Do you use your kitchen desk?

[Anonymous]

We're redoing our kitchen and have a small niche that needs filling. We're thinking about adding a desk area. Do you ever use your kitchen desk?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

everyday.

-mcmansion owner

[Anonymous]

I just bought a house with a kitchen desk and we are planning to tear it out and replace it with a mudroom-esque built-in, since the spot where the desk is is close to the front door. Right now, we just pile crap on the desk and it's a big eye sore. It was designed very poorly with hardly any storage (like the rest of the house, I'm discovering). So, short answer: no.

[Anonymous]

I don't have one, but my parents use theirs all the time. It's good for paying bills, and for kids to do supervised homework. (is it in a good spot for that? that seems like the primary use for me.) Also a good spot to keep the computer if you have a desktop and no home office.

[Anonymous]

We have an island and a desk. I always sit at the island to pay bills. But I still like having the desk space, because I keep files and school supplies handy in the desk drawers, and I use the space underneath the desk for the dog bowls. Our remodeler tried to talk me out of the desk space, but I am still glad we did it. If kitchen storage is an issue and you do have island seating, you might forgo the desk.

[Anonymous]

Nope -- I use my office and kids sit at kitchen table for HW, so kitchen desk is basically a staging/mail sorting area with bulletin board above it. Since nobody ever sits there, we removed the chair and put the dog dishes underneath it. Oh yeah, the landline and answering maching are also there -- it's like a museum of technology.

[Anonymous]

every day. right now, in fact!

[Anonymous]

Our kitchen desk in our old house = place to dump papers until I could deal with them

I hated it because I could never keep up and it always looked messy.

[Anonymous]

You might want to consider putting a door on the niche or have some other way to block it off if you are the messy type.

We put a built in desk and don't use it as much as we thought. It's nicer to sit at a table near natural light vs. staring at a wall with lamp light.

[Anonymous]

I two offices in my house and definitely use it. They make sense when you have space . My house is almost 6000 sqrft.

[Anonymous]

I posted earlier (16:17) and just wanted to add that I agree with PP who pointed out that nobody really wants to face a wall when they're working -- esp. if there's a kitchen table or island nearby that offers a different view. My suggestion would be that you use the space as a counter-height surface for mail sorting, charging devices, ipod docking station, ipad, having pens and pencils and writing paper handy, etc. (actually, this is what we have on our desk). We do use the skinny desk drawer for office supply items that the whole family uses, as well as things like keys and stamps.

What I'd love to have is more deep drawer space in the kitchen, so that's what I'd put in your niche under the couter surface. You could store items that you don't use often -- e.g., table linens or holiday tableware. You could also use the space above the counter for cookbook shelves -- even with all the online recipe resources, I still have cookbooks, as do most of the folks I know who really cook a lot.

[Anonymous]

Of course you wrap gifts in gift wrapping room

[Anonymous]

Nope - we're doing a remodel in the fall and I am taking it out. I have an office and the desk just collects junk/clutter. I'd like it more if there was space for it in the mud room so it was a little more tucked away.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, my last place had one and it quickly became a repository for spare lightbulbs and batteries and clutter. Even in a kitchen that already had a walk in pantry and tons of cabinets, I'd probably have found it more useful to have regular shelving there. I did ponder putting in a tall wine fridge but never got around to it before we moved. If you like it, though, in a big kitchen where you have a lot of storage already, it's not a minus.

[Anonymous]

Never