I finally found the wooden desk of my dreams after being on the look out for a while.
This is not to say I have not been without a nice desk as up and till now I have been using a large fully height adjustable computer desk. As large as it was it had odd shaped ends which meant you couldn’t butt it up to a wall without horrible gaps, but it also just lacked any real soul.
Given I spend quite a large portion of my day/night on these things I have been on the look out for a nice replacement.
You see so many desks pop up on various online websites, some are awesome but stupidly expensive or some are conceptual in design. I wanted a desk that was perfect in every way, but one that wasn’t sold as an expensive designery fashion statement.
Last week I decided to do a bit more searching and a website popped up that looked a little interesting. I was initially a little put off as this company designed kitchens, units and kitchen work tops so wondered if anything would be suitable for a studio environment.
A quick look through their website and it became quite clear that I could get a lovely slab of wood in a choice of: Oak, Beech, Walnut, Cherry, Full Stave Oak, Iroko, Ash, Wenge and Zebrano, and in any number of large sizes delivered to my door.
So when you think of a typical kitchen work top you might presume them to come with curved ends, highly polished surfaces? These are simply huge slabs of wood that are perfectly smooth as well as perfectly angled corners and edges.
No gloss or curves here.
I phoned up WoodWorkTops just to check as I still had my doubts that these would be suitable for a studio work desk but they assured me as long as I had means to support the table top it would provide an awesome studio work surface.
My Order
I ordered the Iroko wood measuring 200cm by 95cm by 32mm which came to £170 plus £45 delivery from London down to the South Coast. They said delivery would be between 2 to 5 days and it actually did turn up within 2 days.
I don’t usually get too excited by things, but this was a huge thing for me and I found myself really chuffed that I had finally found a great looking and solid wooden desk from which to admire and work on. As it’s untreated you will probably want to coat it with something as I have found that just within a few days there are finger print and elbow stains. They do come out with a little water and a cloth, but it’s worth bearing in mind.
The Arrival
When it arrived Friday evening I was a little shocked by the actual size. It’s one thing to measure and envisage the size, but when the chap opened the back of the van I was a little speechless. It is huge, and very very heavy.
It took the two of us, with some scratched walls and lots of grunting, to heave it up the stairs and round a tight corner. I think this is when the delivery guy made his excuses and left for which I don’tblame him one little bit.
It really took all my strength to push and pull this thing into my studio and somehow gradually inch up up onto my existing desk. This thing is ridiculously heavy.
All I have done is to sit this behemoth of a desk top on my existing desk whilst now being able to full butt it up to the left and rear studio walls. As I have a fully height adjustable desk I simply had to lower it an inch to bring it back down to the correct height.
In time I will search for some nice wooden legs to support this beast, but in the meantime my existing desk is swallowed up and out-of sight.
WoodWorkTops
If you have been looking for a large wooden studio desk, and have means to support just a table top then I can highly recommend taking a look at WoodWorkTops.
It is important that you consider the weight and size in terms of getting it through doors, up the stairs and around tight corners. You will certainnly need two people to get this thing up some stairs, and WoodWorkTops do insist that an able bodied person is there at the time of delivery.
This is not something even the delivery man can just get out of the van and leave up against a wall should you not be around.
Just to note that my studio was not big enough for me to position myself in a way where I could actually take a full frontal photograph of this table hence the odd cropping and angles but hopefully it gives you an idea. Even these photos don’t come anywhere close to showing you how this desk looks close up.
It really is a marvellous looking, and smelling, piece of studio furniture. Coupled with the Apple keyboard, various bamboo stems and Hardon Kardon Soundsticks has started to create a really cool working environment and surface.
