tall floor to ceiling unit that will house my printer/fax, laminator, spare paper, etc. There will be electric in that cabinet.

I had one in my old kitchen and loved it. I only have a picture to share from when we sold our house, but it was at a 30" height, had a desk drawer and cubbies above. Most of the time a laptop sat on the desktop which we used when cooking.

Our new kitchen will have the same concept except that instead of having it open all the time, the desk area cubbies, power outlets, etc will be "hidden" behind a fold down panel like an old fashioned secretary. Can't tell you how that will work yet, but we will see...

I'm MESSY with my paperwork, so I built one into a closet! The countertop is at a height that's comfortable for me to use standing up. There's one drawer with paper clips, stapler, scissors, etc., and bulletin boards on all three walls. Outlets for phone chargers, top shelf for phone books, hooks on top for keys and glasses and below the counter for DS's backpack, and (as predicted) my mess.

The best thing about my closet? Hardly any clutter on my island!

I had one already built in when I moved here. When I did the redo, I left it. I switch using it between the office because it does get messy. Now that the granite is in, I've been keeping it cleaner - it's easier for some strange reason. Mine is desk height with 6 drawers - 3 on each side, with a single file drawer at the bottom of each side. Sometimes it's a pain because I want to do something else in that space, but I wouldn't trade it for anything - for no other reason than resale (if I ever sell). EVERYONE loves it. It's a pretty good size - almost 5' long!!

Would love to see pics of these. Sweeby, building it into a closet sounds very smart!

We will probably be building a "stand up desk" in our kitchen. We will narrow it from the standard size to fit our space. David Edrington from Eugene Oregon had an article in Fine Homebuilding on kitchens and the desk is one of the high-lights. I think it was 2006 but you could google it and find it that way. It's unique and also beautiful. Streamlined and simple. Good luck.

We put a very small counter-height desk in our new kitchen. I made it counter height because I figured that the stool I put at the desk could serve as an extra stool for our island in a pinch.

Mine will have one drawer and one very tiny cabinet built specifically to hold a step ladder. Above the desk, I have a shelf to hold cookbooks, and above that, there is a cabinet to hold a file box with my kitchen appliance manuals.

It should be finished in the next couple of days.

Here's the 'above the waist' portion of my organization closet. There are phone books above, backpack and pet food storage below, and now, lots of other 'stuff' in it as well.

I'm interested in this, as well. I've put a desk into my plan and I have really high hopes for that space! Check out this link to a discussion we had on this subject last month. It has some really good pictures in it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Desk thread

We built one in our kitchen. It has a file cabinet drawer, a regular drawer and 2 slim drawers. One is for pens, stamps, and checkbook and the other for bills that need to be paid (so they all are together- and NOT on the counter) Then I file all receipts and bank statements and other important papers in the file drawer. It is desk height, and looks a little separate from the kitchen in the far corner in front of the powder room. Sorry- I will not be posting pics until this kitchen is a little more finished.

I've alloted the space, but haven't actually designed it yet.

I'd reccomend thinking about the jobs you want to accomplish at this location, especially if you have another office space for filing, faxing and other actual office type work.

The crucial jobs for my desk are --keep all the paper work in one spot, where the junk can be tossed and the good stuff sorted and prioritized. --hold my checkbook, wallet, cell... all the stuff I need to grab on my way out the door. --have a few mailing supplies for fast turnaround of important stuff. --hold the indespensible contents of my junk drawer. --provide a spot for my backup laptop.

I know what I want: desk height, with a floor to ceiling cab on each end with a bridge between for a hutch effect with much more storage.

Will have a place for owners manuals, a good sized trash recepticle, cell chargers, pigeon holes for sorting mail, small drawers for staplers, tape, all the office type things I need but would just as soon not run upstairs to the office to find. If I get another printer, the old one will live here, but I think I'll leave the fax that I seldom use in the office. The 'bridge' section may end up as open storage for cookbooks, or glass doored for storing vases and pottery.

We built a kitchen desk in our last home. What a collosal waste of space. It was nothing more than a place to store cookbooks and telephone books. I hated sitting there with my back to the kitchen. I hated using a lap top there. Everyone wanted to pile things up on the counter. It was three feet wide with base and upper cabinets and a drawer. I hated having a desk in the kitchen.

In this house, we actually built an office with a smaller closet with shelves for 'stuff'.

We love ours. The kids like having a second computer they can use (we adhere to the no computers in kids' bedrooms philosophy). Ours is counter height, so we have an extra stool in the kitchen that we can pull over to the island eating area as needed. The problem with ours is that the base cabinet that we used will not accommodate hanging folders. At some point we plan on making the electrical cord situation look better.

My desk is 5' wide, with drawers with hanging folders at the bottom of the drawer stack. Above are completely enclosed cabinets, with pigeonholes across the middle below the center cabs.

FYI, I have never once- not once- sat at that desk, nor USED it as a desk. Sweeby's closet idea would've suited me better- or a small stand-up station like lisapico is planning.

I think the idea of a desk in the kitchen is a good one--provided you're one of those who will use it. There is very little that I would do sitting in a chair that isn't a full office chair (read: comfortable). When I write(day job), I'm usually at it for long stretches, and sitting in a kitchen chair in front of a monitor in a little cubbie hole just doesn't make my creative juices flow. On the business side of day-to-day, using a computer program to balance my checkbook takes about 5 or 10 minutes. Filing takes a bit since I have several files to shuffle . . . suffice it to say that I'd have a mess. . . .

Now if I used it for my daughter . . . but then I'd have to contend with HER mess. Ugh! So I decided not to do a desk at all in the kitchen.
If you can swing it, I suggest a separate office space.

Here's a few different views of mine w/ file drawers, cupboards to hide printer/fax, etc:

mnhockeymom,

I LOVE your desk area and am wanting to do something almost identical in my new construction home in progress. I'm basically converting a "breakfast nook" space into my desk area with bookshelves and a banquette. I would love to know what the width is of this room in your house from wall to wall? It would help give me a feel for how many of these elements will work in my own space. I especially like how you did the bookshelves at an angle to the desk--brilliant!! So if you don't mind measuring the width of your room, I would really appreciate it!!

Thanks!!

nancyeast - Thank You!! I love the space as well - my favorite part is that it's essentially hidden....the angled bookcase hides the view from almost every spot in the kitchen so I can keep the space as I wish (clean, messy, etc). Past the side of the bay window/banquette is a pantry - here's a pic (not a great one) of the whole space:

For measurements, do you want the desk measurements or the "room" measurements? The desk area is 60" from the wall to the edge of the workspace - then there's another 32" where the angled bookcase is tucked in. For the desk+banquette, the space is 136" (or 11'4") from the beadboard back of the desk to the "back wall" of the banquette - then there's another 49" of width that the pantry goes into. Hope that helps!