Corner Desk

I have a pair of windows in my home office (which is a full-time working office), and would love to be able to look out them while I work, but due to their odd location I can't enjoy them without a corner desk. Most corner desks I find offer some combination of the following features:

• Ugly
• Poorly made
• Not very functional (due to attempts to include cabinets or drawers with oddly placed openings or which significantly reduce the knee space.)

At the simplest side of things, my needs could probably be met by customizing a 4' x 4' table - and I don't rule out that possibility. But I was wondering if anybody out there has seen a clever, functional corner desk I should consider or which could be used as a basis for a design.

I have one that I had custom made for my daughter, from the workshop of Stephen Plaud in Tiverton, Rhode Island. It was built to my design in tiger maple. I couldn't find anything in the marketplace that I liked, so I drew it out and had them make it. Right now its LOADED with stuff atop it, but she's off to college in two days so I'll get a photo of it and post it before the end of the week as soon as its presentable. Has served her well, fits the corner in her room perfectly.

Thanks. I look forward to seeing the picture.

OK, here's the desk! I had this made 9 years ago when she had a desktop computer, so the front drawer is a drop down front for a keyboard. Nowadays, she uses a laptop so it would be made with a conventional drawer were I to do it over.

As you can see from the photos, I had it made to fit this corner exactly, with just enough clearance to the window mold. Built of solid tiger maple, its strong and sturdy. Has had a lot of use, you can see where the computer mouse has worn away the finish on the right side surface from hundreds of hours of MySpace, FaceBook, IM'ing and the like.

This was made by Stephan Plaud in Rhode island, I'd guess it would price out about $ 2,000 today....that may seem high, but corner pieces have all off-angle joints, its MUCH easier to make pieces that are square or rectangular. My wife and I prefer a classic chippendale style but something like this can be made in any format, wood and color

While Googling, I found an interesting corner desk by Hank Gilpin. It's a more modern, executive-style desk, and even if it were available and affordable (I doubt it's either, save possibly availabile if commissioned) it's more of a showpiece to be enjoyed from all sides as opposed to something to stick in an actual corner. But it's a solid design and nicely executed.

Lots of material in that one. That would set you back $ 5K or more from most any maker.